Timothy Markham Sheldon (born March 9, 1947) is an American farmer, businessman, and politician who served as a member of the

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Washington State Capitol, Legis ...

, representing the 35th District from 1997 to 2023. The district includes all of Mason County and parts of Thurston and Kitsap counties. A member of the Democratic Party, he caucused with the Republican-dominated Majority Coalition Caucus and afterward the Republican caucus from 2012. He represented Mason County as a Mason County Commissioner for District 2 from 2005 to 2017 and served as a member of the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

from 1991 to 1997.

Early life and education

Sheldon was born and raised in

Mason County, Washington Mason County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 65,726. The county seat and only incorporated city is Shelton, Wa ...

. He attended public schools until he entered the Wharton School of Business at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1965, graduating in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. He earned his

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Career

Following a decade of work in economic development for Native American tribes, Sheldon began a new career as executive director of the non-profit Mason County Economic Development Council, a post he held for 18 years. First elected to the

for a term beginning in 1991, Sheldon served three terms there before being elected to the

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

in 1997, defeating incumbent appointed Democrat Lena Swanson. During his tenure, Sheldon served as vice chair of the Energy Environment & Telecommunications Committee, and sat on the Rules and Transportation committees. Sheldon was an opponent of state funding for the Mariners and Seahawks sports stadiums, calling the proposed legislation "

corporate welfare Corporate welfare refers to government financial assistance, Subsidy, subsidies, tax breaks, or other favorable policies provided to private businesses or specific industries, ostensibly to promote economic growth, job creation, or other public b ...

." He also voted against budgets when his party supported them. He voted for Republican

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

in 2004 and then Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in 2008. He was one of three Democratic state senators to vote against the gay-marriage bill. He later expressed regret over the vote and his opposition to LGBTQ rights, saying in a 2022 interview announcing his retirement that he had "tried to make up for it" with his votes in later years. After the 2012 state legislature elections, he and Senator Rodney Tom joined the Republicans in a " Majority Coalition Caucus," resulting in a power sharing agreement, effectively giving the two Democrats control of the state senate along with 23 Republicans. The Caucus chaired the most powerful committees (such as ways and means, commerce and labor, and K-12 education, among others) for the 2013-14 session, and a few committees, such as transportation were claimed as "bi-partisan", co-chaired with the Democratic Caucus. Sheldon subsequently became president pro tempore of the Senate, elected by both Democrats and Republicans. He lost this position in 2015 when Democrats withdrew support in favor of Republican Pam Roach. After Roach won a seat on the Pierce County Council in the 2016 election, Tim Sheldon, once again, became president pro tempore of the

. Due to the special election held in November 2017, the Senate returned to a Democratic 25–24 majority. Sheldon once again lost his position as President Pro Tempore. Democrat Karen Keiser now occupied the position. The Majority Caucus was subsequently dissolved and replaced by a normal Republican Caucus, which Sheldon, while retaining his Democratic party registration, joined. In March 2022, Sheldon announced that he would not run for reelection. He left office in 2023.

Awards

* 2014 Guardians of Small Business award. Presented by NFIB.

References

External links

Sheldon's official State Senate pageSheldon's MCC page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Tim Living people Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives Farmers from Washington (state) University of Washington Foster School of Business alumni County commissioners in Washington (state) Democratic Party Washington (state) state senators 1947 births People from Shelton, Washington Wharton School alumni 21st-century members of the Washington State Legislature