Jamie Pedersen

Infobox State Representative
honorific-prefix =
name =Rep. Jamie Pedersen
honorific-suffix =


height =150px
state_house =Washington
district =43^rd
term_start =2007
term_end =present
preceded =Ed Murray
succeeded =
birth_date =birth date and age|1968|09|09
birth_place =
residence =Seattle, Washington
party =Democrat
spouse =Eric Cochran Pedersen
website = [http://www.peopleforpedersen.org/ peopleforpedersen.org]

Jamie Pedersen (b. September 9, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician from the state of Washington who has served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives since January 2007.

A Democrat, he was elected to the House from the reliably Democratic 43rd District in downtown Seattle in 2006. He won a very competitive six-way Democratic primary election on September 19, 2006 with 23% of the vote. His nearest competitor, former Seattle City Council President Jim Street, was only 229 votes behind with 22%. The race was the most expensive House contest in Washington state history, with the six Democratic candidates raising almost $500,000 among them. In the general election, he faced only nominal Republican opposition, defeating his opponent by a margin of more than four-to-one.

Having grown up in Puyallup, Washington, Jamie Pedersen attended Puyallup High School before graduating summa cum laude from Yale. He then went to Yale Law School and has been a lawyer ever since. Pedersen was an active member of the Yale Russian Chorus while an undergraduate and law student, and remains active in the Alumni of the Yale Russian Chorus.

Pedersen is openly gay and is one of six LGBT members of the Washington State Legislature, alongside Sens. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) and Joe McDermott (D-West Seattle), as well as Representatives Jim Moeller (D-Vancouver), Dave Upthegrove (D-Des Moines) and Marko Liias (D-Mukilteo).

He was Lambda Legal's lead volunteer lawyer on the state's same-sex marriage case - "Andersen v. King County". He replaced openly gay Rep. Ed Murray in the House - Murray having moved up to the state senate. His election campaign won the support of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which provided financial and strategic assistance. Pedersen's partner is Eric Cochran Pedersen, a high-school assistant principal.citation |url=http://www.housedemocrats.wa.gov/members/pedersen/index.asp |title=Rep. Jamie Pedersen |periodical=Washington House Democrats |accessdate=2007-11-30] Pedersen and his partner have a son, Trygve Cochran Pedersen.cite news |url=http://www.sgn.org/sgnnews35_33/page3.cfm |title=Two Men having a Baby |work=Seattle Gay News|accessdate=2008-08-18]

References

External links

* [http://www.peopleforpedersen.org/ Elect Jamie Pedersen] official campaign website
* [http://www.leg.wa.gov/house/pedersen/ Washington State Legislature - Rep. Jamie Pedersen] official WA House website
* [http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=66760 Project Vote Smart - Representative Jamie Pedersen (WA)] profile
*"Follow the Money" - Jamie D. Pedersen
** [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=90120 2006] campaign contributions