State Senator Paul Harris
Paul Harris is a Republican state senator representing Washington's 17th Legislative District. They have prime-sponsored 96 bills, of which 28 died without a public hearing.
- Republican
- Senate
- Legislative District 17
- 2 sessions on record
- paul.harris@leg.wa.gov
- phone
- (360) 786-7632
Source Washington State Legislature web services: member roster, roll calls, sponsorship and committee records · as of 2026-09-16
01
Says vs does
What this member said while seeking the office, set against how they voted once they held it. We state only whether the two records differ — never why.
No stated positions have been collected for this member yet. This comparison needs a quote with a citation — a candidate guide, a town hall transcript, a floor video — found and recorded by a person. There is no feed of things politicians said, so an empty section here means nobody has done that reading, not that the member has never contradicted themselves and not that they have.
Last checked 2026-09-16
02
Voting record
Recorded floor votes across every session we hold. Committee votes are not included — those are recorded per committee, not per member.
10,177
recorded votes
8,193
yea
1,964
nay
20
absent or excused
| Date | Bill | Subject | Motion | This member | Roll call |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-12 | ESHB 1295 | Reading and writing literacy | 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | YEA | 48–1 |
| 2026-03-12 | ESHB 1408 | Community authority funding | Final Passage without Senate Amendments | YEA | 49–0 |
| 2026-03-12 | E2SHB 2215 | Fuels/climate commitment act | 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | YEA | 49–0 |
| 2026-03-12 | ESSB 6005 | Transportation budget, supp. | Final Passage as Recommended by Conference Committee | YEA | 49–0 |
| 2026-03-12 | SSB 6003 | Capital budget, supplemental | Final Passage as Amended by the House | YEA | 49–0 |
| 2026-03-12 | ESSB 5998 | Operating budget, supp. | Final Passage as Recommended by Conference Committee | NAY | 28–21 |
| 2026-03-12 | SSB 6225 | Transportation funding bonds | Final Passage as Amended by the House | YEA | 49–0 |
| 2026-03-12 | ESB 6228 | Prescription drugs/taxes | Final Passage as Amended by the House | NAY | 26–23 |
| 2026-03-12 | ESSB 6260 | Public education funding | Final Passage as Amended by the House | NAY | 26–23 |
| 2026-03-12 | ESB 6347 | Estate tax rates | Final Passage as Amended by the House | YEA | 39–10 |
| 2026-03-12 | SSB 6355 | Electric transmission system | Final Passage as Amended by the House | YEA against party majority | 32–17 |
| 2026-03-12 | ESSB 6354 | Electric vehicles | Final Passage as Amended by the House | YEA | 47–2 |
| 2026-03-12 | SGA 9070 | ROBERT H. MALTE | The Appointment be Confirmed | YEA | 48–0 |
| 2026-03-12 | SGA 9075 | ROBERT DECOTEAU | The Appointment be Confirmed | YEA | 48–0 |
| 2026-03-12 | SGA 9091 | STEPHANIE J. BARDIN | The Appointment be Confirmed | YEA | 48–0 |
| 2026-03-12 | SGA 9094 | HUEY YU | The Appointment be Confirmed | YEA | 48–0 |
| 2026-03-12 | SGA 9171 | ELISA K. GRACEFFO | The Appointment be Confirmed | YEA | 48–0 |
| 2026-03-11 | SHB 2089 | Taxes on loan interest | 3rd Reading & Final Passage | NAY | 27–21 |
| 2026-03-11 | EHB 2487 | Insurer taxes | 3rd Reading & Final Passage | NAY | 27–22 |
| 2026-03-11 | EHB 2681 | Cannabis license fees | 3rd Reading & Final Passage | NAY | 29–20 |
| 2026-03-11 | SHB 2689 | Working connect. child care | 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | YEA against party majority | 33–16 |
| 2026-03-11 | ESHB 2711 | Transportation resources | 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | YEA against party majority | 33–15 |
| 2026-03-11 | ESSB 6346 | Tax on millionaires | Concur in House amendment(s) | NAY | 27–21 |
| 2026-03-11 | ESSB 6346 | Tax on millionaires | Final Passage As Amended by the House | NAY | 27–21 |
| 2026-03-11 | SGA 9050 | ROBERT A. ZAPPONE | The Appointment be Confirmed | YEA | 46–0 |
| 2026-03-11 | SGA 9066 | MEGAN MATTHEWS | The Appointment be Confirmed | YEA | 45–2 |
| 2026-03-11 | SGA 9172 | DENISE E. GIDEON | The Appointment be Confirmed | YEA | 48–0 |
| 2026-03-11 | SGA 9180 | ADRIA BUCHANAN | The Appointment be Confirmed | YEA | 48–0 |
| 2026-03-11 | SGA 9204 | MICHELLE R. SMITH | The Appointment be Confirmed | YEA | 48–0 |
| 2026-03-11 | SGA 9227 | EDISON A. VALERIO | The Appointment be Confirmed | YEA | 48–0 |
| 2026-03-10 | E2SHB 2325 | Tourism assessment | Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | NAY against party majority | 43–5 |
| 2026-03-10 | E2SSB 5847 | Workers' comp. medical care | Final Passage as Amended by the House | NAY | 30–19 |
| 2026-03-10 | SSB 5982 | Consumer-owned utilities | Final Passage as Amended by the House | NAY | 30–19 |
| 2026-03-10 | ESSB 6002 | Driver privacy | Final Passage as Amended by the House | NAY against party majority | 39–10 |
| 2026-03-10 | E2SSB 6026 | Residential dev./zones | Final Passage as Amended by the House | NAY | 35–14 |
| 2026-03-10 | E2SSB 6027 | Affordable housing funding | Final Passage as Amended by the House | NAY | 30–19 |
| 2026-03-10 | 2SSB 6035 | Voting services | Final Passage as Amended by the House | NAY | 29–19 |
| 2026-03-10 | SSB 6034 | Office of Indian affairs | Final Passage as Amended by the House | YEA | 49–0 |
| 2026-03-10 | SSB 6054 | Wildfire home hardening/CICs | Final Passage as Amended by the House | YEA | 47–0 |
| 2026-03-10 | ESB 6058 | Wage enforcement discretion | Final Passage as Amended by the House | YEA | 46–1 |
Showing the 40 most recent of 10,177 recorded votes. Each tally links to the roll call itself, which names every member.
The tally is what the chamber recorded, not a verdict. Final passage needs a majority of the members elected, an amendment a majority of those voting, and some motions two-thirds; which rule governed a given motion is not in the record we hold.
Votes against their own party’s majority
1,956
of 10,177 recorded votes went against the majority of Republican colleagues
Counted only where their party had a clear majority on that roll call. A tied party is not a position to diverge from.
| Date | Bill | Motion | They voted | Their party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-12 | SSB 6355 | Final Passage as Amended by the House | Yea | Nay (3-16 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-11 | SHB 2689 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | Yea | Nay (3-16 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-11 | ESHB 2711 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | Yea | Nay (5-13 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-10 | E2SHB 2325 | Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | Nay | Yea (14-5 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-10 | ESSB 6002 | Final Passage as Amended by the House | Nay | Yea (10-9 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-10 | ESSB 6200 | Final Passage as Amended by the House | Yea | Nay (7-12 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-09 | HB 2675 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | Yea | Nay (7-12 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-09 | SSB 5520 | Final Passage as Amended by the House | Yea | Nay (1-18 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-09 | SGA 9268 | The Appointment be Confirmed | Nay | Yea (15-4 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-06 | E2SHB 2215 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | Nay | Yea (11-7 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-06 | ESHB 2229 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage | Yea | Nay (7-11 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-06 | EHB 2588 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | Yea | Nay (1-17 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-05 | HB 1796 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | Yea | Nay (2-17 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-05 | HB 2353 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage | Nay | Yea (10-9 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-04 | ESHB 1500 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | Nay | Yea (10-9 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-03 | EHB 1345 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage | Yea | Nay (4-15 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-03 | HB 1526 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | Nay | Yea (17-2 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-03 | EHB 2294 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage | Yea | Nay (5-14 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-03 | 2SHB 2384 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate | Yea | Nay (7-12 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-03 | ESHB 2476 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage | Nay | Yea (16-3 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-03 | HB 2543 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage | Yea | Nay (4-15 yea-nay) |
| 2026-03-03 | HB 2632 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage | Yea | Nay (1-18 yea-nay) |
| 2026-02-28 | EHB 1687 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage | Yea | Nay (2-17 yea-nay) |
| 2026-02-28 | ESSB 6129 | 821 Wagoner Pg 6 Ln 29 | Nay | Yea (18-1 yea-nay) |
| 2026-02-28 | ESSB 6129 | 3rd Reading & Final Passage | Yea | Nay (1-17 yea-nay) |
Showing the 25 most recent of 1956. The full list is in the roll call records linked below.
Source WA Legislature roll-call archive · as of 2026-09-16 · rows 10,177 votes across every session held · key committee votes are not in the archive and are not counted here
03
Bills sponsored — and where they stopped
Bills where this member was the prime sponsor. Co-sponsorship is not included; the record we hold names only the prime sponsor.
96
bills prime-sponsored
25
became law
28
died without a public hearing
Introduced, referred, and the session ended without testimony taken. Ordinary rather than exceptional — 44% of all bills that die in Washington die this way.
| Session | Bill | Subject | Outcome | Heard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | SSB 5316 | Unclaimed property | became law | yes |
| 2025-26 | SSB 5370 | Port commissioner terms | became law | yes |
| 2025-26 | SB 5428 | Community inclusion services | pending | no |
| 2025-26 | SB 5455 | Cancer research endowment | became law | yes |
| 2025-26 | SB 5594 | Biosimilar medicines | pending | yes |
| 2025-26 | SB 5597 | Water recreation facilities | pending | no |
| 2025-26 | ESSB 5628 | Lead in cookware | became law | yes |
| 2025-26 | SB 5629 | Prosthetic limb coverage | pending | yes |
| 2025-26 | SB 5641 | Blood donation/school instr. | became law | yes |
| 2025-26 | SB 5646 | Assaulting outreach workers | pending | no |
| 2025-26 | SB 5657 | Plasma donation/physicians | pending | no |
| 2025-26 | SB 5668 | Newborn screening additions | pending | no |
| 2025-26 | ESB 5689 | Drivers' licenses/blood type | became law | yes |
| 2025-26 | SB 5915 | Health technology assessment | became law | yes |
| 2025-26 | SB 5916 | Nonopioid drugs for pain | pending | yes |
| 2025-26 | ESSB 5975 | Safe cookware | became law | yes |
| 2025-26 | SB 5976 | Commercial electronic mail | pending | yes |
| 2025-26 | SB 6152 | Workers' comp./PTs & OTs | pending | yes |
| 2025-26 | SB 6155 | Parking, person w/disability | pending | yes |
| 2025-26 | SB 6213 | Fibrous silicate materials | pending | no |
| 2025-26 | SSB 6226 | Audiologist autonomy | became law | yes |
| 2025-26 | SSB 6268 | Special ed. complaint record | became law | yes |
| 2025-26 | SR 8610 | Cardiovascular disease | pending | no |
| 2025-26 | SR 8645 | Northwest Center | pending | no |
| 2025-26 | SR 8669 | National blood donor month | pending | no |
| 2023-24 | ESHB 1073 | Medical assistants | became law | yes |
| 2023-24 | HB 1112 | Negligent driving | became law | yes |
| 2023-24 | HB 1113 | Prof. educator reprimands | died | yes |
| 2023-24 | HB 1497 | Vapor and tobacco/minors | died | yes |
| 2023-24 | HB 1654 | Behavior support homes | died | no |
| 2023-24 | HB 1655 | Provider contract comp. | died | yes |
| 2023-24 | HB 1825 | Teacher comp./state schools | died | no |
| 2023-24 | HB 1843 | School district elections | died | yes |
| 2023-24 | HB 1881 | Audio-only telemedicine | died | no |
| 2023-24 | HB 1884 | Cancer drugs coverage | died | no |
| 2023-24 | HB 2157 | Vaccine definition | died | yes |
| 2023-24 | HB 2172 | Vacant state agency property | died | yes |
| 2023-24 | HB 2208 | Nursing rate calculation | died | no |
| 2023-24 | HB 2340 | Military service/DOL fees | died | no |
| 2023-24 | ESHB 2482 | Semiconductor tax incentives | became law | yes |
| 2023-24 | HJM 4002 | Constitutional convention | died | no |
| 2023-24 | HJR 4207 | School district bond voting | died | yes |
| 2021-22 | HB 1032 | TRS & SERS early retirement | died | no |
| 2021-22 | HB 1063 | Behav. health credentials | became law | yes |
| 2021-22 | HB 1338 | School resources/COVID-19 | died | no |
| 2021-22 | HB 1676 | Tobacco & vapor products/tax | died | yes |
| 2021-22 | HB 1684 | Drinking water fluoridation | died | yes |
| 2021-22 | HB 1686 | Biodegradable product labels | died | yes |
| 2021-22 | HB 1791 | Prof. educator reprimands | died | yes |
| 2021-22 | HB 1972 | Negligent driving penalties | died | yes |
| 2019-20 | EHB 1074 | Tobacco & vapor products/age | became law | yes |
| 2019-20 | EHB 1638 | Vaccine preventable diseases | became law | yes |
| 2019-20 | HB 1857 | Plasma donation centers | died | no |
| 2019-20 | HB 2003 | Remote technology/eye exams | died | no |
| 2019-20 | HB 2057 | Ethics act/special privilege | died | yes |
| 2019-20 | HB 2210 | Medicare part D supplement | died | no |
| 2019-20 | HB 2818 | Blood donor day | died | no |
| 2019-20 | HB 2834 | Identicard/homeless | died | yes |
| 2019-20 | HB 2853 | Charter school commission | became law | yes |
| 2017-18 | HB 1054 | Tobacco & vapor products/age | died | yes |
| 2017-18 | HB 1198 | Podiatric/substance abuse | became law | yes |
| 2017-18 | HB 1389 | Dental practice/corporations | died | yes |
| 2017-18 | HB 1573 | Sunscreen/schools | died | no |
| 2017-18 | HB 1691 | Teacher & principal eval prg | died | no |
| 2017-18 | HB 1870 | Out-of-network health care | died | no |
| 2017-18 | HB 1886 | OSPI & state board of ed. | died | yes |
| 2017-18 | HB 2165 | Vapor products, etc/taxation | died | yes |
| 2017-18 | SHB 2824 | OSPI & board of education | became law | yes |
| 2015-16 | HB 1080 | Health professional program | died | yes |
| 2015-16 | HB 1167 | Palliative care coverage | died | no |
| 2015-16 | SHB 1183 | Radiology benefit managers | became law | yes |
| 2015-16 | HB 1190 | Optometrists/hydrocodone use | died | yes |
| 2015-16 | HB 1307 | Residen'l services & support | became law | yes |
| 2015-16 | HB 1384 | Dental professionals | died | no |
| 2015-16 | HB 1712 | Audit protocols for medicaid | died | yes |
| 2015-16 | HB 1835 | Diabetes epidemic | died | no |
| 2015-16 | HB 2431 | Schedule II controlled subs. | died | no |
| 2015-16 | HB 2781 | Massage transfer programs | became law | yes |
| 2015-16 | HB 2910 | E-cigarettes, vapor products | died | no |
| 2015-16 | HB 2969 | Vapor product taxation | died | no |
| 2015-16 | HR 4619 | Salvation Army Clark County | died | no |
| 2013-14 | HB 1182 | Pharmacists/legend drug act | became law | yes |
| 2013-14 | HB 1565 | Prescription monitoring prog | became law | yes |
| 2013-14 | HB 1573 | Licensed chiropractors | died | yes |
| 2013-14 | HB 1623 | Medical specialty techs | died | no |
| 2013-14 | HB 1824 | Unlawful internet gambling | died | yes |
| 2013-14 | HB 1943 | Clinical review criteria | died | no |
| 2013-14 | HB 2061 | Health plans outside exchnge | died | yes |
| 2013-14 | HB 2139 | Physician quality improvemnt | died | yes |
| 2013-14 | 2SHB 2163 | Dextromethorphan | became law | yes |
| 2013-14 | HB 2173 | Hydrocodone use/optometrists | died | no |
| 2013-14 | HB 2378 | Chem dependncy professionals | died | yes |
| 2013-14 | HB 2379 | Dental professionals | died | no |
| 2011-12 | HB 1712 | Null power | died | yes |
| 2011-12 | HB 1914 | Provider hospital privileges | died | no |
| 2011-12 | HB 2512 | Pharmacists/legend drug act | died | yes |
Source WA Legislature bill status + committee agendas · as of 2026-09-16 · n 96 prime-sponsored bills across every session held · What died in committee
04
Committee seats
2025-26
- Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education
- Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology
- Senate Committee on Health & Long-Term Care
- Senate Committee on Transportation
We cannot say which of these they chair. A committee chair decides what gets a hearing, which makes the role the single most consequential fact in this section — and the roster export records membership without it. Every seat above is shown as an equal membership because that is all the record supports.
Last checked 2026-09-16
Source WA Legislature committee membership records · as of 2026-09-16 · seats 4
05
Who funds this seat
Campaign finance reported to the Public Disclosure Commission. The record and the PDC share no identifier, so this is a join — on surname, given name, chamber and district for a legislator, and on the office won and the county it was won in for everyone else. Only where one person fits.
$529K
raised, 2024 cycle
$519K
spent
$2,221
average contribution
Total divided by 238 reported contributors.
Largest reported contributors
| Contributor | City | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Senate Republican Campaign Committee | Olympia | $124,091 |
| House Republican Organizational Committee | Olympia | $80,000 |
| Retail Action Council | Olympia | $4,800 |
| WASHINGTON WHEAT PAC | Ritzville | $3,600 |
| JOHNSON & JOHNSON | Washington | $3,400 |
| Barnes Dan | Vancouver | $2,830 |
| Associated General Contractors of Washington BUILD PAC | Seattle | $2,400 |
| Association of Washington Business PAC | Olympia | $2,400 |
| BNSF Railway Company | Fort Worth | $2,400 |
| Build East PAC | Spokane | $2,400 |
| Centene Management Company LLC | St Louis | $2,400 |
| CHEVRON | San Ramon | $2,400 |
| Credit Union Legislative Action Fund | Seatac | $2,400 |
Individual contributors, by stated employer
Private individuals are not named here unless their own public conduct already makes them a public figure; their giving appears aggregated by the employer they stated. The full itemised record is public at the PDC.
| Employer stated by contributors | Contributors | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| No employer stated | 2 | $4,800 |
Employers behind more than one donor
Across the whole cycle rather than a single day. Weaker than the table above, and included because a slow accumulation from one workplace is still worth being able to see.
| Employer | Donors | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Nierenberg Investment Management | 2 | $4,800 |
Only 6.3% of named donors stated an employer. The field is filled in by the donor and left blank more often than not, so both tables show what we can see rather than everything that exists. Treat the counts as a floor. Occupations reported in the employer box — “retired”, “self-employed”, “homemaker” — are excluded, because they are not a shared workplace.
Last checked 2026-09-16
This filing was matched, not looked up. The Legislature and the PDC share no identifier. We matched Paul Harris to PDC filer HARRP2 683 because the surname, the given name, the office (State Senator) and the district (17) all agree, and because only one person fits. If that is the wrong person, tell us at corrections@washingtonindependents.org and we will unpublish this section while we check — see Corrections.
Last checked 2026-09-16
Spent independently, for and against · not their money
Money spent about this member by committees that are barred by law from coordinating with them. It is not their money, they cannot return it, and it is not in the total above. Spending for someone is not money from them, and the two sides are never subtracted from each other.
- SOUTHWEST WA PRIORITIES Sponsored by Kennedy Fund
- Southwest Communities First
- NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS FUND
- BUILDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF CLARK COUNTY BUILDING INDUSTRY GROUP
- Our Votes Count
- NRA POLITICAL VICTORY FUND
Sources WA PDC C-3 contribution reports · C-6 independent expenditure and electioneering communication reports · as of 2026-09-16 · filer HARRP2 683 · key surname + given name + chamber + district — refused where more than one person fits · n 21 independent-expenditure filings name this candidate id · note independent expenditures are joined on the PDC candidate id, not on a name; they are a separate ledger, never netted against each other and never added to the committee’s own total
06
How the seat was won
Every certified general election this member won, from the Secretary of State canvass. The canvass names winners by printed name and the Legislature issues member ids, so each row is a stated join of the two records — never a guess.
| Election | Seat | Contest | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 4, 2014 | State House seat 2, Legislative District 17 | contested | WA Secretary of State certified general election results, 2014 |
| November 8, 2016 | State House seat 2, Legislative District 17 | contested | WA Secretary of State certified general election results, 2016 |
| November 6, 2018 | State House seat 2, Legislative District 17 | contested | WA Secretary of State certified general election results, 2018 |
| November 3, 2020 | State House seat 2, Legislative District 17 | contested | WA Secretary of State certified general election results, 2020 |
| November 8, 2022 | State House seat 2, Legislative District 17 | contested | WA Secretary of State certified general election results, 2022 |
| November 5, 2024 | State Senate seat, Legislative District 17 | contested | WA Secretary of State certified general election results, 2024 |
Sources Secretary of State certified results + PDC candidate filings · as of 2026-09-16 · key joined on surname + given name + chamber + district; refused where more than one member fits · note — = value absent from source export
07
Member response
This page is built from public records, and the member it describes gets space to respond to it.
No response process exists yet. When one does, anything this member sends about this page will be published here verbatim — dated, unedited, and clearly theirs. Nothing has been solicited yet, so the absence of a response here says nothing about the member.
Last checked 2026-09-16
08 · component 08
Connected records
Everything below is a link some document draws for us. Nothing here is our inference. Grouped by how well the record supports it, always in this order, never sorted by interest.
On the record · 29
One document states the relation in its own words.
-
SITS ON · biennium 2025-26
Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education
Senate committee roster, 2025-26 biennium — WA State Legislature web services · as of 2025-01-01
-
SITS ON · biennium 2025-26
Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology
Senate committee roster, 2025-26 biennium — WA State Legislature web services · as of 2025-01-01
-
SITS ON · biennium 2025-26
Senate Committee on Health & Long-Term Care
Senate committee roster, 2025-26 biennium — WA State Legislature web services · as of 2025-01-01
-
SITS ON · biennium 2025-26
Senate Committee on Transportation
Senate committee roster, 2025-26 biennium — WA State Legislature web services · as of 2025-01-01
-
SPONSORED · prime
SB 5316 (2025-26) — Unclaimed property
SB 5316 as introduced, 2025-26 — bill summary, WA State Legislature · as of 2025-01-16
-
SPONSORED · prime
SB 5370 (2025-26) — Port commissioner terms
SB 5370 as introduced, 2025-26 — bill summary, WA State Legislature · as of 2025-01-20
-
SPONSORED · prime
SB 5428 (2025-26) — Community inclusion services
SB 5428 as introduced, 2025-26 — bill summary, WA State Legislature · as of 2025-01-22
-
SPONSORED · prime
SB 5455 (2025-26) — Cancer research endowment
SB 5455 as introduced, 2025-26 — bill summary, WA State Legislature · as of 2025-01-23
Showing 8 of 29. Every edge for this record, as JSON
Joined by us, on a stated key · 6
Two documents joined on a key, and the key is named on every row.
-
HOLDS SEAT · election 2014-11-04 · certified Paul Harris
State House seat 2, Legislative District 17
joined on: surname + given name + chamber + district
WA Secretary of State certified general election results, 2014 · as of 2014-11-04
-
HOLDS SEAT · election 2016-11-08 · certified Paul Harris
State House seat 2, Legislative District 17
joined on: surname + given name + chamber + district
WA Secretary of State certified general election results, 2016 · as of 2016-11-08
-
HOLDS SEAT · election 2018-11-06 · certified Paul Harris
State House seat 2, Legislative District 17
joined on: surname + given name + chamber + district
WA Secretary of State certified general election results, 2018 · as of 2018-11-06
-
HOLDS SEAT · election 2020-11-03 · certified Paul Harris
State House seat 2, Legislative District 17
joined on: surname + given name + chamber + district
WA Secretary of State certified general election results, 2020 · as of 2020-11-03
-
HOLDS SEAT · election 2022-11-08 · certified Paul Harris
State House seat 2, Legislative District 17
joined on: surname + given name + chamber + district
WA Secretary of State certified general election results, 2022 · as of 2022-11-08
-
HOLDS SEAT · election 2024-11-05 · certified Paul Harris
State Senate seat, Legislative District 17
joined on: surname + given name + chamber + district
WA Secretary of State certified general election results, 2024 · as of 2024-11-05
Nothing on file
Votes are in the graph but render as vote-history tables above, not as rows here. Testimony and committee referrals are not in the graph yet — no sign-in sheet or chamber journal has been read into an edge for this member, which is not the same as none existing.
Checked 2026-09-16
Source one query on the edge table, grouped by tier · as of 2026-09-16 · edges 29 filed, 6 composite, 0 adjacency · how edges are built
09 · component 09
How to run for this office
This is an office, not a possession. Every seat here is filled by whoever files for it and wins, and the requirements are the same for everyone.
| Seat | Term | Next election | Filing opens |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Senator, District 17 | 4 years | 2028 | May 2028 |
1 form
declaration of candidacy
Filed with the Secretary of State, online or on paper. It states your name as it will appear on the ballot, the office, and that you are qualified.
1 week
the filing window, every May
Monday to Friday, closing at 4:00pm. There is no late filing: miss it and the seat is decided without you.
0
signatures, endorsements, prior offices
You must be a registered voter living in the district on the day you file. That is the entire qualification, and no party is asked about you.
C-1
only once money moves
A campaign committee and PDC reporting are required within two weeks of raising or spending anything. Raise nothing and you file nothing.
What the job is. The Legislature sits for 105 days in odd-numbered years and 60 days in even ones, and the work does not stop when the session does — committee days, constituent casework and district meetings run through the interim. Someone deciding whether to file needs that more than they need anyone’s opinion of the incumbent.
Reporting follows money, not candidacy. Registering with the Public Disclosure Commission and filing contribution reports is triggered by raising and spending, not by putting your name in. A campaign that stays under the mini-reporting threshold files a short form and nothing more.
We cannot yet tell you what filing costs. The fee is one percent of the office’s annual salary (RCW 29A.24.091 — one percent of the annual salary of the office), which makes it a specific dollar amount rather than a rule — and a page that makes you compute your own filing fee has not told you the filing fee. Legislative salaries are set by the Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials and we do not hold that schedule, so the figure is missing rather than estimated. A candidate who cannot pay it may file a petition of signatures instead.
This section appears on every office page on this site, contested or not, filled or vacant. Its presence is not a comment on whoever holds the seat, and we do not say whether a seat is winnable — that would be a prediction, and this page carries records.
Source Election cycle derived from past regular elections in PDC candidate filings; requirements from RCW 29A.24 — candidate filing · as of 2026-09-16
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What this page will not compute
Each of these is a number a reader might reasonably expect. None of them follow from the records we hold, so we do not publish them.
- What the money bought
- Where a filing is matched we show what was raised and from whom. Connecting that to how the member voted would be a causal claim from two records that were never linked, and campaign money is not the only thing that moves a vote.
- A complete funding career
- Cycles are shown back to 2009. A member who served before that has earlier campaigns we do not hold, so the career total is a floor rather than a lifetime figure.
- Employers we cannot see
- The employer field is filled in by the donor and left blank more often than not, so the bundling table shows employers we can see rather than every one that exists.
- Whether a difference was a broken promise
- Where a stated position and a vote differ we show both records and say only that they differ. Why is not in either one — an amendment, a procedural vote, or a bill that changed under the member all produce the same pair.
- A complete set of statements
- Positions are found and cited one at a time by a person. An empty or short list means nobody has done that reading, not that a member has said little.
- Advertising
- Meta’s ad library and PDC independent expenditures targeting this member are both public and neither is loaded.
- What a divergent vote means
- We can say a member voted against their party’s majority on a given roll call. Whether that was principle, a local interest, a drafting objection or a trade is not in the record, and the count is not a measure of independence.
- Committee influence
- Chair and ranking-member roles decide which bills get heard. The roster gives membership without role, so every seat here looks alike.
- A member’s response
- The design reserves space for one. We have no process yet for soliciting or publishing it, so the section is absent rather than empty.
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Common questions
- Which Legislative District does Paul Harris represent?
- Paul Harris is a Republican state senator representing Washington’s 17th Legislative District.
- How often does Paul Harris break with their party?
- Across 10,177 recorded floor votes we hold, Paul Harris voted against the majority of their own party 1,956 times. That count is a description of the record, not a measure of independence — the record does not say why any single vote diverged.
- How many bills has Paul Harris sponsored?
- Paul Harris has prime-sponsored 96 bills, of which 25 became law. Co-sponsorship is not in the record we hold. 28 of them died without ever getting a public hearing.
- How long has Paul Harris served in the Legislature?
- Paul Harris appears in the member roster for 2 biennia, most recently 2025-26. This counts biennia on record, not continuous years.
- How many state legislators represent each Washington district?
- Three — one state senator and two state representatives, elected to Position 1 and Position 2. All three represent the same geography; the positions are not sub-areas.
- When are Washington legislative elections held?
- In even-numbered years. All 98 House seats are up every two years; Senate seats run on staggered four-year terms.
Answers are generated from the same fields as the sections above and emitted as FAQPage structured data, so a machine reader gets the identical text a person sees.
Cite this page
This is public-records reporting. Use it, and say where it came from.
“State Senator Paul Harris,” WashingtonIndependents.org, data as of 2026-09-16, accessed 2026-09-17. https://washingtonindependents.org/official/paul-harris/
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Our tables, figures and notes on this page are released under CC BY 4.0 — reuse them, including commercially, with attribution. The underlying records are public records of the State of Washington and were never ours to license.
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Where this page comes from
Every figure above is read from a primary source and rebuilt on a schedule. Nothing here is modelled or inferred; where a source is silent the page says so rather than filling the gap.
- WA Legislature member roster
- Name, party, district, chamber and contact details, per session served.
- WA Legislature roll call service
- Every recorded floor vote. Committee votes are recorded per committee rather than per member and are not included.
- Party divergence
- Derived, not published by the Legislature. For each roll call we take the majority position of the member’s own party and flag votes against it, counting only roll calls where that party had a clear majority.
- WA Legislature legislation records
- Prime sponsorship, and each bill’s outcome and hearing status. Co-sponsorship is not in the record we hold.
- Public Disclosure Commission candidate filings
- Contributions, expenditures, the largest reported contributors and their stated employers, for every cycle back to 2007. Matched on surname and given name plus chamber and district for a legislator, or the office won and the county it was won in for everyone else — never on name alone — and only published where one person fits. Across the record that resolves 1,938 of 13,879 officials over 3,548 cycles, with 45 refused as ambiguous; the rest say why they did not match.
- Not loaded
- Public statements, advertising, committee roles, and committee votes by member.