State’s youngest lawmaker reflects on his first session with eyes toward re-election

Republican state Senator Simon Sefzik started the 2022 legislative session as the Legislature’s youngest lawmaker at 22 years old. With the session now having wrapped up, he hopes to build on his early efforts as he sets his sights on a re-election bid later this year.

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Sefzik was first appointed by the Whatcom County Council to represent the 42nd Legislative District in January, succeeding late Senator Doug Ericksen, who died in 2021 after a testing positive for COVID-19.

Not long after that, Sefzik got to work in the Legislature as the session kicked off, although given his status as a younger lawmaker, he wasn’t always recognized by security.

“People at first thought when I arrived that I was like a member of the public or an intern trying to get into the building,” he told KTTH’s Jason Rantz Show.

More recently, though, he jokes that he’s now graduated to being recognized as someone who works in the building.

“I’m happy to report that a couple days ago, one of the security guards thought I was a member of the public and then they were like, ‘oh, no, you’re so and so’s legislative aide, right?'” he recalled. “And I didn’t even correct them — I just went ahead and they let me in. So I’ve finally made it — rather than just being viewed as a member of the public, they finally recognize me as a member of staff.”

All jokes about his age aside, Sefzik has a long list of legislative priorities for next year, foremost of which will be providing relief for Washingtonians at the gas pump.

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“One of the things that I pushed for this session that I really think is even more salient now was the suspension of the gas tax,” he described, noting that despite seeing the idea “laughed off” by Democrats in the Legislature, he believes it’s far more feasible many of his colleagues may think.

“When I look around and read the news, I see that different governors are considering doing this,” he noted. “Governor Newsom in California, Governor Kemp in Georgia, … two Democrat senators have proposed this at the federal level, and the White House has suggested that they’d be open to it.”

In the meantime, Sefzik is kicking off his re-election campaign in hopes of returning to the Legislature in 2023 in an elected capacity.

Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3 – 6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here.