Washington State Treasurer


The Washington State Treasurer is an elected official in the US state of Washington whose office is established by the Washington State Constitution. Duane Davidson is the current Washington State Treasurer, a Republican who began his term in January 2017. He is charged with a variety of responsibilities related to the fiscal management of state government.

Duties and compensation

The Washington State Treasurer is responsible for managing the state's cash assets and local government investments which, as of 2008, totaled $11 billion. They are also responsible for servicing the state's $13 billion debt, through the issuance of state bonds. As one of 15 members of the Washington State Investment Board, the Treasurer helps oversee the investment of state pension and retirement funds. The Treasurer is third in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Washington.
Most of the Treasurer's specific responsibilities are set-forth in the Revised Code of Washington. Though the office was established by the Washington constitution, that document only provides that "the treasurer shall perform such duties as shall be prescribed by law," a provision similar to the earlier enacted constitution of the neighboring state of Oregon. The constitution originally directed that the Treasurer would be paid a salary of $2,000, though constitutional limits on officeholder salaries have since been repealed by amendment and are now set by statute. The Treasurer currently receives an annual salary of $125,000.

Election and office

The Treasurer is elected every four years on a partisan ballot; any registered voter in the state of Washington is eligible to stand for election. The Washington State Constitution requires that, upon assuming office, the Treasurer establish residence in the state's capital city of Olympia. State law further requires he post a surety bond of $500,000, approved by both the Washington Secretary of State and the Chief Justice of the Washington Supreme Court.
The Treasurer's office is located in the Washington State Capitol.

List of Washington Treasurers

The State of Washington has had a total of 21 Treasurers, 2 of whom served non-consecutive terms. Otto A. Case also served as Commissioner of Public Lands from 1945–1949 and 1953–1957.
#NameTermParty
1Addison Alexander Lindsley1889–1893Republican
2Orzo A. Bowen1893–1897Republican
3Cyrus Wilber Young1897–1901Populist
4Charles Warren Maynard1901–1905Republican
5George Grant Mills1905–1909Republican
6John G. Lewis1909–1913Republican
7Edward Meath1913–1917Republican
8Walter W. Sherman1917–1921Republican
9Clifford L. Babcock1921–1925Republican
10William George Potts1925–1929Republican
11Charles W. Hinton1929–1933Republican
12Otto A. Case1933–1937; 1941–1945Democratic
13Phil Henry Gallagher1937–1941Democratic
14Russell Harrison Fluent1945–1949Democratic
15Tom Martin1949–1953; 1957–1965Democratic
16Charles R. Maybury1953–1957Republican
17Robert S. O'Brien1965–1989Democratic
18Daniel K. Grimm1989–1997Democratic
19Michael J. Murphy1997–2009Democratic
20James McIntire2009–2016Democratic
21Duane Davidson2017–Republican