Derek Kilmer
Derek Christian Kilmer (born January 1, 1974) is an American businessman and politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Washington's 6th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Kilmer previously served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives from 2005 to 2007 and as a member of the Washington State Senate from 2007 to 2013, representing the 26th district.
Derek Kilmer | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 6th district | |
Assumed office January 3, 2013 | |
Preceded by | Norm Dicks |
Chair of the New Democrat Coalition | |
In office January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Jim Himes |
Succeeded by | Suzan DelBene |
Member of the Washington Senate from the 26th district | |
In office January 8, 2007 – January 14, 2013 | |
Preceded by | Robert Oke |
Succeeded by | Nathan Schlicher |
Member of the Washington House of Representatives from the 26th district | |
In office January 10, 2005 – January 8, 2007 | |
Preceded by | Lois McMahan |
Succeeded by | Larry Seaquist |
Personal details | |
Born | Derek Christian Kilmer January 1, 1974 Port Angeles, Washington, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Jennifer Kilmer |
Children | 2 |
Education | Princeton University (BA) Green Templeton College, Oxford (MA, PhD) |
Website | House website |
On March 5, 2012, Kilmer announced he was running to succeed Norm Dicks for the seat representing Washington's 6th congressional district.[1] On November 6, 2012, Kilmer won the general election to become the district's next representative.[2] He received 186,661 votes, to opponent Bill Driscoll's 129,725.[3]
Early life, education, and business career
Kilmer was born and raised in Port Angeles, Washington. Both of his parents were public school teachers. Kilmer earned a B.A. in public affairs with a certificate in American Studies from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1996. He completed his 184-page long senior thesis, titled "Recovering From the Addiction: The Social and Economic Impacts of the Pacific Northwest Timber Crisis; An Analysis of the Implementation of the Clinton Forest Plan on Washington's Olympic Peninsula", under the supervision of Steven R. Brechin.[4] He won a Marshall Scholarship to obtain his Ph.D. in Comparative Social Policy from the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at Green Templeton College, Oxford.[5]
Kilmer is a former business consultant for McKinsey and Company. He was also a business retention manager for the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County. He is also a trustee for Tacoma Community College and served on the board of Peninsula Schools Education Foundation.[6][7]
Washington legislature
Elections
In 2004, Kilmer challenged incumbent Republican State Representative Lois McMahan of Washington's 26th house district, seat 2. He defeated her 50%–48%, a difference of 1,009 votes.[8]
In 2006, Republican State Senator Bob Oke decided to retire. Kilmer decided to run for Washington's 26th senate district. He defeated Republican Jim Hines 60%–40%.[9] In 2010, he won re-election to a second term, defeating Marty McClendon 59%–41%.[10]
Tenure
In 2007, he was one of just three Democratic state senators to vote against the bill that would allow labor unions to spend non-members' bargaining fees on political causes without first getting their permission.[11]
He sponsored the Senate bill that would increase fines to pay for a new $849 million Tacoma Narrows bridge in his district.[12]
Business groups have praised Kilmer for being one of the most pro-business Democrats in Olympia. He is the three-time recipient of the "LEADER Award" from the Washington Economic Development Association. He was named the "Legislative Business Star Award" from Enterprise Washington's Business Institute. He was named "Legislator of the Year" by the Department of Veterans Affairs. He was recognized by the Northwest Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America as "Legislator of the Year". He was also named "Legislator of the Year" by the Washington Council of Police & Sheriffs. He was named an "Honorary Fire Chief" by the Washington Fire Chiefs.[13]
Committee assignments (State of Washington)
- Senate
- Capital Budget Committee (Chair)
- Economic Development, Trade, & Innovation Committee
- Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee
- Ways and Means Committee (Vice Chair)[14]
U.S. House of Representatives
2012
![](../I/Derek_Kilmer_2012.jpg.webp)
After redistricting, Democratic U.S. Congressman Norm Dicks decided to retire. Kilmer decided to run for the newly redrawn Washington's 6th congressional district. He won the endorsements from The Seattle Times, which called him "a problem solver who can be bipartisan." The News Tribune of Tacoma praised him for having "an uncommon understanding of trade, business taxation, smart regulation, job creation and other fundamentals of economic growth." Port Angeles, Rep. Kilmer's hometown and an area which he was elected to represent suffers from an unemployment rate 2.3 percent higher than the Washington State average, consistent with the rate of increase recorded before he took office.[15][16] In the November general election, he defeated Republican nominee Bill Driscoll 59%–41%. He won all six counties in the district.[17][18]
Israel policy
Derek Kilmer was a cosponsor of the United States–Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013.[19]
Kilmer was part of a 37-member congressional delegation that visited Israel. The trip was sponsored by the lobby group American Israel Education Foundation, with the stated goal of working to strengthen strategic economic and military cooperation between Israel and the United States.[20]
Through his co-sponsorship of the United States–Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013,[21] Rep. Kilmer supports spending U.S. tax revenue to fund Israel's military, and to provide assistance for collaboration in the fields of energy, water, homeland security, agriculture, and alternative fuel technologies.
Legislation
On October 29, 2013, Kilmer introduced the American Savings Promotion Act (H.R. 3374; 113th Congress), a bill that would authorize some financial institutions to conduct a contest, known as a "savings promotion raffle," in which the sole consideration required for a chance of winning designated prizes is obtained by the deposit of a specified amount of money in a savings account or program, where each ticket or entry has an equal chance of being drawn.[22][23]
Kilmer was ranked as the 33rd most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress (and the third most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington) in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy that ranks members of the United States Congress by their degree of bipartisanship (by measuring the frequency each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member's co-sponsorship of bills by members of the opposite party).[24]
The subject has sponsored election reform legislation to rewrite the Federal Election Commission law, citizen financing of campaigns, and to require disclosure of financing of social media electioneering.[25]
Committee assignments
References
- "State Sen. Kilmer Running for US Rep. Dicks' Open Seat".
- Schrader, Jordan; Shannon, Brad. "Democrats Derek Kilmer, Denny Heck win Congressional races". theolympian.com. The Olympian. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
- Reed, Sam. "6th Congrressional District Results". 2012 election results. WA STATE SEC OF STATE. Archived from the original on August 10, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
- Kilmer, Derek. Brechin, Steven; Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (eds.). "Recovering From the Addiction: The Social and Economic Impacts of the Pacific Northwest Timber Crisis; An Analysis of the Implmentation of the Clinton Forest Plan on Washington's Olympic Peninsula". Cite journal requires
|journal=
(help) - "Project Vote Smart – The Voter's Self Defense System". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "Princeton Alumni Weekly — January 24, 1996". Princeton University. January 24, 1996. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- "Full Biography". Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "Our Campaigns – WA District 26 Seat 2 Race – Nov 02, 2004". Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "Our Campaigns – WA State Senate District 26 Race – Nov 07, 2006". Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "Our Campaigns – WA State Senate District 26 Race – Nov 02, 2010". Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "Unions get OK for political spending". seattlepi.com. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "Senate approves fine for drivers who skip bridge toll". KOMO News. February 25, 2007. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 22, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Derek Kilmer". Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "KONP / Local News / Unemployment rate up again in Clallam County". Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "Port Angeles, WA Unemployment – Homefacts". Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "Our Campaigns – WA District 6 Race – Nov 06, 2012". Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "Login". Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "Bill Summary & Status – 113th Congress (2013–2014) – H.R.938 – CRS Summary – THOMAS (Library of Congress)". Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "In the Middle East, a congressman learns that nothing's simple". Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "Bill Summary & Status – 113th Congress (2013–2014) – H.R.938 – CRS Summary – THOMAS (Library of Congress)". Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "H.R. 3374 – Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
- Wisniewski, Mary (October 31, 2013). "Bill to Expand Prize-Linked Savings Introduced to Congress". American Banker. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
- The Lugar Center – McCourt School Bipartisan Index (PDF), The Lugar Center, March 7, 2016, retrieved April 30, 2017
- Brawner, Greta, host, with Ackley,Kate. Roll Call. Senior Staff Writer and Scott Wong. The Hill. Senior Staff Writer. (18 July 2019). "Newsmakers Series" C-Span website approx 17 mins, in Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- "Members". New Democrat Coalition. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
- "Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
- "Members". Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
- "90 Current Climate Solutions Caucus Members". Citizen´s Climate Lobby. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- "Members". U.S. – Japan Caucus. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- "Larson, Sanders, Warren Announce Expand Social Security Caucus". Congressman John Larson. September 13, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
Sources
- "Project Vote Smart – The Voter's Self Defense System". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "House committees: Denny Heck to Financial Services, Derek Kilmer to Science, Space & Technology". Tacoma News Tribune. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "CQ – 113th Congress: Derek Kilmer, D-Wash. (6th District)". Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "Local News – The Olympian". Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- "Democratic state Sen. Kilmer wins race to replace U.S. Rep. Dicks". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Derek Kilmer. |
- Congressman Derek Kilmer official U.S. House website
- Derek Kilmer for Congress
- Derek Kilmer at Curlie
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Appearances on C-SPAN
U.S. House of Representatives | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Norm Dicks |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 6th congressional district 2013–present |
Incumbent |
New office | Chair of the House Modernization Committee 2019–present | |
Party political offices | ||
Preceded by Jim Himes |
Chair of the New Democrat Coalition 2019–2021 |
Succeeded by Suzan DelBene |
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
Preceded by Dan Kildee |
United States Representatives by seniority 179th |
Succeeded by Ann McLane Kuster |