Marko Liias (D)

Marko Liias is a lifelong Washingtonian, born and raised in the same Snohomish County neighborhoods he now represents in the state Senate. The first in his family to attend college, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, a master’s from the University of Washington, and completed an executive program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government before returning home to build a life in public service. He managed a small family-owned construction business, taught as associate faculty at Everett Community College, and won a seat on the Mukilteo City Council in 2006. Two years later, he was appointed to the state House of Representatives, launching a legislative career that has now spanned nearly two decades.

Appointed to the Senate in 2014 and re-elected by widening margins ever since, Liias chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, where he authored the landmark 2022 Move Ahead Washington package—a nearly $17 billion, 16-year investment in the state’s roads, bridges, and transit. He returned to that work in 2026, negotiating a bipartisan supplemental transportation budget with Republican Senator Curtis King that steered $1.5 billion toward preservation and maintenance without raising taxes. As co-chair of the LGBTQ Caucus and one of Washington’s first openly gay legislators, Liias has been a leading voice for equality, championing the 2021 Gender Affirming Care Act, the state’s ban on conversion therapy, and protections for transgender students. He has fought to make college more affordable through the Student Loan Bill of Rights, defended the Climate Commitment Act, and built a record recognized with a 100% environmental voting score.

What ties Liias’s record together is a conviction that government should work for everyone—the commuter stuck in traffic, the student buried in debt, the family that just wants to be treated with dignity. Pragmatic enough to cut deals across the aisle and principled enough to lead on the issues others avoid, he brings a rare combination of ambition and follow-through to Olympia. For the people of the 21st District, that has meant a senator who shows up, delivers, and keeps his promises.

Endorsements include the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, District Lodge 751.