Rodney Tom won't run for re-election.

[eridani]

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/politicsnorthwest/2014/04/14/state-senate-majority-leader-rodney-tom-drops-re-election-bid/

Sorry about his father, but otherwise this is good news.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. Good riddance to bad rubbish

Rodney Tom was mainly about himself. He became a Democrat when it looked like the Republicans were going to lose big time. Then he switched back when it meant he'd become Majority leader.

Glad to see him leave.

[eridani]

2. Northwest Progressive Institute article

http://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2014/04/rodney-tom-ends-reelection-bid-fallout-will-reshape-the-2014-electoral-landscape-in-wa.html

Democrats across Washington who have been longing for an end to the Rodney Tom error in Evergreen State politics got their wish fulfilled today with the unexpected news that Tom is dropping his reelection bid to care for his injured father and spend more time with his family.

Tom, fifty, is the Majority Leader in Name Only of the Washington State Senate. He began his career in the Legislature over ten years ago, winning election to the state House twice as a Republican. In early 2006, Tom abandoned the Republicans and became a Democrat, announcing that he would run for Senate against then-incumbent Senator Luke Esser, also a Republican.

The Democratic Party establishment embraced Tom and withdrew its support for its own candidate, Debi Golden, believing Tom’s chances of winning to be better than Golden’s. It was a decision the party establishment would come to regret.

Tom easily defeated Esser and moved from the House Democratic Caucus to the Senate Democratic Caucus. In 2010, Tom was challenged by wealthy Republican Gregg Bennett for reelection, but with the help of the state, county, and 48th District Democratic organizations, he won reelection for a second consecutive term.

Two years ago, in the spring of 2012, Tom and his colleagues Jim Kastama and Tim Sheldon abandoned the Senate Democratic caucus and helped Republicans seize control of the floor of the Washington State Senate using a parliamentary maneuver known as the Ninth Order. The trio provided Republicans with the votes to adopt an irresponsible supplemental budget and prevent several Democratic policy priorities, including the Reproductive Parity Act, from receiving a vote.