Steve Tharinger is a former small business owner and three-term Clallam County Commissioner.
He is a member of the Sequim Sunrise Rotary and a state-certified, volunteer mediator with the Peninsula Dispute Resolution Center. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College.
Steve was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2010 representing the 24th Legislative District, which includes all of Clallam and Jefferson counties and a portion of Grays Harbor County.
As chair of the House Capital Budget Committee, he helps write the state’s capital investment budget, which builds schools, colleges, parks and other state facilities plus making investments in our natural resources. He also serves on the Health Care and Wellness and Appropriations committees.
His community involvement includes past service on dozens of boards and commissions, including the Clallam County Economic Development Council, the state insurance commissioner’s Health Care Reform Revitalization Committee, the Clallam County Board of Health and the Dungeness River Management Team.
At the state level, he served on Salmon Recovery Funding Board from 2002 to 2008 as chair for two of those years. Steve helped write the state’s new Alzheimer’s plan, co-chairs the Joint Legislative Executive Committee on Aging and Disability, and is a member of the Dementia Action Collaborative.