U.S. Rep. Denny Heck, who represents Olympia and Pierce County, to retire at end of term

Congressman Denny Heck, who has represented the Washington 10th Congressional District that includes Olympia and parts of Pierce County since 2013, announced Wednesday he intends to retire from Congress at the end of his term in 2020.

The Democrat made the announcement in a letter to supporters. He said while he has enjoyed his time in Congress, the discourse in Washington, D.C., has left him feeling discouraged.

He called President Donald Trump a “symptom and not the cause” of degrading civic discourse in which compromise is out and success is measured by Twitter followers.

“The countless hours I have spent in the investigation of Russian election interference and the impeachment inquiry have rendered my soul weary. I will never understand how some of my colleagues, in many ways good people, could ignore or deny the President’s unrelenting attack on a free press, his vicious character assassination of anyone who disagreed with him, and his demonstrably very distant relationship with the truth,” he wrote.

Heck, who lives in Olympia, said he looks forward to spending more time with his wife, Paula, and writing “at least two books.”

Heck, a Vancouver native, graduated from The Evergreen State College and later served as a trustee of the college. He served five terms as a state legislator, ran unsuccessfully for Washington’s superintendent of public instruction in 1988, and served as chief of staff to Gov. Booth Gardner.

Heck went on to co-found and run TVW, the state’s public affairs network, starting in 1993. There he hosted the weekly program “Inside Olympia.” TVW President Renee Radcliff Sinclair credits Heck with enabling the independent nonprofit to promote open government.

“Truly Denny really shepherded those early years and was a really solid steward for this resource, and I will always respect him for that,” she said.

Heck’s first run for Congress was in 2010 for the 3rd Congressional District, which then reached from Olympia south to Vancouver. He lost to Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler.

The 10th Congressional District, covering parts of Thurston, Mason and Pierce counties, was created after the 2010 census. He won that seat in 2012 and was re-elected in 2014, 2016 and last year with 62 percent of the vote.

While in Congress, Heck served on the House Financial Services Committee and later the House Intelligence Committee that led the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the ongoing impeachment inquiry.

Locally, Heck sponsored legislation to rename the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. He also co-founded the Puget Sound Recovery Caucus and sponsored legislation to coordinate and fund environmental restoration of Puget Sound.

Heck’s announcement drew praise for him from his Democratic colleagues in both Washingtons.

State Rep. Laurie Dolan from Olympia said she was surprised by the news.

“Serving in the Washington State Legislature, whenever we needed Denny’s help, he was a text message away. Within the hour you’d have his help. He’s so responsive to our needs as a state,” she said.

State Rep. Beth Doglio, also from Olympia’s 22nd Legislative District, called Heck’s work on the House Intelligence Committee a good example of how he approached the job.

“His dogged questions and research and look into what’s going on in the Trump administration — that is important to our district and to the very fabric of our country and I cannot thank him enough for that,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, the Gig Harbor Democrat representing the 6th Congressional District, shares an apartment with Heck in D.C. In a statement Wednesday, Kilmer called Heck the definition of a public servant.

“From the time he was young, Denny committed himself to service — in the state legislature, as chief of staff to Governor Gardner, and most recently in Congress,” Kilmer wrote. “And the people of our state have benefited.”

Olympian reporter Sara Gentzler contributed to this report.

This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 10:32 AM.