Joe Zarelli represents the 18th Legislative District in the Washington State Legislature, and lives in the community of Ridgefield. Senator Zarelli was first elected to the Senate in 1995, and has served continuously ever since.

After serving as a top Senate Republican for several years.

Jaime Herrera

Jaime Herrera

Jaime Herrera Beutler is the U.S. Representative for . She is a member of the Republican Party, and is the youngest female U. S. Representative. She is a former Senior Legislative Aide for U.S...

 was an intern in Zarelli's office and he was a major supporter of her rise in politics.

Personal information

According to his official Legislative biography, Senator Zarelli owns a company specializing in business development and risk management services. He has an associates degree from Clark College

Clark College (Washington)

Clark College is a community college located in Vancouver, Washington.The college, which celebrated its 75th anniversary on October 1, 2008, was founded as a private, two-year, junior college in 1933...

. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1982 to 1989. Joe and his wife Tani, have four daughters and two grandchildren.

Political controversies

Zarelli was briefly dogged by controversy in 2002 when the Seattle Times reported on the fact that he collected unemployment while simultaneously serving in the State Legislature. This was seen as especially embarrassing because Zarelli had a well-established political identity as a fiscal conservative firmly opposed to state services of all kinds. Zarelli defended himself by arguing that the State Employment Security Department had found him to be eligible for benefits, and there were never any allegations of unsavory dealings behind the awarding of benefits. The controversy soon passed.

Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.