Biography

Cheryl Pflug is now our Fifth District State Senator. After serving two and a half terms in the state House of Representatives she was appointed to the state Senate in 2003 and then elected in 2004. Cheryl has earned a reputation as a very effective advocate for our schools, and for bringing home funding for local transportation improvements. She is a nationally recognized leader in health care policy.

Cheryl is a trained registered nurse and the mother of four beautiful children. An avid horsewoman, hiker and skier, Cheryl was brought up to appreciate the pristine natural beauty of the Northwest. Her latest outdoors adventure is flying, and she frequently gets an “overview” of the district from 3,000 feet.

Cheryl currently serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee and as the Deputy Republican Leader. She is a member of the Senate Transportation Comittee and the powerful Senate Rules Committee. Cheryl represents the Washington Senate as a delegate to the Pacific NW Economic Region, which is a statutory coalition of Northwestern states and provinces working together on cross-border issues such as border security, disaster and pandemic preparedness, energy and resource management, trade, and environmental protection. She also represents us as a member of the Joint Committee on International Relations and Economic Development, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee, and serves as Vice Chair on the Joint Oversight Committee on Trade.

A fourth generation native of the Puget Sound region, Cheryl has deep roots here in Washington State. She is the great-granddaughter of Chester W. Morse, the visionary Seattle City Engineer and Water Superintendent. After returning from the Klondike Gold Rush, Chester Morse acquired the land for the Cedar River Watershed on behalf of the City of Seattle. His vision and energy produced the water system that now supplies the entire Metropolitan Seattle area. Today the watershed reservoir, Chester Morse Lake, lies atop his original homestead site in the heart of the 5th legislative district.

Growing up, Cheryl's family spent extensive time backpacking throughout the Cascade, Rainier and Olympic National Parks. Cheryl learned to ski with the Mountaineers at age 5, worked to become an accomplished equestrian competitor, and graduated from Tahoma High School, in Maple Valley, as Valedictorian, "Best Scholar" and "Most Likely to Succeed." Educated at the University of Washington, she was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority, Commander of the Air Force ROTC Auxiliary and President of her alumnae House Association Board. She earned a B.S. in Nursing, specializing in pediatrics, and practiced as an RN the areas of school nursing, family practice, cardiac surgical care, and outpatient surgery.

Cheryl became the mother of four beautiful children and shifted her career focus to family and community. She has taken a strong, dedicated interest in the education of her children and has hands-on experience in public, private, and home schooling. Cheryl supports the public schools and literacy programs as a regular classroom and PTA volunteer. Cheryl has been an active volunteer in community athletic programs, Scouting and her church. She was a foster mother for Healing the Children; a regional judge for elementary school gifted program competitions, and served on the founding Board of a large local preschool.

Cheryl is the author of Washington's first-in-the-nation legislation to create humane, mandatory Treatment Alternatives for Non-Violent Mentally Ill Misdemeanants. Her Shared Decision-Making legislation has been recognized nationally as a positive step toward improving health outcomes while reducing unnecessary costs.

Recently, Cheryl was honored to be commissioned as a Washington General for her outstanding commitment to her community and service to the State of Washington..

Cheryl believes that our community needs a senator who will speak up on our behalf to address our current needs and to protect the future we are building together. She is proud of her reputation for independence, willingness to work across party lines, and creative problem-solving.