Frank Chopp: 1953-2025
Tonight, Washington political circles are abuzz with the news that another giant of Evergreen politics has left us. Only days after the death of Republican Ralph Munro, we’ve now lost Democratic legend Frank Chopp, seventy-one, the longest-serving Speaker of the Washington State House of Representatives.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
“I grew up in a close-knit family in Bremerton, Washington,” Chopp explained in a biography on his campaign website. “My parents met on a picket line outside the coal mines in Roslyn, Washington, where my Dad started working at age twelve. They grew to hate how the coal companies treated their workers, and after years of strikes, my parents moved to Bremerton. My Dad got a job as a union electrician in the Bremerton Naval Shipyard and my Mom worked in a public school cafeteria.”
“Throughout my career, I have always [fought] against poverty and for working families. After graduating from the University of Washington, I worked as a community organizer fighting for a wide array of human services, health care programs, and affordable housing. These passions led me to serve for many years as Executive Director of the Fremont Public Association (now known as Solid Ground). At these and other non-profit organizations, I was able to help tens of thousands of low-income people every year.”
https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2025/03/frank-chopp-1953-2025.html