Ann Rivers

Anna M. Rivers (born 1965 or 1966) is an American politician and educator serving as a Republican member of the Washington State Senate from when she was appointed to represent the 18th district in 2012, upon the resignation of Joe Zarelli.

Prior to this she was a member of the Washington House of Representatives.

In her first full term, a Majority Coalition Caucus was formed, taking control away from the Democrats in the state senate.

Rivers was appointed to be majority whip for the session, a rare appointment for a freshman senator.

Rivers was born in 1968 in Saint Joseph, Michigan.

She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Central Michigan University.

After graduating in 1990, Rivers worked as a 6th grade teacher.

Though she didn't run for office herself until much later, she helped Bill Williams in his election to the Alaska legislature in 1992, and became his chief of staff.

During that election, she founded AMR Consulting, a public relations and government affairs consulting firm, which helped in many political campaigns and provided political consultation for corporations.

In 2002, she returned to school and graduated from Lewis and Clark College with a secondary teaching certificate.

In 2007, she was on the short list for candidates to be chosen to replace Richard Curtis in the state house, but Jaime Herrera Beutler was chosen instead.

Later, Rivers succeeded Herrera Beutler in the house after the latter's election to the United States Congress.

When Representative Richard Curtis resigned from state house in 2007, Rivers was considered by the Clark County and Lewis County commissions to be a replacement but Jaime Herrera Beutler was chosen instead.

Rivers was elected to the Washington House of Representatives in 2010 succeeding Herrera Beutler after Beutler's election to the United States Congress.

As a state representative, Rivers was the assistant whip for the House Republican Caucus.

She also served on the House's Business and Financial Services Committee, Judiciary Committee, Transportation Committee and Rules Committee.

Her website listed communication as being vital as a state representative.

In January 2011, Rivers was selected to deliver the Republican response to governor Christine Gregoire's State of the State address.

In the address, she listed economic recovery and employment as well as compromise with Gregoire as being the top priorities of her party.

In February, Rivers submitted a bill to provide more funding for food banks and other charitable causes.

The bill authorized public utilities to solicit and collect donations from customers to be put towards food programs for the poor.

It also made the donations received by utilities separate from gross income, allowing for it to be tax-free.

The bill passed in the State House in February 2011 but failed to make it to the Senate floor.

She won re-election for another four-year term in 2012, with 67% of the vote against 32% for her opponent, Ralph Schmidt.

Prior to her holding elected office, Rivers led AMR Consulting, a political consulting firm which aided candidates in their elections for offices, as well as providing political consultation to corporate clients.

In June 2012, about 18 months into her term as a representative, county commissioners appointed Rivers to the state senate to replace Joseph Zarelli, who resigned after 17 years in the senate.

Rivers won re-election in the 2012 election to a four-year term, with 67% of the vote, to 32% for her opponent, Ralph Schmidt.

She outraised by 30–1, with $150,000, to just $5,000 for Schmidt.

Rivers' ideas for improving the economy include making the climate friendlier for business.

Her plan includes reducing the burden of worker's compensation costs for businesses, reducing regulations, and reducing permitting fees.

In early 2012, Rivers was selected for the Council of State Governments for the Western Legislative Academy.

Out of 93 applicants, 39, including Rivers, were chosen.

The academy is a training institute for lawmakers in their first four years of service.

In November 2012, shortly after entering office, Rivers was appointed to the Republican leadership as the minority whip.

Due to their opposition to the project, in July 2013, Governor Jay Inslee labeled both Rivers and Senator Don Benton from the neighboring 17th district "a brick wall to economic progress and CRC."

Speaking to a group of CRC supports, "The road to this bridge runs through two senators from this region. Those two senators have stymied any progress on this bridge project. … Until that changes, there’s not a lot I or you can do about that."

Rivers was reelected again in 2016, receiving 63.81% of the vote to Democrat Eric Holt's 36.19%.

In 2020, she was reelected with 56.3% of the vote against Democrat Rick Bell.

Rivers has spoken strongly about the Columbia River Crossing I-5 bridge replacement, saying that she disagreed with most everything about the current plan, and that it does not do enough to solve the problem.

Willamette Week of Portland labeled Rivers "The CRC killer" for her leadership role in the opposition to the proposed megaproject.