(The Center Square) – Dave Larson is coming out of retirement to again run for a seat on the Washington Supreme Court.
On Monday morning, he announced his intention to campaign for Position 5 on the state’s highest court, following the retirement announcement of Justice Barbara Madsen.
At the end of 2025, Larson retired as a Federal Way municipal court judge, having served nearly 18 years as a trial judge.
Larson cited a deep sense of duty to the people of Washington in deciding to come out of his short-lived retirement.
“In discussions with people about the direction our Court is taking, I decided that I just can’t walk away at this time,” Larson said in a news release announcing his campaign. “There is too much work left to do when it comes to making the court system more responsive to the needs of the people of our state. I want to be the voice of common sense on the Supreme Court so we can build a justice system that can be trusted by our trial judges and the people of this state to make decisions based on solid legal principles and what works for our communities.”
Larson has consistently positioned himself as a reformist outsider in his previous campaigns for the Washington Supreme Court, emphasizing that the role of a judge is to apply the law as written in the Constitution rather than imposing personal opinions.
He has also advocated for publicly financed judicial elections to eliminate the influence of private and special-interest money, which he claims raises conflict-of-interest concerns.
In November 2024, Larson lost a razor-close race to Sal Mungia, a Tacoma trial attorney, for an open state Supreme Court seat.
Larson also ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the state’s highest court in 2016 and 2020. He also ran in 2000 but didn’t advance beyond the primary.
