Sharon Nelson moves from her job as a legislative assistant and chief of staff to King County Councilman Dow Constantine to the vacant 34th District seat in the Washington House of Representatives.

Nelson's domino is the last to fall this autumn after the resignation of Sen. Erik Poulsen from the district that represents West Seattle, White Center, Burien and Vashon and Maury Islands in the Legislature.

When Poulsen quit to become a lobbyist for rural public utilities, Rep. Joe McDermott was appointed to complete his Senate term.

A half dozen 34th District Democrats announced their candidacy to replace McDermott in the House. The district's precinct committee officers voted and Nelson was elected. Toni Lysen and Greg Doss finished second and third in the voting.

Nelson was born in Park Rapids, Minn., the middle child among three sisters.

The family moved to Hawaii within weeks of her birth. Her father, a chief yeoman in the U.S. Navy, was assigned to Pearl Harbor for most of Nelson's childhood.

She later attended Whitman College, where she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in psychology.

Nelson moved to Ketchikan, Alaska and started doing data processing at night for the National Bank of Alaska. She got into management and began working her way up.

She got a job at the Bank of Renton and moved to Kent's East Hill area in the mid-1970s. Then she worked with brokered leases on her way to becoming a vice president at Seafirst Bank.

Nelson and her family ran into problems with a septic system at a new house on Maury Island. The unpleasant encounter revealed the ins and outs of government regulation and Nelson got closely involved in trying to change state law to gain better consumer protection for septic system buyers. She soon found herself appointed to a governor's committee on statewide septic system reform.

The experience lit an interest in politics and the environment that still burns, she said.

"We had a problem and we got it fixed," Nelson said. "It made a difference for me, that it is possible to change things."

"I'm really looking forward to being in Olympia," she said.

"The 34th District is so diverse as far as the communities in it, but you take a look at all the issues going on in it - transportation, education, the environment and, for North Highline, annexation - and its future is really important."

Nelson said she "will take a strong look at all options available to (North Highline) regarding annexation."

"I will definitely be running" for election to a full term as state representative in 2008.

"We got ourselves a state representative who is going to make her presence known in Olympia and do the district proud," said 34th District Democratic Chairman Ivan Weiss.

"She's well versed ... on the whole legislative agenda."

"I think she's more than ready. She's an outstanding choice," King County Democratic Chairwoman Susan Sheary said of Nelson.

"She's a great community activist and has been involved with all the environmental issues on Vashon Island.

Nelson has led efforts to protect Puget Sound, to fight Glacier Northwest's attempt to expand a mine on Maury Island, and to establish the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve.

High among Nelson's priorities will be education, she said. On the 34th District Democrats' website, she stated she's in favor of reducing class sizes and early learning assessments of children in reading, writing and math.

She supports state-of-the-art vocational training and wants bettere access to higher education.

Another stated priority for Nelson is transportation funding. She supported Proposition No. 1, the regional roads and transit measure, because it included funding for a new exit ramp from the Spokane Street Viaduct to Fourth Avenue. It also would pay for the Lander Street overpass in the Sodo area, extend State Route 509 farther South, fund waterborne transit such as water taxis, and pay for dedicated bus lanes.

There would be money to study the potential of light rail being extended to West Seattle and Burien.

Nelson's third priority is the environment. She is concerned about global warming and points to Puget Sound's own orca whales.

The 34th District's new representative also thinks the state of Washington has an obligation to financially assist either Burien or Seattle, whichever eventually annexes the North Highline area. The need for annexation is called for in the state Growth Management Act, so the state should help pay for the support of its policy, Nelson argued.

Tim St. Clair can be reached at timstc@robinsonnews.com or 932-0300. Reporter Ralph Nichols contributed to this report.