Sheahan returns to Olympia

OLYMPIA – A year after losing his bid for U.S. Congress, former state lawmaker Larry Sheahan is back in Olympia to take a new job as assistant attorney general.

“I’m putting on a new hat,” Sheahan said Tuesday. “It’s time to turn the page and do something new.”

He starts work Monday. He’ll be working in the government operations division, serving as legal adviser to state commissions and agencies. His salary will be $74,400.

“Larry is an experienced attorney, and his career in the Legislature gives him a unique perspective as to how the Legislature and agencies operate,” said Greg Lane, a spokesman for the AG’s office.

Sheahan’s wife, Lura, also is going to work in Olympia. She starts work Thursday as manager of elections outreach and publications at the secretary of state’s office.

Both have been involved in politics for years. Larry Sheahan, a former legislative aide, was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1992. He was appointed to fill a Senate vacancy seven years later and rose to become Senate majority floor leader in 2003.

He stepped down last year to run for U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt’s seat in Congress, but lost the Republican primary to a colleague: House Minority Leader Cathy McMorris, from Colville. Sheahan then returned to his hometown, to work at the law firm he shared with his father in Rosalia.

“I’ll always miss the Palouse,” he said Tuesday. “It’s home. And I’ll be back there a lot visiting my parents and family.”

Sheahan stood on the deck of his rented home Tuesday, overlooking Capitol Lake and watching two bald eagles nesting about 50 yards away. He talked over the loud cries of circling seagulls.

“You don’t get that much on the Palouse,” he said.