About Rep. Andrew Barkis

Rep. Andrew Barkis represents the 2^nd Legislative District. He was first appointed to the state House of Representatives in February 2016. He is currently serving his fourth term as a state representative.

Andrew was born and raised in Chehalis. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout through the Boy Scouts of America, the highest achievement a boy can attain in scouting. He is a graduate of Seattle University with a degree in Communications. He also completed their Army ROTC program. He had hopes of becoming an army officer, but a knee injury during training ended his goals of serving in our military.

Since 2019, Andrew has served as the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee. As one of the state’s transportation budget leaders, he is the voice for fiscal responsibility, reform, and reprioritization. His goals are to keep costs down, stop the trend of forced taxes on drivers, and complete projects within existing revenue.

Andrew’s personal knowledge, experience, and leadership as a local business owner foster his priority to address the housing and homelessness crisis that continues to shadow Washington state. His focus is to increase housing supply by removing barriers to people’s ability to obtain affordable housing.

Due to the deeply personal effects opioid and heroin addiction have had on his family, he has also prioritized fighting the state’s drug epidemic by supporting law enforcements efforts in providing resources for getting people and drugs off the street.

Andrew and his wife, Lisa, live on Lake St. Clair in Thurston County and have been married for 30 years. They have two grown sons, Cameron and Evan. They enjoy doing anything outdoors, especially hiking and camping around the Pacific Northwest.

Andrew is an active member in his community and serves in several community organizations including the Lacey Chamber Commerce, Yelm Chamber of Commerce, Gateway Rotary of Thurston County, Lacey Sunrise Lions, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, and the Olympia chapter of the National Association of Residential Property Managers. He has also been involved with Boy Scouts Troop 222 since 2000 and served on the board of the Thurston County Boys and Girls Club for six years, and currently advises for Homes First.