Luke Esser was the chairman of the Republican Party of Washington from 2007 to 2011. He was elected on January 27, 2007, when he defeated incumbent chairwoman Diane Tebelius

Diane Tebelius

Diane Tebelius is an American attorney and former federal prosecutor, Tebelius was the chair of the Republican Party of Washington from 2006 to 2007...

, was re-elected in 2009, but lost to Kirby Wilbur

Kirby Wilbur

Kirby Wilbur is an American radio personality and conservative political activist who hosted a local conservative talk radio morning show on KVI-AM in Seattle, Washington. He occasionally hosts The Sean Hannity Show on a fill-in basis. He was elected the State Chairman of the Washington State...

 in 2011.

Esser is a former senator

State Senator

A state senator is a member of a state's Senate, the upper house in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a legislator in Nebraska's one house State Legislature.There are typically fewer state senators than there are members of a state's lower house...

 in the Washington State Senate

Washington State Senate

The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 senators, each representing a district with a population of nearly 120,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympia....

, representing the 48th Legislative District. He served as the minority floor leader

Floor Leader

Floor Leaders are leaders of their political parties in each of the houses of the legislature.- Senate :In the United States Senate, they are elected by their respective party conferences to serve as the chief Senate spokesmen for their parties and to manage and schedule the legislative and...

 for the Republican Party. He was defeated for re-election in 2006

Washington State Senate elections, 2006

The 2006 Elections in Washington will include races for the US Senate, US House and Washington State Legislature. This page tracks incumbents and challengers for the Washington State Senate....

 by Democratic challenger and former Republican lawmaker Rodney Tom

Rodney Tom

Rodney Tom is an American politician, currently representing Washington's 48th Legislative District in the state Senate and a member of the Democratic Party.- Personal life :...

. In the 2004 Republican primary for the eighth Congressional district of Washington he finished third, behind Diane Tebelius

Diane Tebelius

Diane Tebelius is an American attorney and former federal prosecutor, Tebelius was the chair of the Republican Party of Washington from 2006 to 2007...

 and King County Sheriff Dave Reichert

Dave Reichert

David George Reichert is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served as Sheriff of King County, Washington.-Early life, education and career:...

. Reichert went on to win the general election and was re-elected in 2006 and 2008.

For much of the 1990s, Esser was a contributing writer to Fantasy Football Index, the nation's oldest and largest circulating fantasy football

Fantasy football (American)

Fantasy football is an interactive, virtual competition in which people manage professional football players versus one another and that allows people to act as general managers of a pseudo-football team. The players that an individual is able to manage are professional American Football players...

 publication.

Esser lives in East Bellevue, Washington

Bellevue, Washington

Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...

 and attended St. Louise Parish Catholic Church. He also went to the prestigious Interlake High School

Interlake High School

Interlake High School, also known as IHS, is a public high school in Bellevue, Washington. The school is one of the six high schools in the Bellevue School District. It is known for its diversity, its students' scholarship, and the International Baccalaureate program located at the school. The...

.

2008 Caucuses

Esser called the Republican presidential caucus of Washington for John McCain, on February 9, 2008, after 87% of the vote had been counted, and 200 votes separated John McCain from Mike Huckabee. Huckabee had been leading early on as the votes were counted, but after McCain took the lead, Esser published a press release declaring McCain the apparent victor.

As the remaining votes were counted, McCain maintained his lead and won.http://q13.trb.com/news/kcpq-021108-caucusupdate,0,4559846.story

Ed Rollins

Ed Rollins

Edward John "Ed" Rollins is a Republican campaign consultant and advisor who has worked on several high-profile political campaigns in the United States. In 1983-84, he was National Campaign Director for the Reagan-Bush '84 campaign, winning 49 of 50 states...

, Huckabee's campaign chairman, directly challenged Esser’s move, saying the count was incomplete because the other 12.8 percent of precincts could tip the scales. “The chairman showed very bad judgment in stopping the voting last night when announcing John McCain had won, when there was less than a 200-vote margin between the two candidates,” Rollins told FOX News in an exclusive interview.

External links

• Campaign website
• Washington State Republican Party website
• Washington State Republican Party leadership biographies
• College Op-Ed written by Luke Esser on Suppressing Vote for Republican Advantage, UW Daily, Nov. 3, 1986