Chad Magendanz

Chad Lee Magendanz (born May 24, 1967) is an American politician who served in the Washington House of Representatives for the 5th district as a Republican from 2013 to 2017. He is currently running for state senate in the 5th legislative district of the Washington State Senate.

Chad Magendanz
Chad Magendanz for State Senate 2025 headshot
Member of the Washington House of Representatives from the 5th district
In office January 14, 2013 (2013-01-14) – January 9, 2017 (2017-01-09)
Preceded by	Glenn Anderson
Succeeded by	Paul Graves
Personal details
Born	Chad Lee Magendanz (1967-05-24) May 24, 1967 (age 58) New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Galen Pierce Magendanz
Residence	Mirrormont, Washington
Education	Cornell University (BEE)
Website	Official
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1985 – 1997
Rank	Lieutenant (navy)

Education

Magendanz enrolled in Cornell University in 1985 and graduated with a BS in electrical engineering. After graduating, Magendanz served in the United States Navy until 1997 as a nuclear submarine officer.^[1] He earned his Master of Arts in teaching from Central Washington University in the spring of 2021.

Personal life

He and his wife of 35 years reside in Issaquah, Washington, and have two sons.^[1]

Political career

Magendanz was appointed to the Issaquah School Board in 2008, and elected to that position in 2009. He served as the school board legislative representative from 2009 to 2010 and was elected president from 2011 to 2012.^[2] He was sworn into the Washington House of Representatives in 2013, representing the 5th district, a position he held until 2017. In 2016, Magendanz ran for a seat in the Washington State Senate and lost the race to the incumbent, Mark Mullet.^[3]

In 2018, he was defeated by Democrat Bill Ramos in the race for the State House.^[4] On May 6, 2025, Magendanz entered a November race against Democrat Victoria Hunt to fill the vacant seat left by Bill Ramos after Ramos's death in April.^[5] Hunt was appointed to the seat on June 3, 2025. She and Magendanz will be running in the November general election for the full term.^[6]

Legislative career

The Washington Cybercrime Act, which Magendanz co-sponsored, updates current statues to help prosecute crimes of electronic data interference, data theft, spoofing and tampering in the first and second degree.^[7] Magendanz also co-sponsored House Bill 2573, which sought to alleviate teacher shortages by helping with recruitment and retention and by removing barriers for out-of-state teachers to be certified in Washington.^[8][9]

Computer science career

Magendanz worked at Microsoft as a software developer. Magendanz currently teaches computer science in the Bellevue School District at Sammamish High School.^[10]