Some Democrats took a beating in the last elections cycle, but Rep. Pat Sullivan, D-Covington is one of the exceptions.

Not only did Sullivan cruise back to Olympia with more than 57 percent of the vote for the 47th District House Position No. 2, he was elected to the majority leader position by the House Democratic Caucus Nov. 19.

The caucus met to choose the leadership and to no one’s surprise Rep. Frank Chopp, Seattle, returns as speaker. Chopp has served as the speaker for more than a decade. He was elected as co-speaker in 1999 and then speaker in 2002.

Sullivan fills the majority leader role, replacing Rep. Lynn Kessler, who is retiring.

Rep. Dawn Morrell, Puyallup, will be the caucus chair and Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, Sequim, will move into the role of majority whip.

“It’s great for south King County to be on the leadership team,” Sullivan said. “Our first job will be the supplemental budget.”

On Nov. 18 the Office of Financial Management reported the quarterly revenues forecast for 2010 are projected to fall short by $1.2 billion.

The governor was anticipating an estimated 6.3 percent across the board cut, but the cuts now look to be in the range of 10 percent.

“We are going to act as quickly as we can, but responsibly,” Sullivan said. “We are working with the governor now and all four caucuses are submitting recommendations.”

Sullivan said once the supplemental budget is tackled, the Legislature will have to dive into the biennial budget.

“We are talking about services people from all over the state rely on,” Sullivan said. “We are going to have to work together for a bipartisan agreement.”

This will be Sullivan’s fourth term in State House.