In November 2002, John McCoy, a Tulalip leader, was elected to the Washington State legislature, retired in April 2020. For a time he served as the only Native American in the legislature, joining Jeff Morris, an Alaskan Native (Tsimpshian) who was elected in 1996 with two other Alaskan Natives, Dino Rossi (Tlinget) and Jim Dunn (Aleut). In 2002 the Tulalip Tribes also exerted political power by allying with other tribes across the state and defeating a state Supreme Court candidate "with a long track record of opposing tribal interests."