In May 2019, Pellicciotti announced his candidacy for
Washington State Treasurer in
2020. Pellicciotti defeated incumbent Republican
Duane Davidson in the general election, the first time in state history that a challenger defeated a sitting Washington State Treasurer. In 2020, Pellicciotti was the only Democratic candidate for any statewide executive office in the United States to defeat a Republican incumbent. At 42 years old, Pellicciotti was Washington's youngest statewide elected official when he was sworn in as State Treasurer in January 2021. During his first year in office, Pellicciotti refinanced state debt to save Washington State over $370 million. He increased pension funding and returned budget reserves to pre-pandemic levels. In 2022, Washington maintained Moody's top credit rating. Pellicciotti proposed creating a Washington Future Fund to address the
wealth gap. The proposal is modeled after the
Baby bonds concept that invests state money today to create future home ownership, educational, and small business opportunities two decades later when those born of limited means reach adulthood. The 2022 state budget created the Washington Future Fund Committee to examine Pellicciotti's proposal and study generational wealth inequities in the state. After a rash of robberies of cash-heavy cannabis retailers in Washington state in 2022, Pellicciotti went to Washington D.C. to unite state treasurers and Congress in support of cannabis banking. He was a leading advocate for the Senate to pass the
SAFE Banking Act in order to legalize cannabis banking in the United States. Pellicciotti was reelected in
2024, receiving 57% of the vote against Republican Sharon Hanek. ==Electoral history==