| Christine Gregoire | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 12, 2005 |
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| Lieutenant | Brad Owen |
| Preceded by | Gary Locke |
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| In office 1993-2005 |
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| Governor | Mike Lowry Gary Locke |
| Preceded by | Ken Eikenberry |
| Succeeded by | Rob McKenna |
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| Born | March 24, 1947 Adrian, Michigan |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Mike Gregoire |
| Children | Courtney Gregoire Michelle Gregoire |
| Residence | Lacey, Washington |
| Alma mater | University of Washington (B.A.), Gonzaga University (J.D.) |
| Profession | Attorney / Politician |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Website | www.chrisgregoire.com |
Christine O'Grady "Chris" Gregoire (born March 24, 1947) is the 22nd and current Governor of the state of Washington, and a member of the Democratic Party. Gregoire defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and again in 2008. She is the second female governor of Washington.
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Chris O’Grady was raised in Auburn, Washington, by her mother, who worked as a short-order cook to support the family. She rode horses and picked blueberries. After graduating from Auburn Senior High School,[1] she attended the University of Washington in Seattle, graduating in 1969. She attended law school at Gonzaga University in Spokane, graduating in 1977.
She went to work as an assistant attorney general in the office of state Attorney General Slade Gorton, a Republican.[2] As an assistant attorney general, Gregoire concentrated on child-abuse cases, coordinating with social workers to get children removed from abusive family situations and placed with relatives or foster homes. Gregoire's first child, Courtney, was born in Spokane in 1979. Their second daughter, Michelle, was born in 1984.[3] Michelle plays soccer for Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and Governor Gregoire is proud to call herself a 'soccer mum'. She is a season ticket holder for Sounders FC.[4]
When not in Olympia, Gregoire lives in the nearby suburb of Lacey with her husband Michael; the couple also spends part of most summers at a cabin on the shores of Hayden Lake, Idaho that the family bought in 1979. Their two kids, Michelle and Courtney, are both graduates of Olympia High School in Olympia, Washington.[3]
In 2003, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in an early stage after a routine check-up and a mammogram. She had surgery and recovered to good health. She mentions her fight with cancer in speeches about health care.[5]
Gregoire defeated Ron Sims and four other minor candidates in the primary election on September 14, 2004. She had come under fire during the primary for her membership in Kappa Delta and for that sorority's nonwhite membership policy in the late 1960s.[6] She clashed with Sims over her position at the sorority and Sims later dropped the issue and dismissed any claims of racism.[7] Sims campaigned on the need for tax reform and the institution of a statewide income tax.[8] Gregoire won the primary with over 60% of the vote.[9]
During the general election against former state senator and real estate agent Dino Rossi, Gregoire proposed a major initiative in life sciences, especially stem cell research.[10] In debates, Gregoire tried to counter voter unease about the state government by saying she would "blow past the bureaucracy" and bring change herself.[11] With a focus on change, but with little detail on specifics, many state Democratic leaders expressed concerns about the kind of leader Gregoire would be.[12] Gregoire would win the backing of the Legislature within six months after pushing through a number of important measures on car emission standards and unemployment benefits.[12]
The election was held on November 2, 2004, with the initial count showing Gregoire trailing Rossi by 261 votes. However, a legally mandated machine recount reduced that lead to only 42 votes, then a hand count that was requested and funded by the state's Democratic Party gave Gregoire a 10-vote lead. Following a State Supreme Court ruling that allowed several hundred ballots from King County to be included, her lead was further increased to 130 votes[13], but when the vote was certified by the state's Secretary of State, Sam Reed, at the end of December, one vote which had been counted in Thurston County past the deadline was disqualified and her lead was reduced to 129 votes.[14] Washington's Republican leadership then filed suit, claiming that hundreds of votes, including votes by felons,[15] deceased voters,[16] and double voters,[16] were included in the canvass, but on June 6, 2005, Judge John E. Bridges ruled that the Republican party did not provide enough evidence that the disputed votes were ineligible—or for whom they were cast—to overturn the election.[17] Judge Bridges did note that there was evidence that 1,678 votes had been illegally cast throughout the state,[18] but found that the only evidence submitted to show how those votes had been cast were sworn statements from four felons that they had voted for Rossi.[18] He subtracted those four votes from Rossi's total and upheld the election.[19]
On October 28, 2004, the Seattle Times reported that out-of-state donors were contributing heavily to Gregoire's campaign coffers.[20] More than one million dollars were given to the Democratic Governor's Association from trial lawyers who worked closely with Gregoire on the 1998 tobacco settlement.[20] According to the Seattle Times' analysis, nearly half of Gregoire's 2004 campaign contributions came from out-of-state.[20]
The first legislative session ended with Gregoire brokering new bipartisan transportation legislation.[21] The package included a 9.5-cent-a-gallon gas-tax increase to help repair many roads in Washington, particularly around Seattle area, such as the Alaskan Way Viaduct, Interstate 405, and the Route 520 bridge.[22] The bill was initially blocked by Republican leadership in the Legislature and when it came to a vote in the House on the morning of the last day of the 2005 session, it was blocked again in a procedural vote.[23] After extensive lobbying from Governor Gregoire, House Democratic and Republican leadership met and agreed to let the measure come up for a vote.[23] It cleared the House shortly thereafter and was swiftly passed by the state Senate.[23] Gregoire signed it into law later that week.[24]
The tax package was met with mixed reviews. While she was praised widely by Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate for her leadership skills regarding passing this deal,[24] several state legislators disagreed with the merits of the tax because of the already high price of gas.[25] An initiative to repeal the tax, Measure No. 912, was a part of the November 2005 ballot, but was rejected by the voters.[26]
Gregoire's agenda for the 2006 legislative session included implementing education reforms, including early childhood education programs and using international standards for math and science.[27] She also lobbied for a constitutional amendment to make a school levy approval contingent on a majority of voter support, rather than a 60% super-majority. The amendment got the necessary 2/3 vote in the state congress, but ultimately the state voters rejected the amendment.[27] Governor Gregoire spearheaded the effort to set aside a portion of the state's $1.4 billion surplus for a rainy day fund .[27][28]
On March 28, 2006, Gov. Christine Gregoire signed a bill to add prohibitions to the Gambling Act and the State Lottery to prohibit online gambling in the state.[29]
A landmark gay civil rights bill failed in the 2005 session but subsequently passed in the 2006 session. It was primarily responsible for expanding the scope of protected classes to include sexual orientation and gender identity in cases of discrimination. The bill was signed by Gregoire on January 31, 2006.
In October 2005, Gregoire sent a letter to the state's Gambling Commission recommending that it renegotiate a compact with the Spokane Native American tribe it had submitted for approval. The original compact would have allowed the tribe and any other tribe that signed on to the compact to have off-reservation gambling facilities, increase the number of slot machines allowed to 7,500, operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, removed betting limits for some card players, and give credits to high rollers in exchange for sharing the profits from gambling with state and local governments.[30] It was opposed by many of the state's lawmakers of both parties and by anti-gambling groups that were concerned about the spread of gambling across the state as well as other Native American tribes.[30] The renegotiated compact, which was signed by the Spokane and 26 other Washington tribes, was signed by Gregoire in early 2007 and eliminated the revenue sharing and off-reservation facilities, but included an increase of allowed slot machines to 4,700 with a limit of 2,000 per location, increased the betting limit of some of its slot machines to $20, and allowed high-stakes gambling on blackjack and poker tables to players that pass financial screening and aren't known problem gamblers. The tribe also agreed to donate 2 percent of the gross revenue from table games and 1 percent from gambling devices to charity.[31]
Governor Gregoire signed a law on April 21, 2007 granting same-sex couples domestic partnership rights.
Following a ruling by the state's supreme court that a 1% property tax cap voted into law via initiative was unconstitutional, Gregoire ordered a special session to reinstate the cap. In the days leading up to the special session Gregoire and the Democrats were accused by liberals that they were caving in to Tim Eyman, the person that submitted the property tax initiative, and rushing the legislative process to reinstate the cap but not making other, more meaningful, property tax reform.[32]
During the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, Governor Gregoire was heavily lobbied by both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for her endorsement as a superdelegate.[33] Gregoire officially endorsed Barack Obama on February 8, 2008, hours before an event at Key Arena in Seattle, Washington where she introduced Senator Obama before a crowd of 18,000 people.[33][34] The Washington caucuses were held the next day with Obama beating Clinton in every county in the state.[35]
Governor Gregoire began her re-election campaign at her late mother's former employer, the Rainbow Café in Auburn, Washington, on April 7, 2008.[36][37][38] Immediately after her announcement, Gregoire began a biodiesel bus tour of the State of Washington.[36] Her opponent in the race, Dino Rossi, had announced his candidacy in October 2007.[39]
Both Gregoire and her opponent fast approached fundraising records early in their campaigns.[40] In April, Governor Gregoire hosted a fundraiser with Bill Richardson at the Seattle Westin which net the campaign over $300,000.[41][42] Later, in July, Gregoire held another large fundraiser with Michelle Obama at the WaMu Theater with 1,600 attendees raising over $400,000.[43][44]
The Seattle Times later reported that Gregoire gave cost of living increases to state employees who had received no raises in "many years," and funded voter-approved initiatives to raise the pay of teachers, all groups that gave money to fund her 2004 recount campaign.[45]
Gregoire won Washington's first ever top two primary on August 19, 2008 with 49%.[46] She advanced to the general election against Dino Rossi.[46][47] The general election on November 4 was expected to be close, but Gregoire benefited from a large turnout among Democrats to vote for Barack Obama in the United States Presidential election and ended up defeating Rossi 53% to 47%. There was a marked geographical split in the 2008 election: the more populous and Democratic-leaning Western Washington counties supported Gregoire, whilst the less populous and more Republican-leaning Eastern Washington counties supported Rossi.[48]
Before the start of the 2009 legislative session, four separate unions representing state workers filed lawsuits against the governor for suggesting that the workers' pay raises be dropped as part of addressing the looming state budget deficit.[49][50]
In 2009, the Governor became the recipient of a sort of tongue-in-cheek Fuse "Fizzle" Award. The awards program is aimed at promoting leadership and accountability in the Washington State Legislature. [51]
Gregoire began office with low approval ratings, however, her popularity steadily improved and peaked at around 50% approval according to polling by Survey USA,[1] the latest taken in March 2009 showed her rating at 36%, with 57% disapproving of her performance as governor.[2]
| Washington Attorney General Election 1992[3] | |||||
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Christine Gregoire | 1,190,784 | 54.88 | ||
| Republican | Norm Maleng | 946,946 | 43.64 | ||
| Populist | Homer L. Brand | 32,124 | 1.48 | ||
| Washington Attorney General Election 1996[4] | |||||
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Christine Gregoire | 1,020,563 | 61 | ||
| Republican | Richard Pope | 581,895 | 35 | ||
| Libertarian | Richard Shepard | 46,376 | 3 | ||
| Washington Attorney General Election 2000[5] | |||||
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Christine Gregoire | 920,552 | 56 | ||
| Republican | Richard Pope | 636,738 | 38 | ||
| Libertarian | Richard Shepard | 64,824 | 4 | ||
| Washington Gubernatorial Election 2004 | |||||
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Christine Gregoire | 1,373,361 | 48.8730 | ||
| Republican | Dino Rossi | 1,373,228 | 48.8683 | ||
| Libertarian | Ruth Bennett | 63,465 | 2.2585 | ||
| Washington Gubernatorial Election 2008[6] | |||||
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Christine Gregoire | 1,518,245 | 53.20 | ||
| Republican | Dino Rossi | 1,335,490 | 46.80 | ||
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by Ken Eikenberry (R) |
Attorney General of Washington State 1993–2005 |
Succeeded by Rob McKenna (R) |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Gary Locke (D) |
Governor of Washington 2005–present |
Incumbent |
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