Christine Gregoire

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Christine Gregoire
22nd Governor of Washington
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 12, 2005
Lieutenant	Brad Owen
Preceded by	Gary Locke
Born	March 24, 1947 (1947-03-24) (age 61) Auburn, Washington
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Mike Gregoire
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholic

Christine O'Grady "Chris" Gregoire (born March 24, 1947) is the Democratic governor of the U.S. state of Washington. Gregoire's election to the office in 2004 was notable for her historically slim margin of victory over Republican Dino Rossi, who had appeared to defeat Gregoire on election day and after a first recount conducted by machine, until a hand recount resulted in a reversal of the outcome in Gregoire's favor.^[1] She is Washington's second female governor.

[edit] Personal

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire (center), stands with Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels (left) and US Senator for Illinois Barack Obama (right) at a rally for Obama's presidential campaign at Key Arena on February 8, 2008

.

Gregoire, born Christine O'Grady, was raised in Auburn, Washington by her mother, Sybil O. Jacob, who raised Gregoire alone after leaving an abusive marriage shortly after the future governor's birth. Gregoire grew up on a small farm in Auburn, at the time a rural community, helping care for the crops and livestock and working as a cook in town. Gregoire attended the University of Washington, graduating in 1969 with a teaching certificate and a bachelor's degree in speech and sociology. She is an alumna of Kappa Delta sorority, where she served as the chapter's president. In her campaign for governor in 2004 she would be criticized for maintaining the sorority's policy of admitting only white, Christian women, where she actually sought to change the sororities policies in their admittance standards. After college she worked as a clerk-typist, and later as a welfare fraud investigator for the state Department of Social and Health Services, where she met her future husband, Mike Gregoire. ^[2][3]

Chris Gregoire attended law school at Gonzaga University in Spokane, graduating in 1977, and went to work as an assistant attorney general in the office of state Attorney General Slade Gorton, a Republican. 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. The Gregoires' first child, Courtney, was born in 1979; a second daughter died within hours of birth in 1981. A third daughter, Michelle, was born in 1984.^[2]

When not in Olympia, Gregoire lives in the nearby suburb of Lacey with her husband Mike; 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 daughters, Courtney and Michelle, are both graduates of Olympia High School in Olympia, Washington.^[2][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.^[4]

[edit] Director of Washington Department of Ecology

She served as the director of the Washington Department of Ecology from 1988 until 1992, when she was first elected attorney general, a post to which she was twice re-elected. While Ecology director she negotiated a three party agreement in 1989 with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy to clean up waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. As attorney general she sued several times to try to get a more adequate cleanup job. Congress has not appropriated a sufficient level of funding to allow the pace of activity anticipated by the original agreement, now estimated to require a total of $50 to $100 billion. Dissatisfaction with the slow pace of cleanup led to a successful initiative in 2004 that requires the refusal of new waste shipments until past cleanup promises are back on track.

[edit] Washington Attorney General

Chris Gregoire was elected to three terms as attorney general and was the first woman to be elected to the position in Washington. During her time in office, she worked on children's issues, reformed the state's juvenile system, led an effort to strengthen identity theft victims' rights, worked to pass a new ethics law for state government and to find alternatives to litigation in resolving legal disputes. Her office, in conjunction with other state attorneys general, investigated and sued drug companies for allegedly violating antitrust laws concerning manipulation of the price and availability of prescription drugs.^[3]

Gregoire was also heavily involved in the lawsuit against the tobacco industry in the 1990s and won the state a $4.5 billion share of the settlement, including a $500 million bonus for her lead role. In recognition of her leadership in the fight against the tobacco industry, the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund campaigned on her behalf in 2004 and stated "There isn’t a stronger tobacco control leader anywhere in the Country than Chris Gregoire".^[5] Gregoire was also critical of a later securitization of the tobacco industry settlement to fill a budget gap in the 2002 state budget.^[6]

She was also critical in preventing the Republican-controlled House from diverting $90 million of the state's share of the money into the general fund, leaving only $2.5 million earmarked for tobacco-related issues.^[7]

Controversy arose in 2000 when Gregoire's office failed to file documents on time in an appeal of a record $17.8 million personal-injury verdict against Washington state. Though it was unclear as to who misplaced the files, Gregoire was said to have tried every possible way to ensure that her name would not be tied in a bad way to the accident.^{[citation needed]} An independent investigation forced state attorney Janet Capps to resign. Capps later sued the state for wrongful termination. Documents from the independent investigation show that Gregoire's deputies attempted to influence the report by downplaying broad management problems in the office.^[8] In 2002, during a wrongful death lawsuit against the state, Gregoire’s office did not detect an error in jury instructions; the state was eventually hit with a $22.4 million judgment as a result of that lawsuit. While Gregoire was not directly in charge of these cases, as Attorney General she was ultimately responsible for them.

[edit] 2004 election

Main article: Washington gubernatorial election, 2004

Gregoire defeated Ron Sims and four other minor candidates in the primary election on September 14, 2004. Sims campaigned on the need for tax reform. Gregoire performed relatively poorly among blacks and liberal whites, which is likely due to Sims' ethnicity and questions about her participation in a college sorority.

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. She was criticized for being a part of the Olympia establishment but tried to counter the "time for a change" message by saying she would "blow past the bureaucracy" and bring change herself. This language surprised and disappointed many of her colleagues and supporters. She was also criticized for failing to give much mention or credit to the efforts and achievements of past Democratic governors while touting her own public service.

[edit] Vote count dispute

The election was held on November 2, 2004. The initial count showed her trailing Rossi by 261 votes; however, a legally mandated machine recount diminished that lead to only 42 votes. On December 3, the Democratic Party requested and funded a hand recount which gave Gregoire a 10-vote lead. They also filed a motion in the state Supreme Court to request that rejected ballots from King County that were not counted previously be reevaluated. A Pierce County Superior Court judge ruled that ballots should not be counted, but on December 22, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the rejected King County ballots should be counted. Of those 732 ballots, 566 were accepted as having valid signatures and were added to the existing total on December 23. The final results of the hand count, as of December 23,^[9] had Christine Gregoire ahead by 130 votes, solidifying the 10-vote lead she had before the previously rejected King County ballots were tabulated. On December 30, Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed certified Gregoire as the winner by 129 votes (he removed one vote which had been counted in Thurston County past the deadline).

Along the way it was discovered that hundreds of votes, including votes by felons, deceased voters, and double voters, were included in the canvas. King County's election department (the greater Seattle area) came under fire for how it handled its ballots, including untracked use of a "ballot-on-demand" printing machine[5]. Also, ballots in six counties were discovered after the initial count and included in the recounts, the most being from King County, a heavy supporter of Gregoire. Even before the election date, the U.S. Department of Justice threatened to sue Washington State for failing to mail military ballots overseas, generally assumed to be Republican votes[6].

Washington Republican leaders claimed there were enough disputed votes to change the outcome of the election and sued. On May 25, 2005 the judge hearing the lawsuit ruled that the Party did not provide enough evidence that the disputed votes were ineligible votes, or for whom they were cast, to enable the court to overturn the election.[7]

Rossi did not appeal to the state Supreme Court; Gregoire was declared governor, by a margin of 129 votes, or 0.0045%. Rossi returned to his work in real estate and on his book.

Gregoire's victory was certified in late December, making this the first time in Washington state history that a recount reversed an election result, and making Washington the first state with a female governor and two female US senators (Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell).

Republicans continued to dispute election accuracy in a case in the Superior Court for Chelan County, one of the most conservative counties in the state. They hoped to have Gregoire's election invalidated in time for a revote in 2006. On June 6, 2005, Judge John E. Bridges criticized election methods, noted that there was evidence that 1,678 votes had been illegally cast throughout the state, found that the only evidence submitted to show how those votes had been cast were sworn statements from four persons that they had voted for Rossi, subtracted those four votes from Rossi's total and upheld the election.^{[10] [11]}. This brought the official margin of victory for Gregoire to 133. Rossi did not appeal.

[edit] Washington Governor

During an investigative report of the child-care system in Washington, The Columbian found numerous problems with the state's child-care regulatory system. Many of these problems existed prior to Gregoire entering office, but continued after she was elected and despite her creation of the Department of Early Learning, which consolidated oversight of child-care providers under one agency. During The Columbian's investigation, the newspaper was repeatedly stonewalled by the Department of Early Learning and when the Governor's office was asked for comment, her interim communications director said that Gregoire would not be made available to answer questions "that’s going to make it look like she’s been asleep at the wheel". Gregoire did respond via a prepared statement that the problems identified by The Columbian's investigation were a reminder of why "we created the Department of Early Learning to serve as an effective resource for parents and teachers, reduce bureaucracy and utilize funds more efficiently".^[12]

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. Once it became clear that the Democrats planned on only re-instating the 1% tax cap imposed by the initiative without closing a loophole in the law that allowed local governments to increase taxes more than 1% if they did not increase property taxes the full 1% in previous years, Eyman and Republicans complained that the Democrats and Gregoire were not going far enough.^[13]

[edit] Transportation policy

The first legislative session ended with Gregoire brokering new bipartisan transportation legislation.^[14] 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. This proposal was initially rejected by the House but then passed with a re-vote the final day of the 2005 session.

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, several state legislators disagreed with the merits of the tax. Their reasons included the heavy emphasis on funding Seattle area projects and the already high price of gas. An initiative to repeal the tax, Measure No. 912, was a part of the November 2005 ballot, but was rejected by the voters.

[edit] Gay rights

One notable bill that failed in the 2005 session but subsequently passed in the 2006 session was a gay civil rights bill, 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.

Governor Gregoire signed a law on April 21, 2007 granting same-sex couples domestic partnership rights.

[edit] Online Gambling

On March 28, 2006, Gov. Christine Gregoire signed Senate Bill 6613 to add prohibitions to the Gambling Act and the State Lottery regarding the use of the Internet in wagering and in selling lottery tickets, respectively. Creating Recreational use of Online Poker to be a Class C Felony within Washington State. 2006 Senate Bill 6613 - Banning Internet Gambling

[edit] 2006 legislative session agenda

Gregoire's agenda for the 2006 legislative session includes:

• implementing education reforms based on the non-partisan Washington Learns committee, including ^[15]
  • early childhood education programs.
  • implementing international standards for math and the sciences.
  • increasing slots for high-demand fields, such as nursing sciences, engineering, and the teaching of math and sciences.
  • education needs to prepare for the global market.
  • accountability standards for evaluation of program effectiveness.
• making school levy approval contingent on a majority of voter support, rather than a 60% super-majority.^[15]
• assessing the fiscal viability of two Seattle transportation projects (replacing the Alaska Way Viaduct with a new viaduct or a tunnel and replacing the Route 520 Bridge.)^[15]
• budgeting the $1.4 billion surplus in the state budget and setting aside a portion for a rainy day fund.^[15]
• assisting those who can't afford the rising costs of home heating fuels.^[16]
• funding biofuel and biodiesel research.^[16]
• funding emergency preparedness tsunami and seismic activity warnings systems.^[16]
• investing in the cleanup of Puget Sound.^[16]
• improving health care by tackling rising health care costs and lack of quality issues.^[16]

[edit] Approval rating

Gregoire began office with low approval ratings, however, her popularity steadily improved and has remained relatively constant around 50% approval according to polling by Survey USA,^[17] the latest taken in October 2007 showed her rating at 53%.^[18]

[edit] Electoral History

[edit] References

• "Tribes are asked to end casino smoking" by Joel Connelly, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 9, 2005 retrieved December 9, 2005.
• State of the State speech, 2005.

[edit] External links

• Washington Governor Christine Gregoire official state site
• National Governors Association - Washington Governor Chris Gregoire biography
• Follow the Money - Christine O Gregoire 2004 campaign contributions
• On the Issues - Christine Gregoire issue positions and quotes
• Project Vote Smart - Governor Christine Gregoire (WA) profile

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