Jennifer Dunn (politician)

Jennifer Dunn
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 8th district
In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Rod Chandler
Succeeded by	Dave Reichert
Personal details
Born	Jennifer Jill Blackburn[1] (1941-07-29)July 29, 1941 Seattle, Washington
Died	September 5, 2007(2007-09-05) (aged 66) Alexandria, Virginia
Nationality	United States
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Dennis Dunn (b. 1940) (m. 1965–1977, divorce)[2] E. Keith Thomson (1937–2012) (m. 2003–2007, her death)
Children	Bryant Dunn (b. 1969) Reagan Dunn (b. 1971)
Alma mater	Stanford University, 1963 University of Washington
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Jennifer Jill Blackburn Dunn (July 29, 1941 – September 5, 2007) was a prominent Republican member of the United States House of Representatives 1993–2005, representing Washington's 8th congressional district.

Early life

Born in Seattle, Washington, Dunn grew up in the nearby city of Bellevue, and graduated from Bellevue High School in 1959. She attended the University of Washington, where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority,^[3] and Stanford University, earning business degrees. After graduation, she worked as a systems engineer.

Political career

Dunn was chair of the Washington State Republican Party from 1981 to 1992 and twice a delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (1984 and 1990). Elected to the House in 1992, she was Washington's only Republican representative until the Republican Revolution of 1994 when Republicans swept all but two of Washington's nine House seats. In 1998, she became the first woman ever to run for the position of House Majority Leader. In 2000, she served on the presidential election exploratory committee for then-Texas Governor George W. Bush. Dunn served as Vice-Chairwoman of the Select Committee on Homeland Security and served on the House Ways and Means Committee and the Joint Economic Committee.

On October 10, 2002, Dunn voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq. ^[4]

Dunn announced in 2004 she would retire from Congress, choosing not to run for re-election. Her seat was eventually filled by King County Sheriff Dave Reichert.

Dunn co-chaired the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation with former Representative Calvin Dooley. She also served as co-chair of the campaign organization "Women for Mitt" for presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the time of her death. She was succeeded in the Romney organization by U.S. Representative Kay Granger of Fort Worth, Texas.

Death

Dunn collapsed and died of a pulmonary embolism in 2007, in her Alexandria, Virginia apartment.^[5][6][7] Her memorial service was at St. James Cathedral in Seattle.^[8]

Electoral history

References

External links

• Jennifer Dunn at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Washington Secretary of State – History Makers – Jennifer Dunn
• HistoryLink.org – Jennifer Blackburn Dunn (1941–2007)