Christine Gregoire

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Christine Gregoire
Governor of Washington
Retired officeholder
In office
January 12, 2005 - January 16, 2013
Party	Democratic
Compensation
Base salary	$166,891
Prior offices
Director of Dept. of Ecology
1988-1992
Washington Attorney General
1993-2005
Personal
Birthday	March 24, 1947
Profession	Attorney
Websites
Office website

Christine O'Grady "Chris" Gregoire (b. March 24, 1947) is a former Democratic governor of the State of Washington. She was first elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2008.

Her 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 second hand recount resulted in a reversal of the outcome in her favor. She is Washington's second female governor.

Gregoire announced on June 13, 2011 that she would not seek re-election in 2012. She cited personal reasons, and in a press release declared: "I know it's the right decision for me and my family." She was succeeded by Jay Inslee (D), who won election on November 6, 2012.

Gregoire is rumored to be President Obama's top choice to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as of January, 2013.

Biography

Gregoire was raised in Auburn, Washington by her mother, who worked as a short-order cook. Gregoire graduated from Auburn High School and the University of Washington. She worked in the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services before going back to school to earn her law degree from Gonzaga University.

After law school, Gregoire clerked for the Spokane attorney general and went on to work as an assistant attorney general in the office of state Attorney General Slade Gorton. 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.

Education

• BA and teaching certificate, speech and sociology, University of Washington (1969)
  • Alumna of Kappa Delta sorority
• JD, Gonzaga University (1977)

Political career

Washington Governor (2005 - 2013)

Gregoire was first elected to the position of Governor of Washington in 2004 and won re-election in 2008. Her 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 second hand recount resulted in a reversal of the outcome in her favor. She is Washington's second female governor.She was later re-elected in 2008.

Gregorie announced on June 13, 2011 that she would not seek re-election in 2012. She cited personal reasons, and in a press release declared: "I know it's the right decision for me and my family."

Issues

Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")

In December, 2012, Gregoire declined to enter Washington into the federal health-exchange system established under the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as "Obamacare," in favor of setting up a state-based system. Washington is one of eighteen states - including Colorado, New York, New Mexico, and Oregon - that decided to create and run individual health-exchange systems by the December 14, 2012 deadline. The exchange is an online marketplace for citizens to purchase health insurance.

Judicial appointments

As governor, Gregoire is responsible for appointing judges to Washington state courts. In Washington, the governor makes a judicial appointment to fill a vacancy. Following appointment, the new judge must run for the seat in the next general election. For an up-to-date list of all of Gregoire's appointees, see Judgepedia's page on her appointments.

Washington Attorney General (1993-2005)

Chris Gregoire was elected to three terms as attorney general and was the first woman to be elected to the position in the State of 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.

Tobacco lawsuit

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, 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." Gregoire was also critical of a later securitization of the tobacco industry settlement to fill a budget gap in the 2002 state budget.

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 ear-marked for tobacco related issues.

Washington Dept. of Ecology (1988-1992)

She served as the director of the Washington Department of Ecology from 1988 until 1992. 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. Later, as attorney general she sued several times to try to get a more adequate cleanup job.

Elections

2012

Gregoire announced on June 13, 2011 that she would not seek re-election in 2012. She cited personal reasons, and in a press release declared: "I know it's the right decision for me and my family." Democratic former U.S. Congressman Jay Inslee won election on November 6, 2012.

2008

General

In the state's general election Gregoire faced Dino Rossi. According to reports, the election was expected to be a close call. Gregoire ended up defeating Rossi with 53% of the vote. Reports later indicated that there was a huge upswing in Democratic voter turnout, attributed to to the vote for Barack Obama in the U.S. Presidential election.

Governor of Washington, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Christine Gregoire Incumbent	53.2%	1,598,738
	Republican	Dino Rossi	46.8%	1,404,124
Total Votes				3,002,862

Primary

Gregoire won the state's first top two primary on August 19, 2008 with 49% of the vote.

2004

General

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.

Primary

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.

Gregoire is an alumna of Kappa Delta sorority, where she served as the chapter's president during her attendance at the University of Washington. In her campaign for governor she was criticized for maintaining the sorority's policy of admitting only white, Christian women.

Campaign donors

Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. The following table offers a breakdown of Christine Gregoire's donors each year. Click [show] for more information.

Christine Gregoire's Campaign Contributions
	2008 Governor of Washington		2004 Governor of Washington		2000 Attorney General of Washington		1996 Attorney General of Washington
Total Raised	$12,002,778		$6,328,025		$240,779		$203,214
Total Raised by General Election Opponent	$11,599,166		$6,433,887 (Republican) $2,950 (Libertarian)		$3,692 (Republican) $1,267 (Natural Medicine Party)		$62,464 (Republican) $2,741 (Libertarian) $1,036 (Natural Law Party)
Top 5 contributors	Washington State Democratic Party	$2,589,287	Washington State Democratic Party	$1,051,678	Priscilla Collins	$3,000	Charles & Gail Pancerzewki	$4,400
	House Democratic Campaign Committee of Washington	$25,000	Washington State Trial Lawyers Association	$5,400	Washington Restaurant Association	$2,400	Coordinated Campaign	$4,331
	Anonymous donor	$7,560	Garold Johnson	$3,300	Public School Employees of Washington	$2,400	Peter Taggares, III	$3,300
	Washington State Trial Lawyers Association	$6,400	Wendy Marshall	$3,100	Washington State Council of Fire Fighters	$2,400	Abraham Lincoln Memorial Society	$2,200
	James Judson	$4,600	Karen Glover	$2,750	Washington State Auto Dealers	$2,400	Machinists & Aerospace Workers	$2,200
Individuals	$7,912,090		$4,605,822		$130,343		$77,674
Institutions	$1,127,327		$633,618		$81,109		$60,216
In-state donations	$10,397,461		$4,815,679		$187,938		$188,979
Out-of-state donations	$1,443,589		$1,492,698		$28,105		$13,850

Awards

In 2007, Governing magazine named Gregoire as one of nine "Public Officials of the Year" for his bipartisan approach as speaker in addressing the Colorado's budget problems. Other honorees included Houston Mayor Bill White and Speaker Fabian Núñez of the California State Assembly. Each year since 1994, Governing has selected a handful of state and local officials to honor for standout job performance. The Public Officials of the Year program "recognizes leaders from state, city and county government who exemplify the ideals of public service."

Personal

Gregoire, born Christine O'Grady, was raised in Auburn, Washington. Gregoire lives in a suburb of Olympia called Lacey with her husband Mike. Gregoire has two daughters, Courtney (1979) and Michelle (1982). Both daughters are graduates of Olympia High School in Olympia, Washington.

In 2003, Gregoire 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.

See also

Suggest a link

• Governor of Washington
• Lieutenant Governor of Washington
• Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen

External links

• Washington Governor Christine Gregoire Official state site
• - Washington Governor Chris Gregoire Biography
• On the Issues - Christine Gregoire Issue positions and quotes
• Project Vote Smart - Governor Christine Gregoire (WA) Profile
• Follow the Money - Christine O Gregoire 2004 campaign contributions

References

Political offices
Preceded by '	Washington Governor 2005 - 2013	Succeeded by Jay Inslee (D)