Jolene Unsoeld
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Washington's 3rd district
In office
January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995
Preceded byDon Bonker
Succeeded byLinda Smith
Member of the Washington House of Representatives
from the 22nd district
In office
January 14, 1985 – January 9, 1989
Preceded byMike Kreidler
Succeeded byKaren Fraser
Personal details
Born
Jolene Bishoprick

(1931-12-03)December 3, 1931
Corvallis, Oregon, U.S.
DiedNovember 28, 2021(2021-11-28) (aged 89)
Olympia, Washington, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1951; died 1979)​
Children4
EducationOregon State University

Jolene Bishoprick Unsoeld (December 3, 1931 – November 28, 2021) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1989 to 1995. A Democrat, Unsoeld represented Washington's 3rd congressional district in Congress, where she developed a reputation as a supporter of environmentalist and feminist causes.[1]

Early life

Unsoeld was born Jolene Bishoprick in Corvallis, Oregon, on December 3, 1931, the daughter of Cora (Trapman) and Stanley Bishoprick, who was in the timber business.[2][3]

She attended Oregon State University from 1949 to 1951. In 1951, she married Willi Unsoeld, a mountaineer and later college professor; they had four children.[4] Accompanying Willi to the Himalayas, she spent two years as director of an English-language education program for local residents in Kathmandu, Nepal in the early 1960s.[5]

Political career

Washington state politics

Unsoeld spent the 1970s and early 1980s as a citizen lobbyist in support of open government, including open public meetings and open public records. Her efforts led to the passing of Initiative 276 in 1972, and consequently the establishment of the Washington Public Disclosure Commission, and required disclosure of campaign contributions by candidates for elective office.[5][6] In 1977 she and Willi became concerned about proposed nuclear power plants, and joined in forming Fair Electric Rates Now (FERN), which was a ratepayer and environmental group that worked for many years opposing utility investment in nuclear energy, encouraging investment in energy conservation, and supporting utility rate design that rewarded consumers who used less power.[7] In 1984, she ran for the office of state representative, and served two terms in the Washington State Legislature prior to running for Congress in 1988.[1][5] While EMILY's List described her as "the conscience" of the state legislature,[7][8] she described herself as a "citizen meddler".[9]

Congressional career

1988 election

After Representative Don Bonker of the 3rd district decided to run for Senate in 1988, Unsoeld ran for the open seat to replace him. Unsoeld faced moderate Clark County Commissioner John McKibbin in the primary, who depicted Unsoeld as too liberal for the district. In the general election, Unsoeld narrowly defeated her Republican opponent by just 618 votes out of more than 218,000 votes cast.[5]

Due to the close margin, Unsoeld's victory was only affirmed after a recount, five weeks after election day.[1] Unsoeld's campaign was endorsed by EMILY's List, in what was described as one of the organization's early victories.[10]

Tenure and 1994 defeat

Upon taking office, Unsoeld's first action was signing onto a gay-rights bill.[5] During her three terms in Congress, she worked hardest on the federal Freedom of Information Act, but she became best known for her opposition to gun control despite being very liberal on other issues. Unsoeld opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement, arguing that it was insufficient in protecting the labor rights of both Mexican and American workers:

A NAFTA that fails to reverse Mexico's policy of menial wages and fails to bolster Mexican labor rights is bad news for their workers and bad news for our workers.[11]

Notably, Unsoeld opposed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, generally referred to as the "1994 Crime Bill".[12] She lost her bid for re-election in the Republican Revolution of 1994 to Linda Smith, in what was described as a "surprise" victory for her opponent.[13] The 1994 campaign was noted for being unusually contentious, with Smith going as far as to suggest that Unsoeld's conservative father supported her campaign over his daughter's.[14]

Later life and death

After leaving Congress, Unsoeld taught as a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics in the John F. Kennedy School of Government in the Fall of 1995.[15] After teaching, she returned to Washington state and in October 1995 was appointed by Governor Mike Lowry to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission. She was reappointed in 1997 by Governor Gary Locke, however in February 1998 the State Senate refused to confirm her renomination after she argued that more restrictions on fishing were necessary to restore salmon runs.[5]

In 2008, in recognition of her efforts to advance government transparency,[16] the Washington Coalition for Open Government bestowed the James Madison Award on Unsoeld.[17][18]

Unsoeld died in Olympia, Washington, on November 28, 2021, five days before her 90th birthday.[19][20]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "UNSOELD, Jolene | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  2. ↑ Wasniewski, Matthew Andrew (2006). Women in Congress, 1917–2006. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 664–667. ISBN 978-0-16-076753-1.
  3. ↑ Danford, Robert M. (1967). The Nobles and the Raders: Being a Compilation of Members and Descendents [sic] of the Noble and Rader Families who Were Amongst the Earliest Pioneer Settlers of Mercer County, Illinois. R.M. Danford. p. 130.
  4. ↑ 1989-1990 Official Congressional Directory
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dougherty, Phil (November 22, 2017). "Unsoeld, Jolene Bishoprick (b. 1931) | HistoryLink.org Essay 20474". historylink.org.
  6. ↑ "Initiatives to the People – 1914 through 2009". Secstate.wa.gov. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  7. 1 2 John C. Hughes and staff, Legacy Washington (2016). "Jolene Unsoeld – Who ARE We?". www.sos.wa.gov. Office of the Secretary of State, Washington. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  8. ↑ Malcolm, Ellen; Unger, Craig (2017). When women win : EMILY's list and the rise of women in American politics (First Mariner books ed.). Boston. p. 109. ISBN 9781328710277.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ↑ Connelly, Joel (November 30, 2021). "A Tribute to Congresswoman Jolene Unsoeld, Dead at 89, and her 'Life of Wild Adventure'". Post Alley. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  10. ↑ Connelly, Joel (August 19, 2021). "Emily's List Weighs in for Lorena Gonzalez". Post Alley. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Ad For Dollar-An-Hour Workers Turned Some Against Nafta | The Seattle Times". archive.seattletimes.com. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  12. ↑ "THE CRIME BILL; The Roll-Call of the House On the Crime Measure". The New York Times. Associated Press. August 22, 1994. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  13. ↑ "AllPolitics – Washington 3". www.cnn.com. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  14. ↑ Robinson, Kathryn (October 9, 2006). "The Beltway's Worst Nightmare". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Harvard University Institute of Politics – Jolene Unsoeld". Iop.harvard.edu. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  16. ↑ "In Our View: Unsoeld left indelible impression on Washington". The Columbian. December 3, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Madison Award". Washington Coalition for Open Government. 2008. Retrieved December 3, 2021. 2008 – Jolene Unsoeld – Jolene Unsoeld is a former member of the Washington State Legislature and United States House of Representatives. As an independent lobbyist in Olympia from 1971 to 1984 and then as a state legislator from 1985 to 1988, Unsoeld was Washington state's major advocate for open government where she protected and strengthened the Public Records Act, the Open Public Meetings Act, and the Public Disclosure Commission and the laws that it enforces. Unsoeld collected petition signatures in 1972 to put Initiative 276, the Open Government Act (now often referred to as the Public Disclosure Act) on the ballot, and was part of the campaign that enacted the initiative that year through overwhelming voter support. More recently, Jolene served as a Member of Congress from 1989 to 1995 and worked there on behalf of the federal Freedom of Information Act and campaign spending reform.
  18. ↑ OG-Blog (August 12, 2008). "Open-Government Blog: Jolene Unsoeld Awarded James Madison Award". Og-blogdotcom.blogspot.com. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  19. ↑ Libby, Amy (November 29, 2021). "Former 3rd District Rep. Jolene Unsoeld dies at age 89". The Columbian. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  20. ↑ Boone, Rolf (November 30, 2021). "Jolene Unsoeld, who represented Olympia area in legislature and Congress, is dead at 89". The Olympian. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
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