Margaret Leonard (May 27, 1916 – March 10, 2004) was an American tax consultant and politician from Washington. Leonard was a former

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

for District 3, from 1981 to 1983.

Early life

On May 27, 1916, Leonard was born in

Thorp, Washington Thorp ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. In 2015, the population was 317 according to statistics compiled by Data USA. The town of Thorp is east of Seattle, nort ...

Education

Leonard attended

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

and the Ellensburg Normal School.

Career

In 1967, Leonard was the first woman elected to the city council of

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

, where she served until 1977. In 1969, she narrowly defeated

James Everett Chase James Everett Chase (March 29, 1914 – May 19, 1987) was an African American politician in Spokane, Washington. He was elected mayor in 1981 by a landslide 62 percent to 38 percent margin, and became the state's second African American mayor. Ea ...

, who would go on to become both the first African American member of the city council and also the first African American mayor of Spokane. On November 4, 1980, Leonard won the election and became a Republican member of

for District 3, Position 2. Leonard defeated William J.S. May with 50.26% of the votes.archived

Personal life

On March 10, 2004, Leonard died in

References

External links

Margaret Leonard at ourcampaigns.com

Women in the Washington State Legislature, Oral History Project, 1980-1983 at digitalarchives.wa.gov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Margaret 1916 births 2004 deaths Republican Party members of the Washington House of Representatives Women state legislators in Washington (state) 21st-century American women