Jennifer Jill Dunn (née Blackburn; July 29, 1941 – September 5, 2007) was an American politician and engineer who served six terms as a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2005, representing .

Early life and education

Born in Seattle, Washington, Dunn grew up in the nearby city of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, and graduated from Bellevue High School (Bellevue, Washington), Bellevue High School in 1959. She attended the University of Washington, where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority, before earning a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University. After graduation, she worked as a systems engineer. She was a distant cousin of congressman Slade Gorton.

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). In 1992, she ran for an open seat in the House, winning 60 percent of the vote. 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 Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, House Majority Leader. Dunn served as vice-chair of the Select Committee on Homeland security, Homeland Security and served on the United States House Committee on Ways and Means, House Ways and Means Committee and the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee, Joint Economic Committee. On October 10, 2002, Dunn voted in favor of authorizing the 2003 invasion of Iraq, War in Iraq. In 2000, she served on the presidential election exploratory committee for then-Governor of Texas, Texas Governor George W. Bush.

After Congress

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. She 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 in 2007. She was succeeded in the Romney organization by U.S. Representative Kay Granger of Fort Worth, Texas.

Personal life

Dunn has two children, including Reagan Dunn, an attorney and politician who has served as a member of the King County Council since 2005. Dunn collapsed and died of a pulmonary embolism in 2007, in her Alexandria, Virginia, apartment. Her memorial service was held at St. James Cathedral (Seattle), St. James Cathedral, Seattle.

Electoral history

References

External links

*
Washington Secretary of State
– History Makers – Jennifer Dunn
HistoryLink.org
– Jennifer Blackburn Dunn (1941–2007) * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Jennifer 1941 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians State political party chairs of Washington (state) Deaths from pulmonary embolism Female members of the United States House of Representatives Politicians from Seattle Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Washington (state) Women in Washington (state) politics Information Technology and Innovation Foundation University of Washington Foster School of Business alumni Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni