Hansen, Julia Butler, 1907-1988

Julia Butler Hansen (June 14, 1907 – May 3, 1988), was an author, playwright, and politician. served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1960 to 1974. She was the second woman elected to Congress from Washington.

Born Julia Caroline Butler in Portland, Oregon, she attended public school in Washington before moving on to Oregon State College from 1924 to 1926; while working as a dietician and swimming instructor, she graduated from the University of Washington in 1930 with a degree in home economics. Two years before marrying blacksmith Henry Hansen in July 1939, she was elected to the city council of Cathlamet, Washington, where she served until 1946. Between 1939 and 1960, Julia Hansen served in the Washington state house of representatives, eventually rising to speaker pro tempore from 1955 to 1960 and chairing several committees.

In 1960 Hansen won the Democratic primary for the special election to fill the southwestern Washington seat held by Representative Russell Vernon Mack, who had died in office. On November 8, 1960, Hansen defeated Republican Dale M. Nordquist, 53 to 47 percent, to fill Mack’s unexpired term in the 86th Congress. On the same November 8 ballot, Hansen prevailed by the same margin against Nordquist for the full term to the 87th Congress. In Congresswoman Hansen’s six subsequent bids for re-election, she was never seriously challenged, winning with a range from 57 to 70 percent of the vote, including a 66-to-34 percent win in her final campaign in 1972.

Citing overwork and the grind of being “pursued by an endless string of people who want everything from post offices to gasoline", Hansen retired from Congress at the end of her seventh term, resigning on the last day of 1974. Hansen had been a prize-winning author long before entering politics, writing a work of juvenile fiction, Singing Paddles (1935). In retirement she continued her writing endeavors as an author and playwright. She also stayed active in government administration. In 1975 she was appointed to a six-year term on the Washington state toll bridge authority and state highway commission, which she had helped create during her years in the state legislature. She chaired the Washington state transportation commission from 1979 until her resignation in 1980. Hansen resided in Cathlamet until her death.