Tauscher, Ellen O. (Ellen O'Kane), 1951-2019

<p>A female pioneer in the male-dominated New York Stock Exchange, Ellen Tauscher used her Wall Street business experience and negotiating skills to become a prominent Democratic centrist in the U.S. House. Representing a suburban Bay Area district, Tauscher specialized in national security issues from her seat on the Armed Services Committee—eventually serving as chair of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee.</p>

<p>Ellen Tauscher was born Ellen O’Kane in Newark, New Jersey, on November 15, 1951. The daughter of John and Mary O’Kane, a grocery store owner and secretary, she was the eldest of four children. Tauscher earned a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from Seton Hall University in 1974. In her mid-20s, she became one of the first women to hold a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, beginning a 14-year Wall Street career which included serving as an American Stock Exchange officer. In 1989 she married William Tauscher and raised a daughter, Katherine. The couple later divorced. In 1992 Ellen Tauscher founded a company that screened prospective childcare providers. She later authored The Child Care Source Book. She also created the Tauscher Foundation, which donated $200,000 to elementary schools in California and Texas to buy computer equipment. In 1992 and 1994, Tauscher served as the state co-chair for Dianne Feinstein’s successful campaigns to the U.S. Senate. Her later marriage with James Cieslak ended in divorce.</p>

<p>In 1996 Tauscher challenged incumbent California Republican William P. Baker in a newly created delta district comprising bedroom communities that were known as the most conservative in the Bay Area. “A millionaire former stockbroker and businesswoman, she looked, at first glance, like a Rockefeller Republican,’’ Time magazine wrote. “Her husband was actually a Republican.” Tauscher, who wanted to reduce certain government spending she considered wasteful, ran on a platform of gun control, women’s right to abortion, and increased spending on education. In a race with three minor-party candidates, Tauscher won with 49 percent of the vote to Baker’s 47 percent. “My message throughout this campaign was one of moderation and common sense,” Tauscher declared afterwards. “I want to go back to Washington and stand in the middle . . . where most Americans stand.” In the next two elections, Tauscher won slightly more comfortable margins over GOP candidates, defeating Charles Ball 53 to 43 percent, and Claude Hutchison 52 to 44 percent.</p>

<p>Ellen O'Kane Tauscher (November 15, 1951 – April 29, 2019)[1] was an American businesswoman, diplomat, and Democratic Party politician who was the U.S. Representative for California's 10th congressional district from 1997 to 2009. From 2009 to 2012, she served as the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs. She then served as Special Envoy for Strategic Stability and Missile Defense at the State Department.</p>

<p>While in Congress, Tauscher was a leading centrist Democrat, and the chair of the New Democrat Coalition, a caucus of moderate Democrats in the House of Representatives. She also served as vice-chairwoman of the Democratic Leadership Council from 2001 to 2005.</p>

<p>Ellen Tauscher was born in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of John E. O'Kane, a shop steward for the United Food and Commercial Workers union at a ShopRite store in Union City, and his wife Sally, a secretary for Marsh & McLennan in New York City. She graduated in 1974 from Seton Hall University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in early childhood education.</p>