Claudia Kauffman

Claudia Kauffman is a politician, a former Democratic Washington state senator, representing the 47th District,[1] the first Native American (Nez Perce) woman elected to the state senate.[2]

Claudia Kauffman
Member of the Washington Senate
from the 47th district
In office
January 8, 2007 – 2011
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Larry Cordier
ResidenceKent, Washington
ProfessionSmall business owner

Life and career

Kauffman was born in Idaho in 1959 to John and Josephine Kauffman. She was the youngest of seven children and moved with her family to the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle when she was an infant. She attended Cleveland High School and later studied at the University of Idaho and the Oglala Lakota College.[2]

Kauffman and her friend Iris Friday were influenced by "one legendary mentor" Bernie Whitebear who introduced Kauffman to the State Senate in the 1980s on visits to Olympia to lobby for local programs.[1] In 1999, as a private consultant to the Oglala Sioux tribe, she coordinating the visit of President Bill Clinton to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. In 2002, she and Friday, a member of the Tlingit tribe, founded the Native Action Network.[2]

In 2006, Kauffman defeated ex-Kent police chief Ed Crawford in the Senate primary and Republican Mike Riley, with 52 percent of the vote, in the general election. She focused on education and other issues. She was defeated after her first term in the November 2010 general election by Joe Fain, a former chief of staff to King County Councilman Pete von Reichbauer.[2] In 2017 she lost a race for Seattle Port Commissioner Position 1.[3] In 2011, she was serving as the intergovernmental liaison for the Muckleshoot tribe and was living in Kent with her husband and three children.[2]

References
  1. DeJesus, Thad, billie rain and Basil Shadid (co-writers), "Claudia Kauffman: Colors NW March Story" (video, 6:26 m.), Colors NW via YouTube via HistoryLink.org, March 7, 2007. Note: colorsnw.com (cited in video) is not active; www.colorsvamag.com gives history. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
  2. "www.claudiaforport.com". Archived from the original on 2017-06-18. Retrieved 2017-07-20.


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