Barbara Granlund (Democrat) represent[ed] [the 26th] district comprising portions of Pierce and Kitsap Counties in the State Senate. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1978, she served two terms there before her election to the Senate in 1982.

Born 1928, in Holridge, Nebraska, Granlund was educated in Tacoma public schools and studied political science at Olympic College.

Granlund's long history of community involvement first centered around her children. A Campfire Leader, member of the P.T.A. and then the school board, she says she ... followed "a natural progression". Her interest in government led to a study of political science, and a membership in the League of Women Voters. She pursued Democratic politics and served on the Kitsap and Pierce County Democratic Party convention platform commitees, the Democratic State Charter Commission and the Democratic State Central Committee. To her, being involved is "being effective in the community." When her district's retiring incumbent suggested she campaign for the seat, the idea seemed right.

In the Legislature, Senator Granlund [was] very supportive of the mental-health community, and the developmentally disabled. She hope[d] to see more young women getting into politics and "not waiting as long as I did." She and her husband, Win, have two children.

--Political Pioneers, The Women Lawmakers