Audrey Gruger

Audrey Gruger
Audrey Gruger (Democrat) represented [the 1st] district comprising portions of King and Snohomish Counties in the House of Representatives. First elected in 1976, she served three terms.

Born 1930, in Minot, North Dakota, Gruger was raised by two independent thinkers, a liberal mother and a conservative father. Her mother was a member of the North Dakota House of Representatives who resigned from office because of her daughter's impending birth. Gruger graduated from the University of Washington (B.A. Sociology) and studied political science at the University of California, Davis.

A member of the League of Women Voters and a dedicated community volunteer, Gruger gained experience in state government as a lobbyist for King County United Way in the early seventies. Her decision to campaign for the legislature was based mainly on her desire to provide more effective aid to needy individuals. "I feel it is important to insure public education, decent health care and social services for all people," she ... stated. Her campaign stressed the need for a redistricting commission, governmental reform, and greater accessibility to government services.

While in the Legislature Representative Gruger sponsored the Domestic Violence Act and the Victims of Sexual Assault Act.

--Political Pioneers, The Women Lawmakers