Barbara Granlund
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