Norma Paulus

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Norma Paulus (2008)

Norma Jean Paulus (born March 13, 1933 in Belgrade , Nebraska as Norma Jean Petersen ; † February 28, 2019 ) was an American lawyer and politician ( Republican Party ).

Early years

Norma Jean Petersen was during the Great Depression in Nance County born. She grew up as one of seven children in eastern Oregon. Her youth were overshadowed by the Second World War . In 1950 she graduated from Burns Union High School in Burns ( Oregon ). She found her first job as Secretary to the District Attorney for Harney County , Burns.

After their recovery from polio , she moved to Salem (Oregon), the capital of the state . In the following years she worked as a legal secretary. She worked for the Chief Justice at the Oregon Supreme Court Earl C. Latourette . During this time, Latourette recommended that she attend law school. Later, she enrolled in 1956 without a college degree from Willamette University . While studying law , she met her future husband, William G. Paulus. Norma Jean Petersen graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Laws at the Willamette University College of Law . After graduating, she worked in a private practice until she entered politics.

Political career

She was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in the 1970 election. She represented the 11th district there (Salem and Marion Counties ). She was re-elected in 1972 and 1974. During this time she moved to the 31st district. She held her seat until the end of the Special Legislature Session of 1975. In 1976 she was elected Oregon’s first female Secretary of State . It was the first time in Oregon history that a woman won a state office.

She took up her post on January 3, 1977 and, after her re-election in 1980, held this post until January 7, 1985. During this time, she became the first female member of the Northeast Postland Lions Club in October 1981 . In connection with this, she received a small lion statue that sits on her desk in her apartment in downtown Portland, Oregon. The day after joining the club, the president of the Oregon Lions Nationwide Club visited her at her office in the Oregon Capitol. He asked her to return the lion statue, believing that a woman did not deserve the statue or membership in the club. She kept the statue.

She was a speaker at a national conference for women MPs in 1982. In her address she said:

"We have come a long way."

In 1984 Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh supporters brought homeless people to Wasco County to influence local elections. In this regard, as Secretary of the State County Institute , she recommended Emergency Procedures to prevent passers-by from registering and voting, which Rajneesh supporters challenged in federal court. At that time, Oregon citizens were allowed to register on election day. Then federal district judge Edward Leavy ruled against the Rajneesh supporters , ruling that the emergency measures were legal. The religious sect later became the focus of federal investigations into immigration fraud, a related failed murder plot, and the first biological terrorist attack in the United States .

After serving two terms as Secretary of State, she ran for governor of Oregon in 1986 . She won the Republican primary in May 1986, but was defeated in the November 1986 elections to the Democrat Neil Goldschmidt . During her campaign for the post, she was a critic of the new MAX Light Rail , which opened that year. The President Ronald Reagan called them, the Filipinos to help in the presidential elections in the 1986th

In 1987 she was appointed to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council as one of two Oregon members . During her time on the council she supported the regional fish habitat protection. She resigned from her council position in late 1989 to run for Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction after Verne Duncan's resignation .

The Governor of Oregon Goldschmidt appointed her on October 1, 1990, Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction. In the subsequent elections in late 1990, she was elected for a full four-year term and re-elected in 1994. During her tenure, she ran on December 5, 1995 in a by-election to the Republican primary for a seat in the US Senate . The election took place for the resigned candidate Bob Packwood . Petersen suffered a loss in the primary to Republican Gordon H. Smith . In the following elections, Ron Wyden was the winner from the race. Smith was elected to the US Senate in 1996 to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Mark Hatfield .

As State Superintendent, Petersen helped introduce nationwide assessment tests for grades 3, 5, 8, and 11 in 1991. Other educational reforms passed that year included the Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM) and Certificate of Advanced Mastery ( CAM) designed to replace the Oregon high school diploma . These were optional programs that were part of a broad program. In this context, a certificate should also be drawn up, which outlined the development as a state, which was a consequence of a law passed by the State Legislature in 1991. She also supported school-to-work initiatives to reform the public education system during her tenure, which were part of the 1991 reforms. Petersen was one of only ten women in the nation to hold the top educational post in their state. She held her post through January 4, 1999. In 2007, the Oregon Legislature removed the two optional certificates from schools in the state.

Late years and family

Norma and her husband William (Bill) had two children: Elizabeth and Fritz. The US Secretary of Education Richard Riley appointed her to the National Assessment Governing Board in 1996 . In 1999, Willamette University, Whitman College , Lewis & Clark College, and Linfield College each awarded her honorary doctorates. In December 2000, she was named executive director of the Oregon Historical Society - a post she held until 2003. As of April 2000, she served on the Oregon State Capitol Foundation Board. She was a founding member of the organization and served as chair of the group. She also served on the boards of the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon, the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon, and the City Club of Portland . In 2004 she received a University of Oregon's Distinguished Service Award.

She campaigned to raise funds for a statue in honor of former governor and longtime friend Tom McCall . The statue was finally erected in 2008 in Salem, Oregon on the Willamette River . In November 2008, Petersen and her co-petitioner Phil Keisling , also a former Secretary of State of Oregon, put Measure 65 on the ballot. It was their concern to open up the nationwide pre-selection system for open primaries . After suffering from vascular dementia in the last few years of her life , Paul died on January 28, 2019 at the age of 85 in a hospice .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Turnbaugh, Roy: Secretary of State: Administrative Overview , Oregon State Archives Division, Oregon Secretary of State, September 2001, pp. 16f
  2. ↑ a b c d Compton, Jocelyn West: Alumni Close Up , Willamette University College of Law, Fall 2005, pp. 28–29 (PDF).
  3. ^ A b Norma Paulus, Statesman Journal, October 24, 2005, p. 2A
  4. ^ A b c Norma Paulus, Statesman Journal, March 28, 2007, p. 1
  5. ^ Green, Virginia: Norma Paulus , Salem Online History, Salem Public Library
  6. ^ Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1971 Regular Session (56th) , Oregon State Archives
  7. ^ Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1973 Regular Session (57th) , Oregon State Archives
  8. ^ Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1975 Regular Session (58th) , Oregon State Archives
  9. ^ Oregon Legislators and Staff Guide: 1975 Special Session (58th) , Oregon State Archives
  10. ^ A b c d Celis, William 3d: A Firm Hand In the Schools: Oregon's education chief gives the state a lesson in persistence, Norma Paulus, The New York Times, January 8, 1995, p. EL33
  11. ^ Secretaries of State of Oregon , Oregon Blue Book
  12. ^ Special to The New York Times: On Women in Legislatures, The New York Times, June 22, 1982, p. A20
  13. ^ A b Judge Refuses to Back Sect's Voter Drive, The New York Times, October 18, 1984, p. A18
  14. ^ A b c Special to The New York Times: Limit on Voters by Oregon County Is Upheld, The New York Times, October 23, 1984, p. A14
  15. ↑ 2 Ex-Cultists Guilty in Plot on US Official , The New York Times, July 29, 1995
  16. ^ Lewis, Susan K .: History of Biowarfare: Bioterror, The Cults , Nova Online Website, November 2001
  17. ^ The Associated Press: Packwood Wins in Oregon, The New York Times, May 21, 1986, p. A22
  18. ^ Robbins, William G .: People, Politics, and the Environment Since 1945: Women in Oregon Politics , The Oregon History Project, Oregon Historical Society, 2002
  19. ^ Special to The New York Times: Portland, Ore., Gets New Rail Transit System, The New York Times, September 7, 1986, p. 27
  20. ↑ 25th Anniversary Power Act Leaders
  21. ↑ Duncan appointment timely, The Oregonian, Jan. 2, 1990, p B6
  22. ^ A b Superintendents of Public Instruction of Oregon , Oregon Blue Book
  23. ^ A b c December 5, 1995 Special Election, Oregon Secretary of State
  24. ^ A b Department of Education - Agency History , Oregon Secretary of State, April 2007, pp. 5ff
  25. ↑ Carter, Steven: Certificates go, but not mandates, The Oregonian, July 22, 2007, p. A1
  26. ↑ May 2006, Oregon State Capitol Foundation, Volume 6, Number 2
  27. ^ University Awards, University of Oregon
  28. ↑ Cowan, Ron: Mid-Valley: Statue strikes chord with crowd, Statesman Journal, September 27, 2008, p. 1
  29. ^ Wong, Peter: Ballot returns could set a record, Statesman Journal, October 20, 2008, p. 1
  30. ^ Peter Wong: Tributes pour in for Norma Paulus . Portland Tribune, February 28, 2019, accessed March 1, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Paul, Norma
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Paulus, Norma Jean (full name); Petersen, Norma Jean
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer and politician (Republican Party)
DATE OF BIRTH March 13, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Belgrade , Nebraska
DATE OF DEATH February 28, 2019