Christine Gregoire
Christine Gregoire
Gregoire speaks at a campaign rally in Langley, WA, during
the state’s 2008 election.
22nd Governor of Washington
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 12, 2005
Lieutenant
Brad Owen
Preceded by
Gary Locke
Attorney General of Washington
In office
1993-2005
Governor
Mike Lowry
Gary Locke
Preceded by
Ken Eikenberry
Succeeded by Rob McKenna
Born
March 24, 1947 (1947-03-24)
Adrian, Michigan
Political party Democratic
Spouse
Mike Gregoire
Children
Courtney Gregoire
Michelle Gregoire
Residence
Lacey, Washington
Alma mater
University of Washington,
Gonzaga University
Profession
Attorney / Politician
Religion
Roman Catholic
Website
www.chrisgregoire.com
Christine O’Grady "Chris" Gregoire (born
March 24, 1947) is the governor of the state
of Washington, and a member of the Demo-
cratic party. In 2004, Gregoire defeated Dino
Rossi
in one of the closest elections in
gubernatorial history. Rossi led after two ma-
chine counts by 261 votes and 47 votes, re-
spectively, before losing the third, manual
count by 129 votes.[1]
Gregoire is Washington’s second female
governor and won re-election in the 2008
gubernatorial election. Gregoire is the first
female governor of Washington to win re-
election.
Personal
Gregoire, born Christine O’Grady, was born
in Adrian, Michigan[2] and raised in Auburn,
Washington by her mother, Sybil O. Jacob.
Gregoire attended the University of Washing-
ton, graduating in 1969 with a teaching certi-
ficate and a bachelor’s degree in speech and
sociology. She is an alumna of the Kappa
Delta sorority, where she served as the
chapter’s president. After college she worked
as a clerk-typist, and later as a welfare fraud
investigator for the state Department of So-
cial and Health Services, where she met her
future husband, Mike Gregoire.[3]
Christine Gregoire attended law school at
Gonzaga University in Spokane, graduating
in 1977, and went to work as an assistant at-
torney general in the office of state Attorney
General Slade Gorton, a Republican.[4] As an
assistant
attorne