NYT : Jennifer Dunn, 66, Former Congresswoman, Dies

Jennifer Dunn, 66, Former Congresswoman, Dies

By DAVID STOUT | September 5, 2007

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 — Former Representative Jennifer Dunn, who represented part of the Seattle area for six terms and became one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress, died today at her home in Alexandria, Va. She was 66.

The cause of death was a pulmonary embolism, her son Reagan, a councilman in King County, Wash., told The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Ms. Dunn joined a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm after retiring in early 2005. Despite President Bush’s urging, she had declined to challenge Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat, in 2004. Ms. Dunn was newly married at the time and said she wanted to spend more time with her family.

Ms. Dunn represented the Eighth Congressional District, covering most of the eastern edge of metropolitan Seattle. Her district was the most affluent in the state (Bill Gates built a 66,000-square-foot mansion there), according to The Almanac of American Politics, which described her as “a peppery partisan, vigorous and knowledgeable about issues, persevering through bad times for her party and working to make them better.”

Ms. Dunn was the first woman to head the Washington State Republican Party, serving as chairwoman for 12 years starting in 1981. After she won election to Congress in 1992, she became the first freshman woman to win a place in the House Republican leadership team and was given a coveted seat on the Ways and Means Committee. Later, she was the highest-ranking Republican woman, serving as vice chairwoman of her party’s House conference.

In late 1998, after Representative Newt Gingrich of Georgia stepped down as House speaker following a strong showing by Democrats in the Congressional elections, Ms. Dunn unsuccessfully challenged Representative Dick Armey of Texas for the post of majority leader. But two months later, Republicans cheered her performance and that of Representative Steve Largent of Washington in giving the formal Republican response to President Bill Clinton’s State of the Union speech.

Ms. Dunn’s voting record was generally conservative on economic and foreign policy issues, more moderate on cultural issues. In a 1993 letter, she described her stance on abortion: “As a conservative, I hold the ‘libertarian’ belief that government ought not to be involved in this most difficult and personal of decisions.” But she also said she opposed federal payments for abortions except in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the woman, and that she supported requirements for parental notification.

Ms. Dunn tried to close what she saw as a “gender gap” for Republicans, urging candidates to relate to women’s lives. She often spoked, for instance, about the problems she faced as a divorced working mother after her marriage to Dennis Dunn ended in 1977.

Ms. Dunn’s political values were formed early: her father, John Blackburn, a fishing-equipment salesman turned real estate broker in the Seattle area, was an outspoken conservative. His daughter graduated from Stanford University in 1963, worked as a systems engineer for I.B.M. for several years and became an ardent supporter of Ronald Reagan well before he was elected California governor in 1966.

Survivors include her husband, Keith Thomson; two sons, Bryant and Reagan; a stepson, Angus Thomson, and two grandchildren.