Norma Paulus Remembered

Norma Paulus was the first woman to ever be elected to statewide office in Oregon history. 1976 was the first presidential election after Watergate and voters made their feelings known throughout the country about the shenanigans of the Republican Party and President Nixon. President Ford would seek the GOP nomination and have to fend off a strong challenge from California Governor Ronald Reagan.

In Oregon, Republicans had held most statewide offices for decades.  Paulus was elected after Clay Myers had held the position. She would be the last Republican Secretary of State until 2016 when Dennis Richardson was elected. The Oregon Republicans had held the Secretary of State office from 1878 to 1985. Norma Paulus paved the way for women gaining statewide office in Oregon. She won two successful campaigns for Secretary of State and two terms as Oregon's Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Clint Eastwood Collection

One of the neat things about collecting political items are all the side collections people induldge in. One of mine is Celebrity Politics. Candidates who were famous before they entered politics in media and pop culture. For a long time I had been looking for a Clint Eastwood for Mayor pin. From what I understood he only ran one campaign for Mayor of Carmel, California. I figured I wouldn't be able to find much. That all changed last week.