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The California Report

Ellen Tauscher, Trailblazing Former Bay Area Congresswoman, Dies at 67

The former Democratic congresswoman, a trailblazer for women in the world of finance who served in Congress for more than a decade before joining the Obama administration, died of complications from pneumonia.
KQED News Staff
04:58
Former California Rep. Ellen Tauscher gives a press conference on U.S. missile defense systems in Romania while serving as U.S. under secretary of state for international security and arms control in June 2010. (DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/Getty Images)

Former Democratic Rep. Ellen Tauscher, a trailblazer for women in the world of finance who served in Congress for more than a decade before joining the Obama administration, died of complications from pneumonia, her family said Tuesday. She was 67.

Tauscher died Monday at Stanford University Medical Center surrounded by her daughter, Katherine, and other relatives, her family said.

At age 25, Tauscher was the youngest and one of the first women to hold a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.

Her first foray into politics was chairing the first two U.S. Senate campaigns for her good friend Dianne Feinstein in 1992 and 1994.

“Ellen never backed down from a challenge and always stood up for what she thought was right,” said Sen. Feinstein in a statement.

“She remains an inspiration for all of us in Congress and I hope younger members will look to her as an example to emulate. Ellen was a best friend and I’ll never forget her.”

In 1996, Tauscher unseated two-term Republican congressman Bill Baker in a district that was considered safe for the GOP. It was also a time when the California congressional delegation was evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, unlike today where Democrats hold 46 of the state’s 53 House seats.

The 10th Congressional District seat Tauscher won — which represented portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties — was a very different district than today’s 10th District. In 1996, it included numerous wealthy East Bay suburbs and had been considered solidly conservative territory. Tauscher’s margins of victory were relatively slim, until the district was redrawn in 2002 to make it more solidly Democratic.

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“Public service was her calling, and there was no job she loved more than representing the people of Contra Costa, Alameda and Solano counties,” her family said.

Tauscher left Congress in 2009 during her seventh term, when President Barack Obama appointed her to a position with the State Department, where she served as the under secretary of state for arms control and international security under then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In that role, Tauscher helped lead negotiations with Russia over the 2010 New START treaty, which limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers.

“She made America and the world safer through her work on arms control at the State Department,” Clinton said in a statement. “Ellen woke up every day determined to make a difference, and make a difference she did.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also mourned the loss of Tauscher, whom she called a friend and “an extraordinary force for progress who made a difference.”

“The Congress and the country have lost a leader of exceptional courage, firm principles and unmatched persistence,” Pelosi said in a statement.

“To watch Ellen wield the gavel was to observe a masterclass in steady, steely leadership. Her smart, strategic leadership, whether presiding over the House, chairing the Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee or leading America’s arms control strategy, strengthened our democratic institutions and kept America safe. Her passing is a great loss to the people of California and to the nation, and is a source of heartbreak for all who were blessed to call her friend.”

Tauscher retired from the State Department after three years but continued to work in California, where she was the chair of former Gov. Jerry Brown’s Military Advisory Council. She also served as chair of the Board of Governors for Livermore and Los Alamos labs and was also a member of the UC Board of Regents.

A native of Harrison, New Jersey, she graduated from Seton Hall University and worked as an investment banker before switching to politics.

“California sends our heartfelt condolences to her loved ones and the many public servants she mentored and inspired,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “We will hold Ellen’s memory close as we continue her work toward a more just and peaceful world.”

This post includes reporting by Olga R. Rodriguez of The Associated Press.

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