Blanche Pennick (December 5, 1904 – September 21, 1991) was an American politician who served as a member of the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

from 1945 to 1947. She represented

Washington's 19th legislative district Washington's 19th legislative district is one of forty-nine districts in Washington state for representation in the state legislature. The district includes the western extreme of the state south of the Olympic Peninsula and runs from Aberdeen t ...

as a

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. She chaired the Counties and County Boundaries Committee. Pennick was born in 1905 in Melbourne, Washington (near Montesano) to pioneers John and Catherine Pennick. She is notable as the plaintiff in a court case decided by the

Washington Supreme Court The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The court is composed of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Members of the court are elected to six-year terms. ...

interpreting a provision of the Washington State constitution. Under the constitution, "No member of the legislature during the term for which he is elected shall be appointed or elected to any civil office in the state which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased, during the term for which he was elected." During Pennick's term, the legislature passed a bill to increase the salary of

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s. Later in the term, Pennick ran for and won the Democratic nomination to be the auditor for Grays Harbor County. The state Supreme Court ultimately ruled that Pennick was ineligible to serve as auditor because of her membership in the legislature that had increased auditors' salaries. (The court overruled that decision in 1966.) Outside the legislature, she had a 38-year career in education, including working as an education advisor to ''

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'' in

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and serving as Grays Harbor County Superintendent of Schools.

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