Jeanne L. Darneille (born July 9, 1949) is an American politician and educator who served as a member of the

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Washington State Capitol, Legis ...

, representing the 27th district from 2013 until her resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously 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 2001 to 2013.

Early life and education

Darneille a native of

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a Municipal home rule, home rule city and the county seat, borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior Alaska, interior region of Alaska and the second la ...

, the oldest of six children. Darneille's father was a member of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. After high school, she attended

Tacoma Community College Tacoma Community College (TCC) is a public community college in Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle ...

. Darneille earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

and a Master of education administration from the

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

Career

Darneille worked as a volunteer at

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

. She served as Executive Director for the Hospitality House Shelter for Women and Interim Executive Director for United Cerebral Palsy of South Puget Sound. She was Vice Chair of the Pierce County Democratic Central Committee and served as a legislative aide to former State Senator

R. Lorraine Wojahn Ruth Lorraine Wojahn (née Kendall; September 17, 1920 – October 13, 2012) was an American politician in the state of Washington. Born in Easton, Washington, she attended the University of Washington. Wojahn served in Washington House of Rep ...

. Darneille was elected to the

from the 27th district in 2001, serving until 2013. In 2012, she was elected to the

. She assumed office in 2013. She was selected to run the Department of Correction's (DOC) Women's Prison Division on September 21, 2021, starting fall 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darneille, Jeannie 1949 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Washington State Legislature Women state legislators in Washington (state) 21st-century American women politicians Democratic Party Washington (state) state senators