Portal:Oregon/Selected biography/37

Norma Paulus (1933–2019) was an American attorney and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Nebraska, she was raised in Eastern Oregon before becoming a lawyer. A Republican, she first held political office as a representative in the Oregon House of Representatives, and then became the first woman to hold a statewide elected office in Oregon when she became Oregon Secretary of State in 1977. Paulus later served as Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction for nine years, starting in 1990. She had failed bids to become Governor of Oregon and United States Senator. She lived in Portland, where in later years she was involved with several non-profit groups and sponsored a ballot measure to create open primaries in Oregon's statewide elections.