Pioneering former secretary of state Norma Paulus dies

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Pioneering Oregon Republican Norma Paulus, who was the first woman elected to statewide office, has died.

Paulus died Thursday after spending time in hospice for health problems related to dementia, according to Kerry Tymchuk, a longtime friend of Paulus who succeeded her as director of the Oregon historical society. Paulus was 85.

"She was a pathbreaker and a history-maker," Tymchuk told the Oregonian/OregonLive.

Paulus was a member of the Legislature, Oregon's secretary of state from 1977 to 1985, her party's nominee for governor in 1986 and the state's elected superintendent of schools for two terms in the 1990s.