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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Miss Washington Clings To Tiara, Title She Turns 27 Today, Which Makes Her Too Old For Miss U.S.A. Pageant

New York Times

On the night that Staci Baldwin was named Miss Washington U.S.A., she walked down a runway wearing a sparkling tiara, clutching red roses and shedding tears of joy before an enthusiastic audience.

She went home with the expectation of financial gains from personal endorsements and appearances.

But two weeks after the April 23 pageant, a stage in the Miss Universe competition, Baldwin got a pink slip from the pageant’s promoters.

Their reason: She is too old. When Baldwin turns 27 today, she will become ineligible to represent Washington in February in the next level of the Miss Universe competition, the Miss U.S.A. pageant.

Baldwin said she knew that contestants in the state pageant could not be older than 26, but that no one had informed her of the national requirement.

The news that her title would be taken away devastated Baldwin, an auditor for the state and a Sea Gal dancer at Seattle Seahawks football games on weekends.

It also angered her. She has refused to mail back the tiara, which her lawyer said was not expensive, the plexiglass trophy and the sash that come with the title and has instead gone to court. Pageant officials have not yet designated the runner-up to Baldwin as her successor.

In her lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Baldwin sought at least $1 million in damages to compensate, in part, for the money she would have earned making appearances and endorsements.

The suit also asked for a declaratory judgment to show that Baldwin’s contract with the pageant had been violated. And it named as defendants the Los Angeles company that licenses Miss U.S.A. state pageants, Miss Universe Inc., and Donna Lee, the executive director of Oregon Pageants, a Portland organization that stages the contests in Washington and Oregon.

Baldwin’s situation is similar to that of Kimberly Swopes, who won the Miss Oregon title a week after the Miss Washington pageant. She, too, was asked to step down because she was already 27 when she won the Oregon crown and has since turned 28.

“When I entered the pageant, Ms. Lee knew how old I was,” Swopes said, adding that while she was disappointed she did not intend to sue.

“I just hope that Miss Universe officials realize there is a problem.”