Former state Democratic leader Marchioro, 73, dies

OLYMPIA – Karen Marchioro, a combative former Vietnam war protester who helped reshape Washington’s Democratic party in 12 years as chairwoman, died Thursday.

Marchioro, 73, an outspoken liberal and a powerhouse within the state’s dominant political party to the end, battled breast cancer for years and the disease had spread in recent months. She died at her home in Bellevue, her family said.

Marchioro also was a power on the Democratic National Committee, including membership on the executive committee and co-chairwoman of the credentials committee at her death.

Marchioro, a nurse, and her first husband, Dr. Thomas Marchioro, a pioneering kidney transplant surgeon, lived in Paris and Colorado before they moved to the Seattle area and raised six children.

Stirred to activism by the Vietnam War, she campaigned for presidential candidate George McGovern in 1972 and sparred with the state’s Sen. Henry M. Jackson. She organized a Democratic presence in Bellevue’s 48th District, then a Republican stronghold, became King County chairwoman and headed the state party from 1981 to 1993.

Jackson became friends with Marchioro after the Vietnam War ended, leading the ticket as Democrats made a comeback in 1982 in her first big election test.

Marchioro was the first woman to head the state party and at times worked with Republican Party state Chairwoman Jennifer Dunn, later elected to the U.S. House, to promote caucus attendance and voter participation.

After her husband died in 1995, Marchioro married a longtime friend, Democratic strategist Jeff Smith. She maintained a strong interest in local and state politics and was state co-chair for Howard Dean’s presidential bid.