Joel Pritchard

Joel M. Pritchard
Pritchard in 1967
14th Lieutenant Governor of Washington
In office January 11, 1989 – January 15, 1997
Governor	Booth Gardner Mike Lowry
Preceded by	John Cherberg
Succeeded by	Brad Owen
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 1st district
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1985
Preceded by	Thomas M. Pelly
Succeeded by	John R. Miller
Member of the Washington Senate from the 36th district
In office January 9, 1967 – January 11, 1971
Preceded by	Charles P. Moriarty, Jr.
Succeeded by	John S. Murray
Member of the Washington House of Representatives from the 36th district
In office January 12, 1959 – January 9, 1967
Preceded by	Gladys Kirk
Succeeded by	John S. Murray
Personal details
Born	May 5, 1925 Seattle, Washington
Died	October 9, 1997(1997-10-09) (aged 72) Olympia, Washington
Political party	Republican
Profession	Politician, Businessman
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1944-1946
Rank	Sergeant
Battles/wars	World War II

Joel McFee Pritchard (May 5, 1925 – October 9, 1997) was a Republican politician from Washington. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives and as the 14th Lieutenant Governor of Washington.

Pritchard was born in Seattle, Washington to Frank, Sr. and Jean Pritchard on May 5, 1925. He attended public schools as a child and attended Marietta College from 1946 to 1947. At the rank of Sergeant, he served in the United States Army from 1944 to 1946 and was president of the Griffin Envelope Company in Seattle from 1948 to 1971. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1956 that renominated Dwight D. Eisenhower for the presidency. He was elected to the Washington House of Representatives representing Washington's thirty-sixth district in 1958 where he served from 1959 to 1967, being reelected in 1960, 1962 and 1964. In the state house, he worked closely with future U.S. Senators Daniel J. Evans and Slade Gorton. In 1966, he was elected to the Washington State Senate where he served a single term from 1967 to 1971. In 1970 Pritchard, a member of Washington Citizens for Abortion Reform (WCAR), introduced a bill allow abortions in the first four months of pregnancy; it was approved and went to the voters as Referendum 20. The measure was approved statewide by voters in November 1970, making Washington the first state to in which abortion was legalized by a popular vote. In 1970, Pritchard ran for the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Washington's first district, challenging nine-term incumbent Thomas Pelly in the Republican primary. Pelly was renominated, but by a smaller margin than anyone expected [1].