Meet Trudi Inslee, presidential candidate Jay Inslee's wife of 46 years who is working with Pearl Jam to combat homelessness

Grace Panetta

May 3, 2019, 20:29 IST

Meet Trudi Inslee, presidential candidate Jay Inslee's wife of 46 years who is working with Pearl Jam to combat homelessness

Karen Ducey/Stringer via Getty Images

Jay and Trudi Inslee

Washington Governor Jay Inslee is running for president - and has said that one the greatest assets on every campaign he's run over the past 30 years has been his wife of 46 years, Trudi Inslee.
Trudi, who holds degrees in political science and sociology, has used her platform in the first lady's office to bring awareness to causes such as gun violence and homelessness.
Here's everything you need to know about this couple that wants to move into the White House.
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Washington Governor Jay Inslee is running for president - and has said that one the greatest assets on every campaign he's run over the past 30 years has been his wife of 46 years, Trudi Inslee.

Inslee and Trudi first met in the 1960s, where they both attended Seattle's Ingraham high school, and quickly became inseparable, marrying in 1972 and raising their three now-adult sons on a farm in Eastern Washington.

Inslee cites Trudi's support as one of the major driving forces behind his first run for elected office in 1989, a risky vote to pass an assault weapons ban which lost him his congressional seat in 1994, and now, his 2020 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Trudi, who holds degrees in political science and sociology, has used her platform in the First Lady's office to bring awareness to causes including gun violence and homelessness.

Here's everything you need to know about the potential first couple and their storybook-like romance:

Jay and Trudi Inslee were high school sweethearts who first met at Seattle's Ingraham High School in the 1960s.

They were married in 1972 when they were in their early twenties,and moved to the Yakima, Washington area, where Gov. Inslee then worked as a local prosecutor.

Trudi holds degrees in political science and sociology from Washington State University, and raised her and Gov. Inslee's three sons on a farm.

Gov. Inslee was first inspired to go into politics over the issue of school funding, and Trudi supported his first run for Washington's state legislature in 1989.

When Gov. Inslee was serving in the US House of Representatives, he was worried that his vote in favor in the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban would lose him his seat — but Trudi encouraged him to stick to his principles, telling him "so be it" if he lost.

Gov. Inslee referred to Trudi as “a serenity in the eye of the storm" in his 2007 book "Apollo Fire," and Inslee's staffers call her "the rock," according to a Seattle Business Magazine piece from 2012.

Before becoming Washington's first lady, Trudi consulted for charities and non-profit organizations in Washington.

As First Lady, Trudi has devoted her time and resources to volunteering and raising awareness for causes including violence against women, hunger, and homelessness in Washington state.

Trudi is also partnering with the rock band Pearl Jam on a public-private partnership called the Anchor Community Initiative, which aims to significantly reduce youth homelessness in Washington.

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