The state Chapter of the National Women’s Political Caucus has included three volunteers from Tacoma among 15 volunteers statewide who were designated campaign Heroines.

They are Lynda Foster, Julie Myers and Janet Thiessen and they were singled out for their work on two 27th District legislative campaigns – Myers for her fundraising work for Jeannie Darneille‘s state Senate race; Foster and Thiessen for their work on the reelection of state Rep. Laurie Jinkins.

Also honored for her work on the secretary of state campaign of Kathleen Drew was Charlene Hunt of Olympia.

The announcement noted that Washington state once paced the nation in the percentage of women in the Legislature at just over 40 percent but has since fallen to 30 percent.

“The NWPC-WA endorsed a number of incredible candidates for the 2012 election. These women could not have been successful without the tireless and inspiring work of their campaign staff and volunteers” stated Linda Mitchell, president of the NWPC-WA. “Our Heroines ceremony honors these women whose dedication drove our candidates’ success in the 2012 election.”

The NWPC describes itself as a “multi-partisan grassroots membership organization dedicated to increasing the number of women in elected and appointed office at all levels of government. The mission of the organization is to identify, mentor, educate and support women leaders in our community who demonstrate a commitment to women’s economic and social equality and reproductive freedom and to involve more women in the political process.”

Here is the list of the 15 volunteers:

Lacey All
Nominated by Washington United for Marriage Campaign Director Zach Silk

Anna Baldwin
Nominated by State Representative-Elect Gael Tarleton

Carli DeCaro
Nominated by State Senate candidate Maureen Judge

Sue Edwards
Nominated by Clark County PUD candidate Julia Anderson

Lynda Foster
Nominated by State Representative Laurie Jinkins

Charlene Hunt
Nominated by Secretary of State candidate Kathleen Drew

Lonnie Johns-Brown
Nominated by NWPC-WA President Linda Mitchell

Karen Keleman
Nominated by U.S. Congressional candidate Karen Porterfield

Julie Myers
Nominated by State Senator-elect Jeannie Darneille

Michelle Nance
Nominated by State Representative-elect Gael Tarleton

Courtney Normand
Nominated by Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest CEO Elaine Rose

Mary Anne Ottinger
Nominated by Washington State Supreme Court Justice-elect Sheryl Gordon McCloud

Marsha Scutvick
Nominated by State Representative candidate Mary McNaughton

Janet Thiessen
Nominated by State Representative Laurie Jinkins

Emily Wittman
Nominated by ASUW President candidate Michelle Nance