Kelli Linville

Kelli J. Linville is an American politician who served as the mayor of Bellingham, Washington from 2011 to 2020. Prior to her election as mayor, Linville was a member of the Washington [House of Representatives], representing the 42nd Legislative District, where she served Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Education

Linville was born and raised in Bellingham, Washington. She graduated from Bellingham [High School (Washington)|Bellingham High School] in 1966 and holds a bachelor's and master's degree in speech-language pathology from Western [Washington University]. She worked for 16 years as a speech pathologist in the Bellingham School District.

Career

A Democrat, Linville was elected to the Washington House of Representatives in 1992 and served one term before losing reelection. In 1995, she was appointed to fill a vacant seat. She was reelected every two years from 1996 to 2008. In November 2010, Linville was narrowly defeated for re-election by Vincent Buys.
In November 2011, Linville was elected mayor of Bellingham over incumbent Dan Pike. She was reelected in 2015, and announced she would not seek a third term in 2019. Linville was succeeded by Seth Fleetwood in 2020.