BILLIE GAY LARSON
President 2009-2011
By Tiffany Greene
The humble origins of Billie Larson belie the incredible influence and contributions she has made to the Democratic Party in Utah as well as in the United States at large. Raised in a house on “B & G Row”, a Kennecott housing district in Magna, Utah, her father, Bill Larson, was a union worker for the Kennecott Copper Corp. Her upbringing was very influential in establishing her love of politics, and her commitment to the Democratic Party.
Her father served as a state legislator and state senator when Billie was growing up, and he later went on to serve as a Salt Lake County Commissioner. He always advocated for public policy that supported the working class. One of Billie’s earlier memories, when she was 8 or 9, involves walking around Magna with a shoebox full of her father’s campaign brochures delivering them to the neighbors and community members. “I mean, who could turn a kid down?!?”, she laughs as she recalls her early baptism into politics. Her mother, Lucy Sorenson, was also engaged in local politics, volunteering as a voting district chairman. Lucy was also a member of the Women’s Democratic Club of Utah, serving as its president for several years while Billie was growing up.
Billie graduated from Cyprus High School and earned a scholarship to the University of Utah. She spent the summer after her sophomore year in Washington D.C., living with her older sister who was working for President Lyndon Johnson. Billie worked at the Democratic National Committee on the Humphries for Vice President Campaign. She returned to Utah to continue her schooling, graduating with a Bachelor's Degree of Science from the University of Utah in 1968, but couldn’t shake the call to return to the east coast.
Bound and determined to work for the U.S. House of Representatives, Billie packed her bags, found someone in D.C. to stay with and headed east once more. This time, it would be decades before she called Utah home again. Through networks she established during her work with the Humphries campaign a few years earlier, Billie was hired as the secretary to the general counsel for the speaker of the house, Tip O’Neill. She later became a legislative assistant to Mr. O'Neill, and soon after was promoted to senior legislative assistant. Billie remembers this remarkable time of her life fondly. She would have her morning coffee in the Speaker’s Lobby, and then spend the remainder of the day on the floor of the House. She wrote speeches and remarks for Mr. O’Neill, and worked closely with other members of the Democratic Party in Washington. She knew every Democratic member of the House of Representatives for the 10 years she worked as a legislative assistant.
After Mr. O’Neill retired from Congress, Billie wanted to stay in Washington. She worked for a time as a special assistant for the Chairman of the House Committee for Science, Space and Technology. Intrigued by the work of the committee, and drawn to the Utah connections to the Space Program at the time--Thiokol, and the study of cold fusion at the University of Utah—she stuck with the department for several years. But the nature of the work, sitting behind a desk all day in the congressional offices, did not suit Billie, so she left that position. Eventually, she was hired as the Congressional Liaison for the Department of the Interior, which was a job she adored. Her appreciation for the natural beauty of public lands and dedication to conserving those lands for future generations, made this job a perfect fit for Billie.
By this time in her life, Billie’s parents were aging, and she knew it was time to retire early and come home to Utah. Her parents passed away within a year of her return, and rather than go back to Washington, she decided to stay in Salt Lake. Of course, Billie wanted to find a way to stay actively engaged in the political process, and she devoted much time and effort into helping the Democratic Party in Utah. Her unique experiences in Washington gave Billie a wonderful perspective on how to get things done, how to work in a bipartisan way, how to build membership and expand the scope of what politics could accomplish in Utah. She had valuable insight into governmental systems as well as experience in looking for ways to move forward through any issue. From 2005-2009, she served as president of the State Democratic Women’s Caucus. Billie’s skills as an organizer and activist came in handy as she visited many counties in Utah to recruit for the caucus and amplify the voices of Utah women. She ran for numerous state offices, including state treasurer, National Democratic Committeewoman, and state representative.
She also joined the Women’s Democratic Club of Utah, becoming a board member in 2004. One of her goals for the WDC was to help drive it into the 21st century. As a board member, she was eager to see younger women join the club, so she authored a new mission statement for the group and developed a brochure that was a simultaneous advertisement and recruitment mechanism for the WDC. When Billie became the president of the WDC in 2010, she had high hopes for the expansion and outreach of the organization. She oversaw amending the Club’s constitution and by-laws, establishing gender neutral language in the documents and allowing men to become members for the first time in the club’s history. She wanted a full and balanced organization, with both men and women working together for issues that mattered not only to Women, but to all people. Billie increased the volunteer work and community donation arm of the club as well. Her efforts to create a WDC-PAC helped financially support democratic candidates running for local and statewide offices. Billie also headed efforts to introduce a logo for the club that featured "Rosie the Riveter", and worked to get interesting and engaging speakers for monthly club meetings.
The WDC recognized the outstanding contributions of Billie by awarding her the Lucy Beth Rampton Award. In 2013, Billie was the recipient of a State Senate Proclamation, which recognized and honored her years of service to the Democratic Party of Utah. Politically astute and with a charismatic leadership style, Billie Larson has a way of gathering people to a cause, letting them know there is a seat at the table for them. Her service to the women and men of Utah and to the Democratic Party in particular are worthy of commendation. Billie Larson may have started out as a small town girl, but her common sense, ambition and hard work have had far reaching influence across Utah and the nation.
About the author: Tiffany Greene is a historical research volunteer for Better Days 2020. She’s a life-long resident of Salt Lake City who loves learning about and sharing the lives of women past and present.