Oelschlaeger, 28, heads local League of Women Voters
Karen Oelschlaeger is the youngest ever president of the local League of Women Voters
ASHEVILLE — Karen Oelschlaeger’s road to political greatness is really just another classic tale of a girl whose terrible bike accident propelled her from professional dog walking into a presidency.
Oelschlaeger, then 27, took over in May as the youngest president of the League of Women Voters of Asheville-Buncombe County — one of the area’s oldest, most active and trusted voter education organizations, which has more members over 80 than under 50.
In her less than sixth-month reign through a heated and hectic election season, Oelschlaeger has brought the league into the Twittersphere and the 21st century and helped trade in the stereotype of a pearl-clad ladies’ club for that of a vibrant political hot spot.
Formerly the successful proprietor of West Asheville Dog Walking and Pet Sitting, Oelschlaeger spends her spare time these days making a weekly eight-hour commute as a Chapel Hill graduate student.