Elizabeth Furse (October 13, 1936 – April 18, 2021) was a Kenya Colony-born American small business owner and former faculty member of Portland State University.

Inspired by her mother, she became an anti-apartheid activist in 1951, joining the first Black Sash demonstrations in Cape Town, South Africa.

Furse was first elected to Congress in 1992, defeating State Treasurer Tony Meeker, in a year where the number of women in the House grew from 28 to 47.

[7][8] In 1994, Furse, called by one Northwest newspaper the "antithesis of Congress' traditional play-it-safe politicians",[8] won reelection by 301 votes,[9] defeating businessman Bill Witt during a year when the Republican Revolution produced a 54-seat gain for her opponent's party.

She also was a key player in getting funding to extend the TriMet Westside MAX Light Rail project from its originally planned terminus on the Beaverton/Hillsboro border to downtown Hillsboro.

[14] Her continued support during the 2008 campaign included praise for Smith as "one of the first to stand up to George Bush and other Republicans to end this war".