Beverly Joan Nelson (née Dunn; July 2, 1929) is an American politician in the state of Iowa. Nelson was born in Clemons, Iowa. She attended the Mercy School of Nursing (Dubuque), University of Iowa (B.S.N.), and Iowa State University (M.S. and PhD). A Republican, she served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001 (64th district).
Teresa A. Garman (née Lennon; born August 29, 1937) is an American politician in the state of Iowa.
Garman was born in Webster County, Iowa. A Republican, she served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1987 to 2003 (87th district from 1987 to 1993 and 63rd district from 1993 to 2003). She supported Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses.
Carolyn Joyce Hunt (née Leonard; born July 3, 1937) is an American educator and politician who, as the wife of Jim Hunt, served as the Second Lady of North Carolina from 1973 to 1977 and twice-served as the First Lady of North Carolina, from 1977 to 1985 and again from 1993 to 2001. She is the longest serving first lady in North Carolina history and she and her husband were the first governor and first lady to serve two four-year terms in North Carolina. As first lady, she served as the Chairwoman of the advisory council for the Governor's Office of Citizen Affairs, which promoted volunteerism throughout the state, and as Chairwoman of the North Carolina Friendship Force Program, a chapter of Friendship Force International, which promoted international student exchange programs in state public schools. In between her terms as first lady, she served on the board of directors and the executive committee of Friendship Force International and, in 1986, was elected to the Wilson County Public School Board.
Nell Soto (June 18, 1926 – February 26, 2009) was an American politician. Soto represented the 61st Assembly district (including parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties and the cities of Ontario, Pomona, Chino and Montclair) from 1998 to 2000 and again from 2006 to 2008. She served two terms as a state senator for the 32nd district from 2000 to 2006.
Soto served on the Pomona city council from 1986 until 1998. Soto also served on the South Coast Air Quality Management District. She was the first Latina from the San Gabriel Valley to be elected to that position. In 2006, she authored legislation that included expansion of the Nell Soto Teacher Involvement program, improving foster care licensing, and improving welfare to work programs.
Soto was married to Phil Soto, a pioneering Latino politician in California's history. Soto died February 26, 2009, after months of declining health.
Jean Ankeney (March 29, 1922 – May 14, 2005) was an American politician, teacher, and public health nurse.
Born in Fuzhou, China, to American missionaries, Ankeney grew up in Williamstown, Massachusetts. She received her bachelor's degree from Hiram College and her master's degree from Case Western Reserve University. Ankeney was a teacher and public health nurse. In 1975, Ankeney moved to Vermont and lived in St. George, Vermont. From 1993 to 2002, Ankeney served in the Vermont State Senate and was a Democrat. Ankeney died at her home in St. George, Vermont of a rare form of lung cancer.
Charlotte Milton Caldwell Giesen (January 27, 1907 – January 28, 1995) (nicknamed "Pinkie") was a Virginia politician and news editor. A lifelong resident of Radford, Virginia, she served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1958 to 1961, becoming the first Republican woman elected to the House.
Lela Alston (born June 26, 1942) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Arizona State Senate representing District 5 since January 9, 2023. She previously represented District 24 from 2019 to 2023, and served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019, and from 2011 to 2013 in the District 11 seat, and non-consecutively in the Arizona State Legislature from 1977 until 1995 in the Arizona Senate.
Virginia B. MacDonald (née Blue) (October 24, 1920 – July 12, 2008) was an American politician.
Born in El Paso, Texas, MacDonald went to the University of New Mexico. MacDonald lived in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and was involved with the Republican Party. She served in the Illinois Constitutional Convention of 1970. MacDonald served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1973 to 1983. MacDonald then served in the Illinois State Senate from 1983 to 1993. She died at her home in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Delila M. "Dee" Richards Abbott (November 4, 1908 – December 1, 1998) was an American politician and businesswoman. Throughout her life she was active in both local and national politics, and her accomplishments range from writing fiction novels to serving on the Defense Advisory Committee for Women. Abbott worked to bring more women into the public sphere, saying that "Women are a neglected resource. They are not sufficiently recognized and their full potential is not often developed". Abbott attended LDS Business College. Aside from the Defense Advisory Committee for Women, Abbott served on multiple committees and campaigns.
Rose Mofford (née Perica; June 10, 1922 – September 15, 2016) was an American civil servant and politician of the Democratic Party who served as governor of Arizona from 1988 to 1991. Her career in state government spanned 51 years, beginning as a secretary and working her way up the ranks to become the state's first female secretary of state, serving from 1977 to 1988, and the state's first female governor.