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| Virginia D. Smith | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska's 3rd district | |
| In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1991 | |
| Preceded by | David Martin |
| Succeeded by | Bill Barrett |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Virginia Dodd June 30, 1911 Randolph, Iowa |
| Died | January 23, 2006(2006-01-23) (aged 94) Sun City West, Arizona |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Haven N. Smith
(m. 1931; died 1997) |
Virginia Dodd Smith (June 30, 1911 – January 23, 2006) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1991 for Nebraska's 3rd district. She was the first and to date only woman from Nebraska to hold a seat in the House.
Before serving in Congress, Smith chaired the American Farm Bureau Women for twenty years.
Congress
Smith was elected to succeed Representative Dave Martin in 1974. In the year of Watergate, she defeated her Democratic opponent Wayne Ziebarth by just 737 votes. However, she never faced another contest anywhere near that close, and was reelected seven more times from what has long been one of the most Republican districts in the nation. Proving just how Republican this district was, her lowest vote share apart from her initial bid was 69 percent in 1986, and she even ran unopposed in 1982.
Death
She died in 2006 in Sun City West, Arizona at the age of 94. She is buried in Iowa alongside her husband, Haven, who died in 1997.
See also
References
- Barone, Michael; Ujifusa, Grant (1983). The Almanac of American Politics 1984. p. 701.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
- Dan Balz. "Indiana Democrat Wins House Panel's Support." 04/24/1985. Washington Post. p. A4.
- Judith Havemann. "2 in GOP Try to Block Pay Raise for Congress." Washington Post. 01/07/1987. p. A14.
- George C. Wilson. "Funding for MX Survives on Tied Committee Vote." Washington Post. 12/03/1982. p. A1.
- Entry in the Biographical Dictionary of Congress
- U.S. House of Representatives. Office of the Clerk. Election Statistics.
- Who's Who in America, 1984–1985
- http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
- Appearances on C-SPAN
External links
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byDavid Martin | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska's 3rd congressional district 1975–1991 |
Succeeded byBill Barrett |
| Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska | ||
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| 1st district |   | |
| 2nd district | ||
| 3rd district | ||
| 4th district | ||
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| 6th district | ||
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| Territory | ||
| Nebraska's delegation(s) to the 94th–101st United States Congress (ordered by seniority) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- 1911 births
- 2006 deaths
- People from Fremont County, Iowa
- People from Deuel County, Nebraska
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni
- Female members of the United States House of Representatives
- Women in Nebraska politics
- People from Sun City, Arizona
- Arizona Republicans
- Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska
- 20th-century American women politicians
- 21st-century American women
- 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives