Alabama state’s 2nd female governor, Kay Ivey, takes the reins

April 11, 2017

Collins Parker,

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE
Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – With Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley announcing he’ll resign ahead of an impeachment hearing, his successor becomes the state’s second female governor and the first to rise through the political ranks on her own.

Kay Ivey was sworn in as the new governor Monday night.

She’s the first Republican woman elected lieutenant governor of Alabama and the first Republican to hold that office for two straight terms.

Alabama’s first female governor was Lurleen Wallace, wife of four-term Gov. George C. Wallace. She ran as a surrogate for her still-powerful husband in 1966 when he couldn’t seek re-election because of term limits. She won, but died in office in 1968. Her husband regained the governor’s seat in 1970.

The 72-year-old Ivey is from Wilcox County, the same rural area where U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions grew up.