Lucy Baxley, Alabama’s first female Lt. Gov., last Dem, dead at 78
Published 12:00 pm Friday, October 14, 2016
- Public Service Commission President Lucy Baxley is pictured in her office in Montgomery, Ala., Thursday, Nov. 12, 2008. "It is very fulfilling to me to get out around the state and be with people I have known so long. It's like a family reunion," said Baxley, a 71-year-old Democrat who has been a larger-than-life presence on Alabama's political scene. (
Lucy Baxley, Alabama’s first female lieutenant governor and last Democrat to hold statewide office, has died at age 78, according to media reports.
Her family announced she died peacefully at home in Birmingham surrounded by relatives.
Baxley grew up on a farm in the Houston County community of Pansey, at the southeast corner of the state. She married Attorney General Bill Baxley in 1976, and they later divorced in 1987.
Baxley won three consecutive statewide races after leaving a successful real estate career to enter politics in the early 1990s. She served as lieutenant governor from 2003 to 2007.
In 2006, she defeated Don Siegelman to claim the Democratic nomination for governor but later lost to Gov. Bob Riley in the general election.
Four years later, Cavanaugh defeated Baxley in her bid for re-election, giving the GOP control of every statewide office.
Baxley is survived by her husband of 20 years, Jim Smith, her son Louis Baxley, daughter Becky Nichols, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren, AL.com reported.
