Wives who, like Carolyn Goodman, find political success after their husbands

Las Vegas mayoral candidate Carolyn Goodman gets a kiss from her husband, current mayor Oscar Goodman, after the race was called in her favor Tuesday, June 7, 2011.

By Delen Goldberg

Sunday, June 19, 2011 | 1:55 a.m.

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Carolyn Goodman’s succession of her husband, Oscar Goodman, as Las Vegas mayor is certainly unusual, but far from unique.

For almost a century across the country, wives have followed in the footsteps of their politician husbands. Sometimes, a wife’s appointment to her husband’s job came as the result of his death. Other times, the man just didn’t want to give up his power and persuaded his wife to run as a shadow candidate.

Like Goodman, many of the wives started out as political novices riding their husband’s coattails. But almost as many ended up with flourishing political careers.

To be sure, family succession is an easy path into office, particularly for those who still have living spouses. The women rarely had to work their way up the political food chain or wait their turn to earn their party’s support. Instead, they talked up their men, smiled and capitalized on their last names.

Carolyn Goodman has joked that her family’s dynasty won’t end with her; the Goodmans say they are grooming their grandchildren for City Hall. If history is any indicator, there’s a good chance the strategy will work, and a Goodman might be in office for a long time. Wives who succeeded husbands often have children who succeeded them.

A few examples:

Photo by Justin M. Bowen
Carolyn and Oscar Goodman

Carolyn Goodman, the former private school administrator who, the way she tells it, woke up one morning and decided to run for mayor, overwhelmingly won election to succeed her husband with more than 60 percent of the vote.

Oscar Goodman is arguably Nevada’s most popular politician. He won his last re-election bid with 87 percent of the vote and would likely be preparing for another four years in office if term limits weren’t forcing him out.

Carolyn Goodman admits to using her husband’s popularity and last name to win votes. She frequently introduced herself on the campaign trail as “Oscar’s wife” and made her main campaign platform continuing her husband’s policies.

Many expect Oscar Goodman to act as Las Vegas’ shadow mayor when his wife takes office, although he says he’ll be happy to take a back seat.
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Lurleen and George Wallace

George Wallace served as Alabama’s governor from 1963 to 1967. He was wildly popular and politically ambitious, but term limits prevented him from running again.

So he hatched a plan to have his wife elected instead. Lurleen Wallace was a political novice, but promised voters that she would continue all of Wallace’s programs and have her husband serve as her “No. 1 assistant.” She beat out 10 opponents in a primary and won an overwhelming victory to become the Deep South’s first female governor.

Sadly, Wallace died of cancer a year and a half into her term. A doctor had told George Wallace he suspected Lurleen had uterine cancer in 1961 when she delivered their fourth child, but Wallace kept the information from his wife until she was officially diagnosed in 1965.
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Ma and Pa Ferguson

Miriam Amanda “Ma” Ferguson, a housewife and mother, won election as Texas governor on a “two governors for the price of one” platform. She ran to vindicate her husband, former Gov. James “Pa” Ferguson.

James Ferguson led the state from 1915 to 1917 but resigned from office after being convicted of financial corruption. An impeachment order prevented him from holding public office again.

At her husband’s urging, Ma Ferguson announced her candidacy in 1924. She became the first female governor elected in the United States. Ferguson was defeated in the 1926 primary, but won a second term in 1933.
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The Kee family

Three members of one family held a single congressional seat for more than 40 years, from the start of the New Deal to the Watergate era.

The dynasty began with John Kee, a West Virginia lawyer who served in the House of Representatives from 1933 until his death in 1951. (He died suddenly in the Capitol during a committee meeting.)

Four days later, his wife, Maude Elizabeth Kee, announced she would seek the nomination to fill his seat. She was considered an underdog, but had served as her husband’s executive secretary and argued she could best continue his work. She won a 1951 special election with a plurality of votes to become the state’s first female member of Congress.

Kee was elected six more times and served until she retired in 1965 because of poor health. The same year, her son and longtime administrative assistant, James Kee, ran to succeed her and won with 70 percent of the vote. He served until 1972 when he lost a Democratic primary. Redistricting reduced the number of congressional districts in the state, and he was forced to run against another incumbent.
/AP Photo/Joe Marquette, File
Mary and Sonny Bono

A political neophyte, Mary Bono took over the California House seat held by her husband, singer and actor Sonny Bono, after his death in a 1998 skiing accident. She won the Republican nomination, then a special election to succeed him.

Bono has been re-elected every term since then and is the only Republican woman in California’s congressional delegation.

She’s also a media darling. Bono was selected by now-defunct George magazine as one of the 20 most fascinating women in politics and in 2008 was named the “Seventh Hottest Politician in the World” by Maxim magazine.
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Jean and Mel Carnahan

Jean Carnahan was husband Mel Carnahan’s political partner for decades but was thrust into the spotlight after his death in a plane crash.

Mel Carnahan was a two-term governor of Missouri who launched a bid for U.S. Senate in 2000. Three weeks before election day, he died in a plane crash along with his son and a campaign worker.

It was too late for Carnahan’s name to be removed from the ballot. Acting Gov. Roger Wilson said he would appoint Jean Carnahan to the Senate if her husband won election. He did.

Carnahan was the first woman to represent Missouri in the Senate. She served for two years before being defeated in a special election.
/AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari
Olympia and Peter Snowe

Olympia Snowe was a political up-and-comer in her own right when her husband, state Rep. Peter Snowe, died in a car crash in 1973. At age 31, she ran to fill his seat and won. She was re-elected to the House in 1974, and two years later won election to the Maine state Senate.

In 1978, Snowe moved on to Congress and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served for 16 years. In 1994, she overwhelmingly won a U.S. Senate seat, which she continues to hold today.

Snowe is only the fourth woman in history to be elected to both houses of Congress and is the first woman in American history to serve in both houses of a state legislature and both houses of Congress. She has won more federal elections in Maine than any other person since World War II.