Kay Avonne Orr (née Stark; January 2, 1939) is an American politician who served as the 36th governor of Nebraska from 1987 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, she was the state's first and to date only female governor.
Early life and education
Orr was born Kay Avonne Stark in Burlington, Iowa. Her mother, Sadie, was active in local politics, while her father, Ralph, was a Burlington city council member and farm implements dealer.[1] She attended the University of Iowa from 1956 to 1957.
Career
In 1963, after moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, Orr began volunteering for the Republican Party. She supported such politicians as President Richard Nixon and Senators Carl Curtis and Roman Hruska, and was named Nebraska's Outstanding Young Republican Woman in 1969.[2]
Orr was appointed as Nebraska State Treasurer following the midterm resignation of Frank Marsh in 1981. She was subsequently elected to that post in 1982, becoming the first woman ever to be elected to a statewide constitutional office in Nebraska. She held that office until 1987.[3]
Nebraska governor
In the 1986 election, Orr secured the Republican nomination for Nebraska governor after winning an eight-way primary, carrying 81 of Nebraska's 93 counties including Douglas and Lancaster, Kermit Brashear carried 9 counties, and Nancy Hoch carried 2 counties.[4][5]
In the 1986 general election, she defeated former Lincoln Mayor Helen Boosalis in the first U.S. gubernatorial election in which both major party candidates were women, winning by a 53% to 47% margin. Orr was the first Republican woman elected governor in the United States, and the second Republican woman governor after Vesta M. Roy, who served as the unelected acting governor of New Hampshire from December 1982 to January 1983.[6]
In the 1990 gubernatorial election, Orr was narrowly defeated by Democrat Ben Nelson. Nelson's two main attacks on her gubernatorial record were her support of a proposed low-level nuclear waste dump, and a tax increase which was passed over her veto.
Politics
As governor, Orr was against tax increases, against the Equal Rights Amendment, and opposes abortions in all cases.[7]
Later career
Orr co-chaired a coalition seeking to prohibit gay marriage in the state constitution via Initiative 416.[8] Her effort was successful, and gay marriage was banned in 2000. In 2015, the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court ruling rendered the ban unenforceable.
She married Bill Orr on September 26, 1957, and they had two children, John William and Suzanne.[3] Bill died from complications of COPD on May 5, 2013.[9]
^ ab"Kay A. Orr"(PDF). Nebraska State Library and Archives. Archived from the original on November 16, 2006. Retrieved October 7, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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