Ana Frohmiller

Anastasia Collins Frohmiller (July 28, 1891 – November 25, 1971), known as Ana, was a leading female politician in Arizona from the 1930s through the 1950s.

Biography Anastasia Collins was born to Irish Catholic parents on July 28, 1891, in Burlington, Vermont. Ana moved with her parents and siblings to Phoenix, Arizona in 1898.

In 1916, Ana began working for Babbitt Brothers Trading Company in Flagstaff, Arizona as a bookkeeper. She married her coworker Joseph Frohmiller. Together, the couple managed the Babbitt Trading Post in Canyon Diablo. The Frohmillers divorced in 1926. In 1950, she withdrew from office to run for Governor of Arizona. Beating five male opponents, including the incumbent governor Dan Edward Garvey for the Democratic nomination. With a 9,000 vote margin over her nearest competitor, she became Arizona's first female gubernatorial nominee. She planned a campaign focused on the voters, with no campaign headquarters, posters, or billboards. Though a bureau chief for the United Press, Dick Smith, managed Frohmiller's campaign, he died of a heart attack during a political rally for Frohmiller, and she decided not to replace him. Pyle became the first Republican Governor of Arizona since John Calhoun Phillips in 1928, despite the fact that at the time of her nomination Frohmiller seemed to be the front-runner.

Legacy A resolution in memory of Frohmiller was passed by the Arizona Senate and House of Representatives in February, 1972. The resolution provided a biography and extended condolences to her family.

In 1982, Frohmiller was inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame.