Mary Ann Tobin

Mary Ann Tobin (July 23, 1941 – June 23, 2025) was an American politician who was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, serving from 1976 to 1984. She served as Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts from 1984 to 1988. She was a member of the Democratic Party.

Background Mary Ann Tobin was born to Joseph Dalton Tobin Sr. and Mary Hulett (Broadbent) Tobin on July 23, 1941. She had one brother, Joseph Dalton “Joe” Tobin Jr., who was a regional businessman.

She graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. She was also a member of Chi Omega sorority and Beta Alpha Psi honor society.

In later life she was a Sunday School teacher for the Irvington Methodist Church. In 1977, she defeated Keenan O'Connell in the primary election and faced no organized candidate in the general election. In 1979, she ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections. In 1981, she defeated F. Wayne Moore in the primaries but again faced no opposition in the general election. While in the House, she served as Chair of the Capital Construction Oversight Committee as well as worked to update the state's judicial system, automobile title laws, and driver's license plan.

Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts In 1983, Tobin decided to campaign to be the Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts. In the Democratic Party primary, she beat out Jerry Lundergan, Ed W. Hancock, Tom Ray, Logan Turner, and Doris Faye with 143.836 votes. Lundergan was the second-place finisher with 77,419 votes.

In the general election, she defeated Republican Ronald B. Halleck with 503,954 votes to Halleck's 280,331 votes. She served in the position from 1984 until 1988.

As Auditor, she started a hotline to report fraud and established the Economy and Efficiency Audit Division as a way to try to stop waste in government. She lost the general election to Republican Virgil Moore by 2,590 votes.

Business dealings After leaving politics Tobin focused on her family's, and personal, businesses. She was the co-owner of Broadbent Wildlife Sanctuary in Meade County. She was a part owner of First State Bank located in Irvington, a co-owner of Brandenburg Telephone company and owned a 3,300-acre farm.