Thelma Stovall

Thelma Loyace Stovall (née Hawkins; April 1, 1919 – February 4, 1994) was a pioneering American politician in the state of Kentucky. In 1949, she won election as state representative for Louisville and served three consecutive terms. Over the next two decades, Stovall was elected Kentucky State Treasurer twice and Secretary of State of Kentucky three times. She capped her career as the 47th lieutenant governor of Kentucky (1975–1979) in the administration of her fellow Democrat, Governor Julian Carroll. She was the first woman to hold the office.

Stovall was known for her assertive style. Several times in her career, when she found herself in the position of acting governor, she was unafraid of exercising that power – she issued gubernatorial pardons, called the Kentucky General Assembly into session to consider bills, and, most famously, issued an executive injunction against the Assembly's attempt to repeal Kentucky's ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. Throughout her career, Stovall was an ardent advocate of labor and women's rights.

Early life Thelma Loyace Hawkins was born in Munfordville, Kentucky on April 1, 1919. Her parents, Samuel Dewey Hawkins and Addie Mae Goodman Hawkins, divorced when she was eight years old and she moved with her mother and sister Edith to Louisville. The family lived an austere, working class life, a fact Stovall never resented: "I don't think it hurt to do without," she said. She joined the Tobacco Workers International Union and became secretary of her local, TWIU 185. She kept that position for 11 years,

By the early 1970s, she was a figure of some national stature: the Cincinnati Enquirer described her as "one of the most knowledgeable women in America regarding state government" and noted that she was in high demand for speaking engagements around the country. She also candidly discussed her plans for higher office.

As lieutenant governor, Stovall was not reluctant to invoke her powers as acting governor when Governor Julian Carroll left the state. During one of Carroll's absences, Stovall called the Kentucky General Assembly into special session to reduce taxation. Two bills were swiftly passed: one placed a statewide cap on property taxes while the other removed a 5% state tax on utility bills. The repeal had come to her as a late attachment to another bill regarding state pensions (House Joint Resolution 20) and Stovall claimed a legal right to reject it on two counts: the Kentucky constitution did not permit bills dealing with more than one subject, and there was a Senate rule that prohibited the introduction of new bills in the final ten days of any legislative session.

In an oral history interview in 1977, Stovall gave her plainspoken view of the ERA: "It's ridiculous after 200 years that women are still second class citizens. No – black men were allowed to vote fifty years before women could vote. As long there is still some statutes that say there are certain things that a woman can not do, we are still second class citizens." After her veto the following year, she resolutely defended her action, declaring: "Every elective official is faced sooner or later with the prospect of acting for political expediency, acting from conscience and law, or avoiding the issue by not acting at all. When the people vote to elect their leaders, they expect them to act and act decisively."

Later career Stovall sought election as Governor of Kentucky in 1979 but lost in the Democratic primary to John Y. Brown, Jr. who went on to win the general election. Stovall won 47,633 votes, taking fifth place behind Brown's 165,188 votes; 139,713 for Harvey I. Sloane, the mayor of Louisville; 131,530 for former state representative Terry McBrayer; and 68,577 for 1st District Congressman Carroll Hubbard. Stovall did finish ahead of four minor candidates in the primary, To celebrate her 30 years of public service, a large party was held in the Kentucky State Capitol on December 3, 1979. In his announcement, Brown praised her as "the grande dame of the feminist movement and... the indisputable advocate of working people". She was honored by being allowed to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda.

Stovall's portrait, painted by Louisville portrait painter Doris Leist, hangs in the Capitol and a plaque commemorating her achievements was placed there in 1982. A Kentucky newspaper wrote in praise for one of the state's most controversial politicians: Say what you will about Thelma Stovall, you always knew where she stood. Stovall's portrait was also painted by Grant County, Kentucky artist William Joseph Petrie in 1975. The painting is now in the collection of the Kentucky Historical Society.