Ann Richards Was The First Female Governor Of Texas

Ann Richards Governorship Ann Richards was a fiery, quick-witted woman. She was the forty-fifth governor of Texas and the second female governor of Texas, Richards is often regarded as the first female governor in her own right, as her predecessor, “Ma” Ferguson, had been elected as a surrogate in place of her husband (Ann Richards, 2014). Despite having only served one term, Richards became a nationally recognized figure for her outspoken feminism and plans to reform Texas. Born as Dorothy Ann Willis in Lacy-Lakeview, Texas on September 1, 1933, Richards grew up in Waco, Texas to a family of modest means. She showed her political promise early in her high school career, where she excel at debate. During her senior year she also attended

A couple years later, with her husband’s encouragement, Richards ran for Travis County commissioner and won, becoming the first woman to be elected into that office for the county. After serving two terms, she then ran for the statewide race for state treasurer in 1982 and became the first woman to win that office and the first woman to run a successful campaign for any statewide office since Miriam Ferguson’s election for governor in 1932. Unfortunately, she and her husband separated during this time while Richards underwent treatment for her alcoholism in 1980. In 1986, Richards was reelected to her post (Dorothy Ann Willis Richards,

She sought to revitalize and reform the Texas prison system, establishing a substance abuse program for inmates, reducing the number of dangerous offenders released to the general public, and increasing the current prison space to deal with the growing prison population of more than 80,000 in 1994 (as compared to less than 60,000 in 1992). She was also able to successfully sign into law the amendment of the Texas Financial Responsibility Law, which stated that motorists had to have a valid auto insurance policy in order to initially register a motor vehicle, as well as renew the motor vehicle registration, inspection safety sticker, driver’s license, and/or obtaining a new license plate. This law was passed on September 1, 1991. During her governorship, Richards also instituted the Texas Lottery as a means to supplement school funding; she purchased the first lottery ticket on May 29, 1992, in a suburb near Austin (Sapper, 2010). However, Richard’s relationship with legislature was rocky in other regards. Public school finances was a big issue and had been during the previous govenorships. It was during her term when the famous “Robin Hood” plan, as it was named by the media, was launched in order to try and make school funding more equitable across school districts. This legislation was highly controversially as it called for a cap