Nov. 6, 2006

Joan Finney, Washburn University
Graduated - 1978
Majors - Economic History

Joan Finney was the first female Governor of Kansas. She served as Governor from 1991-1995. In addition to being the state's first woman governor, she was the state's oldest governor, taking office at age 65, and was also the state's first Catholic Governor.

From 1953 to 1969, she served on the staff of Republican U.S. Senator Frank Carlson, then continued her political career by serving as Commissioner of Elections for Shawnee County, Kansas from 1970-1972. In 1972, she had an unsuccessful candidacy for a U.S. House seat. After switching her political affiliation from Republican to Democrat, she served as State Treasurer from 1975 to 1991.

She upset former Governor John W. Carlin in the 1990 Democratic primary for Governor and defeated incumbent Republican Mike Hayden in the general election to become the first woman to defeat an incumbent Governor in the United States.

Following her term as Governor, in 1996, she ran for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Bob Dole, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by Jill Docking, who later lost the general election to Sam Brownback.

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