| Frankie Sue Del Papa | |
| Order: | 29th |
| Office: | Attorney General of Nevada |
| Term Start: | January 7, 1991 |
| Term End: | January 6, 2003 |
| Governor: | Bob Miller Kenny Guinn |
| Predecessor: | Brian McKay |
| Successor: | Brian Sandoval |
| Order2: | 13th |
| Office2: | Secretary of State of Nevada |
| Term Start2: | January 5, 1987 |
| Term End2: | January 7, 1991 |
| Governor2: | Richard Bryan Bob Miller |
| Predecessor2: | William D. Swackhamer |
| Successor2: | Cheryl Lau |
| Birth Date: | 21 September 1949 |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Residence: | Reno, Nevada, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | George Washington University University of Nevada, Reno |
| Profession: | Attorney and politician |
| Signature: | Frankie Sue Del Papa Signature.jpg |
Frankie Sue Del Papa (born September 21, 1949) is an American attorney and politician in the state of Nevada. She was the first woman elected as the Secretary of State of Nevada in 1986 and the first woman elected as the Nevada Attorney General, a position that she held between 1991 and 2003.
Del Papa earned a bachelors of arts degree from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1971 and graduated from George Washington University Law School with a J.D. in 1974.[1] [2] [3] She was the third woman elected as student body president at the University of Nevada, Reno. She was an associate at the law office of Lesley B. Gray in Reno, Nevada, between 1975 and 1978, a partner at the law offices of Thornton and Del Papa between 1979 and 1984, and worked in private practice in Reno between 1984 and 1987.
She was the first woman elected as the Secretary of State of Nevada in the 1986 general election and the first woman elected as the Nevada Attorney General, winning the 1990 general election, the 1994 general election, and the 1998 general election.[4] Del Papa was not eligible to run for a fourth term in 2002 due to lifetime term limits established by the Nevada Constitution. She ran for Governor of Nevada in 1998 and for U.S. Senate in 1999 but dropped out of both elections due to lack of funds.[5]
After retiring from politics, she served as the co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign in Nevada. Currently, she sits on the bipartisan advisory board of the States United Democracy Center.[6]