Martha Whitehead Explained

Martha Whitehead
Term Start:1993
Term End:August 31, 1996
Office:Texas State Treasurer
Predecessor:Kay Bailey Hutchison
Successor:Office abolished
Governor:Ann Richards
George W. Bush
Party:Democratic

Martha Whitehead is an American politician from the U.S. state of Texas. She was the last Texas State Treasurer before the position was abolished by constitutional amendment in 1996.

Career

Whitehead served as the mayor of Longview, Texas.[1] In 1993, Texas Governor Ann Richards appointed Whitehead as Texas State Treasurer, filling the vacancy created when the previous incumbent, Kay Bailey Hutchison was elected to the United States Senate.[2]

Texas Treasurer

In 1994, Whitehead ran for State Treasurer on a platform of abolishing the office and transferring its few remaining functions to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.[3] In 1995, the Texas Legislature passed a proposed constitutional amendment to abolish the office, which was approved by a majority of voters later that same year. The office was formally dismantled in 1996. On her last day in office, on August 31, 1996, she scraped her name and title off the glass front of the Treasurer's headquarters.[4] [5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: SAM HOWE VERHOVEK. THE 1994 CAMPAIGN: TEXAS; Candidate Seeks Job She Would Cut - The New York Times . . October 30, 1994 . January 14, 2019.
  2. Web site: Texas Register - The Portal to Texas History . Texinfo.library.unt.edu . January 6, 1976 . January 14, 2019.
  3. Web site: Ramsey. Ross. 2018-09-26. Analysis: Texas politics can change plenty in 2018 without a blue wave. 2020-12-16. The Texas Tribune. en.
  4. Web site: Karl Rove writes that Democrats abolished state treasurer's office after she won it and she later became senator | PolitiFact Texas . Politifact.com . January 14, 2019.
  5. News: Associated Press. 1996-08-31. Texas Says Goodbye to Treasury. en-US. The New York Times. 2020-08-23. 0362-4331.