Sylvia Laughter Explained

Sylvia Laughter
State House5:Arizona
District5:3rd
Term Start5:January 1999
Term End5:January 2003
Predecessor5:Joe Hart
John Verkamp
State House6:Arizona
District6:2nd
Term Start6:January 2003
Term End6:January 2005
Successor6:Ann Kirkpatrick
Albert Tom
Birth Date:c. 1959
Birth Place:Baby Rocks, Arizona, U.S.
Death Place:Mesa, Arizona, U.S.
Nationality:Navajo, American
Party:Independent
Residence:Kayenta, Arizona
Alma Mater:Brigham Young University
Profession:Politician

Sylvia Laughter (– October 15, 2022) was an American politician who was a member of the Arizona House of Representatives from January 1999 until January 2005.[1] She was the first Navajo woman to serve in the Arizona legislature, as well as the first and only politically independent legislator to serve in the state legislature since Arizona's statehood in 1912.[2]

Biography

Laughter was first elected to the House in November 1998 as a Democrat, representing District 3.[3] She was re-elected in 2000,[4] and again after redistricting in 2002, representing District 2.[5] In February 2003, she changed her party affiliation from Democrat to Independent.[6] She ran for re-election in the November 2004 election but was defeated by Democrats Ann Kirkpatrick and Albert Tom.[7] Between 2004 and 2010 she changed her party affiliation back to Democrat, and ran for the Arizona State Senate in 2010 in District 2. She lost in the primary to Jack Jackson, Jr.[8]

She died from complications of COVID-19 in Mesa, Arizona, on October 15, 2022, at the age of 63.[9] [10] [11]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sylvia Laughter's Biography . Project Vote Smart . April 13, 2019 . https://archive.today/20240528094835/https://www.webcitation.org/77bjZcLKl?url=https://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/16352/sylvia-laughter#.XLIUffZFwjY . live . May 28, 2024.
  2. News: Debra . Utacia Krol . Former Arizona lawmaker Sylvia Laughter dies after 10-month battle with COVID-19 . . 2022-10-19 . 2022-10-23 .
  3. Web site: Session laws, State of Arizona, 1999 Volume 1, Forty-Fourth Legislature, First Regular Session, Chapters 1 to 223 . State of Arizona . December 12, 2018.
  4. Web site: Session laws, State of Arizona, 2001 Volume 1, Forty-Fifth Legislature, First Regular Session, Chapters 1 to 235 . State of Arizona . December 12, 2018.
  5. Web site: Session laws, State of Arizona, 2003 Volume 1, Forty-Sixth Legislature, First Regular Session, Chapters 1 to 247 . State of Arizona . December 27, 2018.
  6. Web site: Sylvia Laughter . Ballotpedia . April 13, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181111014054/https://ballotpedia.org/Sylvia_Laughter . live . November 11, 2018.
  7. Web site: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2004 . Ballotpedia . April 13, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190410111810/https://ballotpedia.org/Arizona_House_of_Representatives_elections,_2004 . live . April 10, 2019.
  8. Web site: Arizona State Senate elections, 2010 . Ballotpedia . April 13, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190501223248/https://ballotpedia.org/Arizona_State_Senate_elections,_2010 . live . May 1, 2019.
  9. News: Former state representative Sylvia Laughter dies at 63. KNAU News. October 19, 2022. October 19, 2022.
  10. Web site: In Memoriam: Sylvia Laughter, Former Member of the Arizona House of Representatives. Indian Gaming. October 19, 2022. October 19, 2022.
  11. News: Thorington . Jakob . Former independent representative dies Saturday at 63 . 19 October 2022 . Arizona Capitol Times . 17 October 2022.