Judy Martz was first female governor of Montana
Montana’s only female governor and lieutenant governor, whose fiscal success running the state was overshadowed by scandal and gaffes, has died.
Judy Martz, who had been battling pancreatic cancer, was 74.
Martz died Monday in Butte, said state Attorney General Tim Fox, who is a friend of the family.
“She had a very forceful personality and was a very articulate, very smart person, and it doesn’t surprise me that she would be our first woman governor,” Fox said.
State political leaders, including Gov. Steve Bullock, expressed sympathy and honoured Martz as a trailblazer for women in Montana.
“While she will always leave her mark in our history as a trailblazer for women, we will also remember the spirited enthusiasm she brought both in her service to Montanans and through her lifelong love for our state,” Bullock said in a statement.
Martz, a Republican, served as governor from 2001-05. She was noted for turning a state deficit into a surplus while reducing taxes and increasing funding for education.
However, her term was besieged by missteps. Her popularity dropped to 20 per cent at its low point.
Martz entered politics in 1996 as Gov. Marc Racicot’s running mate. She ran for governor after Racicot was barred from seeking a third term.
Martz faced backlash following a 2001 drunken-driving crash involving her chief policy adviser, Shane Hedges. He was at the wheel of an SUV that went off a mountain road and killed Montana’s House majority leader, who was a passenger.
Martz was ridiculed for washing her aide’s clothes shortly after the crash, an act she said was a motherly reaction.
She was also criticized for comments suggesting she did not mind being referred to as a “lap dog” of industry. Her administration came under fire after news reports revealed that some of her staff used state phones to make political fundraising calls.
Martz, who often said she was mistreated by the news media, alluded to her political troubles in making her announcement not to run for reelection in 2003.