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  Farley, Frances
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationDemocratic  
 
NameFrances Farley
Address
, Utah , United States
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born August 27, 1923
DiedJanuary 16, 2004 (80 years)
ContributorUser 13
Last ModifedDavid
Aug 27, 2021 01:39pm
Tags Married -
InfoMrs. Frances Yvonne Farley

Utah State Senator

The following is from Ms. Farley's Obituary

Feminist Democrat shook up the Senate

Former state Sen. Frances Farley, a political pioneer whose bold stands on social justice and protecting the environment inspired many young women to get involved in public service, died in a Salt Lake City care center Friday. She was 80.

Farley was an instant news magnet in 1976 after she became the first woman in 20 years elected to the Senate. Her unwillingness to be treated differently because of her gender made many of her colleagues uneasy, friends recounted.

"At first, many of the 28 men appeared to be confused and somewhat uncomfortable with this woman in the Senate as their peer and equal, and it was interesting to watch," said Joan Thomas, a Senate clerk at the time. "In addition to Frances being the first woman senator in over 20 years, she was a feminist and proud of it. She was a strong women's rights advocate and she supported choice for women and the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment."

Thomas said Farley would become agitated when she was asked by her Democratic colleagues to help with their caucus lunch cleanup. "She remarked that men were always helping her with her coat and opening doors for her. She said that she could open her own doors and put on her own coat. She just wanted to be treated as any senator."

Farley created a movement that eventually led to decades-old male-only private clubs to open memberships to women after she held a news conference blasting the University Club for not allowing her into its sports grill because of her gender.

She said in a 1990 interview with The Salt Lake Tribune that she became controversial as soon as she stepped onto the Senate floor in 1977 and began admonishing her male colleagues for calling her a girl.

"Many men are nervous about dealing with a woman," Farley said in that interview. "For many men, the Senate is probably the only experience in their lives where they deal with women on an equal basis. And a handful of them just don't like it."

Farley was elected in 1976 to the Senate's District 1, covering the Avenues, Capitol Hill and University of Utah neighborhoods. She was re-elected in 1980, but left the Senate in 1982 after reapportionment threw her into the same district as fellow Democrat Terry Williams. That year, she became the first woman to run for Congress in Utah since Reva Beck Basone represented the state's 1st Congressional District in the early 1950s. She lost a narrow race to incumbent Dan Marriott, then lost a second bid for Congress, when it was an open seat in 1984, against Republican Lt. Gov. David Monson by less than 500 votes.

After working as a hospital administrator for several years, she was re-elected to the state Senate in 1986, serving one term before retiring after the 1990 legislative session.

"Frances was a true self-made woman," said Allison Heyrend, a former local television reporter who worked on Farley's 1984 congressional campaign and now is communications director for Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah.

"She had a career in retail sales in the Midwest and raised a family before coming to Utah with her husband in 1970. When she got involved with politics, I was struck by how she was so tuned in with everyday folks. She loved knocking on doors and talking to people," Heyrend said.

Farley would say that her role in stopping the MX Missile complex from being built in the western Utah desert was her greatest accomplishment. She was one of the first Utahns to publicly come out against the ambitious defense project proposed by the Carter administration in the late 1970s. She held several news conferences and met on the matter with leaders of the LDS Church, which eventually issued a formal statement opposing the MX.

She also fought for legislation that would prevent discrimination in housing, helped organize the Utah Women's political caucus in 1972 and led a movement to remove sexist language from the Utah code. She was one of the first politicians to push for removal of the sales tax on food.

Her biting wit often came through in subtle ways on the Senate floor when a particular statement or piece of legislation stirred her ire. Once, when a young man testified before the Senate in favor of a proposed resolution praising South Africa's racist policy of apartheid as a "righteous system," Farley asked the speaker to repeat his last name.
"Flake," the man said.
"Is that right?" Farley responded, making her point.

Farley was born Aug. 27, 1923, in Grand Forks, N. D. She is survived by her husband, Eugene, son, Kit, and daughter, Betsy.

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Date Category Headline Article Contributor
Jan 17, 2004 12:00am Obituary Frances Farley Dies At Age 80: Feminist State Senator shook up Utah  Article Stephen Yellin 

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Importance? 5.00000 Average

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RACES
  11/04/1986 UT State Senate 01 Won 63.79% (+29.32%)
  11/06/1984 UT District 2 Lost 49.13% (-0.23%)
  11/02/1982 UT District 2 Lost 46.16% (-7.67%)
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