Dorothy Watson Glisson (May 10, 1912 – April 10, 2001) was the 17th

Secretary of State of Florida The secretary of state of Florida is an executive officer of the state government of the U.S. state of Florida, established since the original 1838 Constitution of Florida, state constitution. Like the corresponding officials in other states, th ...

, serving for six months from 1974 to 1975. She was the first woman to hold a

Florida Cabinet The Florida Cabinet is a body of the government of Florida comprising the attorney general, the commissioner of agriculture, and the chief financial officer that engages in the collective governance of the state. History Created following Recon ...

post. Glisson began working in the state elections office in 1951, and became head of the office in 1954. She served in that role for 20 years until July 1974, when Governor

Reubin Askew Reubin O'Donovan Askew (September 11, 1928 – March 13, 2014) was an American politician, who served as the 37th governor of Florida from 1971 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 7th U.S. trade representative from 1979 ...

appointed her to fill out the term of Secretary of State

Richard Stone Sir John Richard Nicholas Stone (30 August 1913 – 6 December 1991) was an eminent British economist. He was educated at Gonville and Caius College and King's College at the University of Cambridge. In 1984, he was awarded the Nobel Memori ...

. Stone had resigned to focus on campaigning for the U.S. Senate. Glisson did not intend to run for election in 1974, but rather complete the sixth months remaining in Stone's unexpired term. After her elected successor

Bruce Smathers Bruce Armistead Smathers (born October 3, 1943) is a retired Democratic politician from Florida. He served as the 18th Secretary of State of Florida from 1975 to 1978. Political career Smathers began his political career in 1972, when he was ...

was inaugurated in January 1975, Glisson returned to her previous position as director of the Division of Elections. In January 1976, Askew appointed her secretary of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. She served in that role until July 1978, when she returned to the Department of State as an assistant secretary under Jesse McCrary. In September 1979, she was again appointed director of the Division of Elections, working in that post under George Firestone for more than seven years until her retirement in February 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glisson, Dorothy W. 1912 births 2001 deaths Election people Florida Democrats Secretaries of state of Florida Women in Florida politics 20th-century American women 20th-century Florida politicians