Elaine Bland Baxter (January 16, 1933 – March 26, 2021) was an American politician and educator who served as the 27th

Iowa Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Iowa is the commissioner of elections of the U.S. state of Iowa. A constitutional officer, the officeholder is elected every four years. The Office of the Secretary of State is divided into four divisions: Elections and ...

Personal life

She was the daughter of Clarence Arthur Bland and Margaret Clark Bland. She married Harry Youngs Baxter, in 1954; they have three children, Katherine, Harry and John. She died on March 26, 2021, aged 88.

Education

She received her B.A. in International Affairs from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

in 1954, a teaching certificate in secondary level Social Studies from

Iowa Wesleyan College Iowa Wesleyan University was a private university in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, United States. It was Iowa's first co-educational institution of higher learning and the oldest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The institution was affiliated ...

in 1970 and an M.S. in Urban and Regional Planning from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in 1978. She also received graduate training at the

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Kennedy School of Government.

Political career

Baxter was a member of the Iowa House of Representatives' 60th District from 1983 to 1986, and she served two terms as

from 1986 to 1994. She was also a delegate to

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

from Iowa in 1988 and 1992; was a member of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

from Iowa in 1988; was a candidate for U.S. Representative from

Iowa's 3rd congressional district Iowa's 3rd congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its southwestern quadrant, which roughly consists of an area stretching from Des Moines, Iowa, Des ...

in 1992 and 1994. Iowa Governor Thomas Vilsack appointed her to the Humanities Iowa board of directors. She joined the Iowa Lottery Board in 2002. Baxter endorsed

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

in the 2008 US Presidential election.

Community involvement

Baxter was active in civic organizations, including the Burlington planning commission, the Burlington City Council and the Victorian Society of Iowa. She served on various boards, including the Preservation Action, Washington, D.C. (1980–1984), the Iowa Alliance for Historic Preservation, the Heritage Trust for Preservation of Historic Burlington and the Terrace Hill Society.

References

External links

Baxter
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...

Elaine Baxter
at Our Campaigns

at the

Elain Baxter's boardmember listing
at the

Iowa Lottery The Iowa Lottery Authority is run by the state of Iowa. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which administers games on behalf of the member lotteries. The Iowa Lottery portfolio includes Powerball, Mega Millions, Lotto Ame ...

board * , IowaPolitics.com
"Women Not Winning In Iowa: Part 1", ''John Deeth blog'', March 22, 2005
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Elaine Secretaries of state of Iowa 1933 births 2021 deaths Politicians from Chicago University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Iowa Wesleyan University alumni University of Iowa alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Women state legislators in Iowa Democratic Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives 21st-century American women