Judy Jacobson (February 26, 1939 – June 20, 2019) was an American author and politician who served as a Democratic member of the

Montana Legislature The Montana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to t ...

. She was elected to

Montana State Senate The Montana State Senate is the upper house of the Montana Legislature, the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The body is composed of 50 senators elected for four years. Half of the Senate is up for election every two years. ...

District 42 and served from 1981 to 1996, and was the first female Senator serving Silver Bow County.

Early life and education

On February 26, 1939, Jacobson was born in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

. Jacobson attended and studied social work at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. In 1995, Jacobson earned a Bachelor of Science degree from

Montana Technological University Montana Technological University, popularly known as Montana Tech, is a public university in Butte, Montana. Founded in 1900 as the "Montana State School of Mines", the university became affiliated with the University of Montana in 1994. After un ...

Career

In 1981, Jacobson served in the Montana Senate District 41. On January 12, 1996, Jacobson was announced as the running mate of Chet Blaylock for the 1996 Montana gubernatorial election. However, on October 23, 1996, Blaylock died of a heart attack, and the

Montana Democratic Party Montana Democratic Party (MDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Montana and one of the two major political parties in the state. The party as of 2024 is chaired by Robyn Driscoll. The National Committeeman is Jorge ...

selected Jacobson as his replacement, therefore becoming both the gubernatorial nominee and the lieutenant gubernatorial nominee. Winning 79.2% of the vote, ultimately, however,

Marc Racicot Marc Racicot (; born July 24, 1948) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and former Republican politician who served as the 21st governor of Montana from 1993 until 2001. After leaving office, Racicot worked as a lobbyist for the law firm Bracewe ...

was able to defeat Jacobson in a landslide to win re-election to his second and final term as governor. In 2000, Jacobson became the first woman Chief Executive of Butte-Silver Bow in Montana.

Works

* 1997 Montana Almanc. Co-author with Andrea Merrill. Published by Falcon Press Publishing.

Personal life

Jacobson's husband is John Jacobson, a physician. In 1973, Jacobson and her family moved to

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the 2 ...

. Jacobson has three children. On June 20, 2019, Jacobson died in Butte at 80 years of age.

References

External links

Judy Jacobson at ourcampaigns.com
1939 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century members of the Montana Legislature Democratic Party Montana state senators Politicians from South Bend, Indiana University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Social Work alumni Women state legislators in Montana Candidates in the 1996 United States elections {{Montana-politician-stub