Kay Ivey Becomes the State's Second Female Governor

With the resignation of Robert Bentley, Lt. Governor Kay Ivey was sworn-in as the next governor of Alabama. She becomes the state’s second female governor and the first to rise through the political ranks on her own. Ivey was already the first Republican woman elected lieutenant governor of Alabama and the first Republican to hold that office for two straight terms. Alabama's first female governor was Lurleen Wallace, wife of four-term Gov. George C. Wallace. She ran as a surrogate for her still-powerful husband in 1966 when he couldn't seek re-election because of term limits.