Kay A. Orr

Kay Avonne Orr (née Stark; born January 2, 1939) is an American politician who was the 36th governor of Nebraska from 1987 to 1991. She was the state's first female governor. Orr is a member of the Republican Party.

Kay Orr
36th Governor of Nebraska
In office January 9, 1987 – January 9, 1991
Lieutenant	William E.Nichol
Preceded by	Bob Kerrey
Succeeded by	Ben Nelson
State Treasurer of Nebraska
In office June 15, 1981 – January 9, 1987
Governor	Charles Thone Bob Kerrey
Preceded by	Frank Marsh
Succeeded by	Frank Marsh
Personal details
Born	Kay Avonne Stark (1939-01-02) January 2, 1939 Burlington, Iowa, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Bill Orr ​ ( m. 1957; died 2013)
Children	2
Education	University of Iowa

Personal life

Orr was born Kay Avonne Stark in Burlington, Iowa. Her mother, Sadie, was active in local politics, while her father, Ralph, was a Burlington city council member and farm implements dealer.[1] She attended the University of Iowa from 1956 to 1957. She married William Dayton Orr on September 26, 1957, and they had two children, John William and Suzanne.[2] She moved with her family to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1963. Shortly thereafter, she began volunteering for the Republican Party. She supported such politicians as Richard Nixon, Carl Curtis, and Roman Hruska, and was named Nebraska's Outstanding Young Republican Woman in 1969.[3]

Her husband, Bill Orr, died from complications of COPD on May 5, 2013.[4]

Political career

Orr greeting President Ronald Reagan in 1987

Orr with President George H. W. Bush in 1990

Orr was appointed to fill a midterm vacancy in the office of State Treasurer of Nebraska in 1981. She was subsequently elected to that post in 1982, becoming the first woman ever to be elected to a statewide constitutional office in Nebraska. She held that office until 1987.[2]

In the 1986 election, Orr secured the Republican nomination for Nebraska governor by winning an eight-way primary.[5]

Republican gubernatorial primary results, May 13, 1986[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kay Orr	75,914	39.41
	Republican	Kermit Brashear	60,308	31.30
	Republican	Nancy Hoch	42,649	22.14
	Republican	Everett Sileven	4,281	2.22
	Republican	Paul Rosberg	4,280	2.22
	Republican	Monte Taylor	3,276	1.70
	Republican	Roger Yant	682	.35
	Republican	Chuck Loos	658	.34
	Republican	Write-in	601	.31

In the primary, Orr carried 81 of Nebraska's 93 counties including Douglas and Lancaster, Brashear carried 9 counties, and Hoch carried 2 counties.[7]

In the 1986 general election, she defeated former Lincoln Mayor Helen Boosalis in the first U.S. gubernatorial election in which both major party candidates were women, winning by a 53% to 47% margin. Orr was the first Republican woman elected governor in the United States, and the second Republican woman governor after Vesta M. Roy, who served as the unelected acting governor of New Hampshire from December 1982 to January 1983.[8]

In the 1990 gubernatorial election, Orr was narrowly defeated by Democrat Ben Nelson. Nelson's two main attacks on her gubernatorial record were her support of a proposed low-level nuclear waste dump and her raising taxes. The tax increase was passed over her veto.

Orr co-chaired a coalition seeking to prohibit gay marriage in the state constitution via Initiative 416.[9] Her effort was successful, and gay marriage was banned in 2000.

Orr served twice as a presidential elector for the state of Nebraska, casting one of the state's five electoral votes. In the 2004 presidential election, she voted for George W. Bush; in the 2012 election, for Mitt Romney.

See also

• List of female governors in the United States

References

1. Kaufman, Joanne (December 12, 1988). "While Nebraska Governor Kay Orr Makes Policy, Husband Bill, Her 'First Gentleman,' Bakes Meat Loaf". People Magazine. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
2. "Kay A. Orr" (PDF). Nebraska State Library and Archives. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20110604145024/http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=f287ae3effb81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
4. "Husband Of Former Governor Kay Orr Dead At 78". WOWT. 2013-05-05. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
5. "Nebraskans choose woman for governor's race". The New York Times. May 14, 1986. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
6. Hickey, Donald R.; Wunder, Susan A.; Wunder, John R. (May 31, 2017). Nebraska Moments. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9780803215726. Retrieved May 31, 2017 – via Google Books.
7. Hickey, Donald R.; Wunder, Susan A.; Wunder, John R. (January 1, 2007). Nebraska Moments. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0803215726.
8. Knudson, Thomas J. "Nebraska, in new page to history, installs woman". New York Times. 1987-01-09. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
9. Hicks, Nancy (October 5, 2000). "Orr backs ban on same-sex marriages". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved July 22, 2020.

External links

• Governor Orr's papers at the Nebraska State Historical Society
• National Governors Association
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Political offices
Preceded by Frank Marsh	Treasurer of Nebraska 1981–1987	Succeeded by Frank Marsh
Preceded by Bob Kerrey	Governor of Nebraska 1987–1991	Succeeded by Ben Nelson
Party political offices
Preceded by Charles Thone	Republican nominee for Governor of Nebraska 1986, 1990	Succeeded by Gene Spence