Kathleen Marie (Babineaux) Blanco (1942 - 2019)

Born 15 Dec 1942 in New Iberia, Iberia, Louisiana, United States

Ancestors

Died 18 Aug 2019 at age 76 in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States

Preceded by 53rd Governor Murphy J. Foster, Jr.

Kathleen Blanco 54th Governor of Louisiana 2004—2008

Succeeded by 55th Governor Bobby Jindal

Biography

Kathleen (Babineaux) Blanco is Notable.

Kathleen Marie Blanco was an American politician who served as the 54th governor of Louisiana from January 2004 to January 2008. As a member of the Democratic Party, she was the first and, to date, only woman elected as the state's governor.

Kathleen Babineaux was born in New Iberia, Louisiana on December 15, 1942, the daughter of Cajun parents Louis Babineaux and Lucille Fremin. She graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a degree in business education; she was also a member of the Kappa Delta sorority, as its Gamma Kappa chapter was based at Lafayette. She married on August 8, 1964, and took the Blanco surname. Following her graduation from college, Kathleen taught business at Breaux Bridge High School. Later on, she raised her six children while she stayed at home for almost fifteen years.

Kathleen's political career began in 1983 when she was elected as a legislator from the city of Lafayette to the Louisiana House of Representatives. In 1988, she was elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission, of which she was also the chairwoman. She was then elected to the position of Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, which she held from 1996 to 2004. Kathleen would then get elected as the first female governor of Louisiana, which she held from the latter year to 2008.

As the state governor, Kathleen traveled more than her predecessor, having visited other countries including Cuba. In 2005, during Kathleen's term as governor, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita impacted Louisiana, displacing more then one million residents from the state's coastal regions. Kathleen acknowledged that her government was slow to respond to the disasters resulting from the two hurricanes. She did not run for re-election as governor; despite the slow response to the aforementioned disasters, she met her initial goals she had set as governor.

In December 2017, Kathleen was diagnosed with uveal melanoma, which metastasized to her liver and then throughout her body. From April 2019, she had been in hospice care at the St. Joseph Hospice Carpenter House in Lafayette, where she died on August 18 at the age of 76.

Sources

See also:

• Wikipedia: Kathleen Blanco
• Wikidata: Item Q237786, en:Wikipedia