Lyda N. Green (born October 16, 1938 in

Livingston, Texas Livingston is a town in and the county seat of Polk County, Texas. With a population of 5,640 at the 2020 census, it is the largest city in Polk County. It is located about 46 miles south of Lufkin and was originally settled in 1835 as S ...

) is a retired educator and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. Green, as a political newcomer, was elected to the

Alaska Senate The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or rejecting gub ...

in 1994, defeating a 22-year Democratic incumbent in a district representing most of the population of the

Matanuska-Susitna Borough Matanuska-Susitna Borough (often referred to as the Mat-Su Borough) is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. Its county seat is Palmer, and the largest community is the census-designated place of Knik-Fairview. The borough is part of ...

. Two Democratic members of the

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people per ...

, also from the

Matanuska-Susitna Valley Matanuska-Susitna Valley () (known locally as the Mat-Su or The Valley) is an area in Southcentral Alaska south of the Alaska Range about north of Anchorage, Alaska. It is known for the world record sized cabbages and other vegetables displayed ...

, were defeated in the same election. Green served a total of fourteen years in the Senate and was its president in her final two years in office.

Political career

Lyda Green was a member of the

, serving from 1995 to 2009. She was first elected in 1994 by defeating Democratic incumbent Jalmar M. "Jay" Kerttula, who was the longest-serving member in the history of the

Alaska Legislature The Alaska Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution consisting of the 40-member Alaska House of Representatives (lower house) and the 20-member Alaska Senate (upper house). There are 40 Hou ...

. Kerttula was long regarded as vulnerable, and was re-elected in 1984 with under 52% of the vote just as the

was starting to trend Republican. He was twice re-elected after that against veteran campaigners. Given the political atmosphere at the time, Green benefited from being a first-time candidate running against an incumbent who had been in office for over 30 years. She was elected the Senate President in 2007 when 6 Republicans split from their colleagues to form a ruling coalition with all 9 Democrats in the Senate. Senator Green decided not to run for reelection in 2008 and was replaced by Republican Senator

Linda Menard Linda K. Menard (born December 21, 1943) is a former Republican member of the Alaska Senate. She represented the G District from 2009 through 2012. She had previously served for over a decade on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough school board, inc ...

, whose husband Curtis had served in the Senate several years before Green.

Relationship with Sarah Palin

Green has been critical of Alaskan Governor

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

. When US Senator

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

nominated Palin to be his

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

ial running mate in the

2008 US presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

, Green said:

She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation?

The statement was made in the context of an oil tax increase Palin supported, as well as a $500 million state subsidy to a Canadian firm for a

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

pipeline project, even though the pipeline was not guaranteed.

Personal life

Lyda graduated from

Brazosport High School Brazosport High School is a public high school located at the intersection of Brazosport Boulevard and West 2nd Street in Freeport, Texas, United States. It handles grades nine through twelve and is part of the Brazosport Independent School Distr ...

in 1956 and received a

B.B.A. Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

degree from

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

in 1959. Lyda is married to Curtis Green, who is an agent for

State Farm Insurance State Farm Insurance is a large group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois. Overview State Farm is the largest property and casualty insurance provider, and the lar ...

and was previously a district manager for State Farm in Alaska. Curtis Green has also been a long-time political ally of

Dick Randolph Richard L. Randolph (born April 10, 1936) is a longtime insurance agency owner in Fairbanks, Alaska who is best known as the first person to be elected to partisan office under the banner of the Libertarian Party with his election to the Alaska ...

. They have two sons, Shelton and Bradley. Their daughter, Kristie owns an insurance agency in Kenai and is married to Tuckerman Babcock, a former official in the

Wally Hickel Walter Joseph Hickel (August 18, 1919 – May 7, 2010) was an American businessman, real estate developer, and politician who served as the second governor of Alaska from 1966 to 1969 and 1990 to 1994 and as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1 ...

and Mike Dunleavy administrations, and a past chairman of the Alaska Republican Party.Alaska GOP names Babcock party chair
'' KTOO-TV'', Liz Ruskin, May 2, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2022.

References

External links

Senator Lyda Green
official government website
Project Vote Smart - Senator Lyda Green (AK)
profile * Follow the Money - Lyda N. Green *
200620042002200019981994
campaign contributions
Lyda Green
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Lyda 1938 births Republican Party Alaska state senators Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Living people Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska People from Freeport, Texas People from Livingston, Texas People from Wasilla, Alaska Presidents of the Alaska Senate Sam Houston State University alumni Women state legislators in Alaska 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians