Martha Whitehead is an American politician and pastor from the U.S. state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. She was the last

Texas State Treasurer Texas State Treasurer was an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the state government of Texas, responsible for overseeing the financial operations of state government. The position was established in the Constitution of ...

before the position was abolished by constitutional amendment in 1996.

Career

Whitehead served as the mayor of

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, and county seat of Gregg County, Texas, Gregg County; a small part of Longview extends into the western portion of neighboring Harrison County, Texas, Harrison County. Longview is located in East Tex ...

. In 1993, Texas Governor

Ann Richards Dorothy Ann Richards (née Willis; September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, ...

appointed Whitehead as Texas State Treasurer, filling the vacancy created when the previous incumbent,

Kay Bailey Hutchison Kay Bailey Hutchison (born Kathryn Ann Bailey; July 22, 1943) is an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, diplomat, and was the 22nd United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 2017 until 2021. A member of the Republi ...

was elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Texas Treasurer

In 1994, Whitehead ran for State Treasurer on a platform of abolishing the office and transferring its few remaining functions to the

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is an executive branch position created by the Texas Constitution. The comptroller is popularly elected every four years, and is primarily tasked with collecting all state tax revenue and estimating the am ...

. In 1995, the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

passed a proposed constitutional amendment to abolish the office, which was approved by a majority of voters later that same year. The office was formally dismantled in 1996. On her last day in office, August 31, 1996, she scraped her name and title off the glass front of the Treasurer's headquarters.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Longview, Texas Mayors of places in Texas State treasurers of Texas Texas Democrats Women mayors of places in Texas Texas A&M University–Texarkana alumni {{Texas-politician-stub