Ruth Elizabeth Jones McClendon (5 October 1943 – 19 December 2017) was an American politician. McClendon was born in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

on 5 October 1943, and graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School before attending

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,000 ...

as an undergraduate and earning a master's degree from

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs ...

. She originally contested the open seat of Lou Nelle Sutton in 1988, but lost District 120 of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

to Karyne Jones Conley. Between June 1993 and August 1996, McClendon was a member of the

San Antonio City Council The San Antonio City Council is the legislative arm of the municipal government of the city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. It consists of 10 members elected from single-member districts. San Antonio has a council-manager form of gove ...

from District 2. After Conley resigned her state legislative seat in July 1996, McClendon won a special election and was seated on 12 November 1996, succeeding a fellow

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

and African-American in office. In all subsequent legislative elections, McClendon won no less than 85% of the vote. She resigned from the state legislature on 31 January 2016, and died in San Antonio of brain cancer on 19 December 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McClendon, Ruth 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women 1943 births 2017 deaths San Antonio City Council members African-American city council members in Texas African-American city council members African-American women in politics Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Politicians from San Antonio 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians African-American state legislators in Texas Women state legislators in Texas Deaths from cancer in Texas 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century American politicians Texas Democrats Politicians from Houston Webster University alumni Texas Southern University alumni 21st-century American women politicians