Widows taking over their late husbands' seats an effective way for an inexperienced candidate to jump into the political arena

..................................................................................................................................
Widows carry on their husbands’ political call
By Jen Lebron Kuhney, September 8, 2013

When Surprise Councilman Roy Villanueva died suddenly July 22, his wife, Rachel Villanueva, was overwhelmed with grief. The last thing on her mind at the time was the City Council seat her husband had occupied for 34 years.

But friends urged her to take up her husband’s mantle. Less than a month later, Rachel Villanueva was appointed to the seat and sworn into office.

“My friends said I knew my husband better than anyone, so I should be the one to carry on his dreams for the city,” she said.

Villanueva follows in the footsteps of at least two women in Arizona politics and dozens in Congress who were either appointed or elected to complete their husbands' terms. While many initially planned to carry on their husbands' memories, several have gone on to become political heavyweights.

While it is unclear if Villanueva plans to run for office later, changes in the district may make it difficult to hold the seat.

It isn’t common for widows to take over for their husbands, but it can be an effective way for an inexperienced candidate to jump into the political arena, said Tom Brunell, a University of Texas at Dallas professor who studied how the phenomenon impacts Congress.

“Some women get appointed or elected as a placeholder until a party can come up with a different candidate, but others can really come into their own,” he said.

Brunell said women who are active in their communities and are interested in politics are usually the ones who create their own political careers after succeeding their husbands.

In national politics, some women had long careers after taking their late husbands’ seats. Mary Bono Mack, the wife of late U.S. Rep. Sonny Bono, ran for office after her husband died in a skiing accident. She served in Congress from 1998 until early this year after losing a re-election bid.

Though some of the most well-known examples come from Congress, there have been at least two notable ones in Arizona.

The most recent was in 2010, when Maria De La Luz Garcia, the wife of the late state Sen. Jorge Luis Garcia, took over his legislative seat.

Her term ended a few months after she was sworn in. Before he died, Garcia was going to lose his seat due to term limits. Maria De La Luz Garcia ran for the seat in 2012 but lost the election.

Another Arizona woman who took over her husband’s seat is the longest-serving state legislator in Arizona history.

Polly Rosenbaum, a Democrat from Globe, was appointed to the state House of Representatives after her husband, William Rosenbaum, died in 1949. She served until 1994, when she lost the seat during a watershed year for state Republicans.

Unfinished business

Villanueva said her appointment is an opportunity to carry on her husband’s work.

“My goal right now is to keep working on the things that were important to my husband, (such as) revitalizing the original town site in Surprise,” she said.

“My priority is to finish the business that Roy started.”

[snipped]
..................................................................................................................................