Dates

• Existence: 1933 - 2021

Biography

Elaine Bland Baxter was born January 16, 1933 in Chicago. She received a bachelors degree in International Affairs from the University of Illinois in 1954 and a masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Iowa in 1978. She and her husband, Ray Baxter, moved to his hometown of Burlington in the late 1950s, where Ray and his mother, Kate, encouraged Elaine’s participation in local organizations and politics. In 1973, Baxter became the first woman elected to the Burlington City Council. After her graduate studies, she worked as a congressional liaison for the Department of Housing and Human Services, living in Washington, D.C. Upon returning to Burlington in 1980, she ran for the Iowa legislature as a Democrat and won. Baxter served in the Iowa House from 1981-1987, representing parts of the Burlington area (District 84 from 1981-1983 and District 60 from 1983-1987). She was then elected Iowa Secretary of State, serving 1987-1994. She ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House from Iowa’s 3rd congressional district in 1992 and 1994. In later years, she served on the boards of Humanities Iowa and the state lottery. Baxter passed away in 2021.

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