Marilyn Lloyd

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Rachel Marilyn Laird Lloyd (born January 3, 1929), also briefly known as Marilyn Lloyd Boquard due to a short second marriage, is a Tennessee businesswoman and 10-term former member of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1975 to 1995.

Lloyd was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She graduated from high school in Bowling Green, Kentucky from the high school which was formerly associated with what is now Western Kentucky University. She later briefly attended Shorter College in Rome, Georgia. Lloyd has owned radio station WTTI in Dalton, Georgia and Executive Aviation in Winchester, Tennessee.

Lloyd was married to Mort Lloyd, a popular television anchor at WDEF-TV in Chattanooga, who had entered the 1974 Democratic primary for Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District, to oppose two-term incumbent Republican Congressman LaMar Baker. Mort Lloyd won the primary in the Chattanooga-based district, but was killed in an airplane crash on his way to celebrate the victory; the Democratic Party picked his wife to replace him as its candidate in the Chattanooga-based district. She went on to defeat Baker that November in an election which saw many Republicans in competitive and marginal districts defeated, in large part due to the Watergate scandal. She became the first woman ever elected to Congress from Tennessee on an ongoing basis (Irene Baker and Louise Reece were both elected in special elections to succeed their husbands, but were regarded as caretakers). However, it would be almost 30 years before a Tennessee woman would be elected to Congress in her own right.

Lloyd's election cannot be solely attributed to Watergate; Mort Lloyd had been very popular in his own right, as Marilyn Lloyd became. Also, while Baker had been a fairly conservative Republican, Mrs. Lloyd was a moderate-to-conservative Democrat who often broke with the national leadership of her party (which is not surprising since the 3rd has not supported a Democrat for president since 1956); her views often seemed to mirror those of her district. She was frequently elected with only minor opposition, though in some years she barely squeaked to reelection.

In 1992, her Republican opponent was fellow Chattanoogan Zach Wamp. While she defeated Wamp, it was only by one percentage point, despite Senator Al Gore's successful run for vice president on Bill Clinton's ticket. In fact, the Clinton-Gore ticket lost the 3rd by a fairly solid margin. The closeness of the race was enough to make her decide not to stand for an 11th term in 1994. (Wamp then won election to the seat and has held it ever since). Subsequent to her retirement from Congress she has maintained a fairly low profile other than her advocacy for victims of domestic violence, which she had publicly stated that she was herself during her second marriage.

Preceded by LaMar Baker

U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District 1975-1995

Succeeded by Zach Wamp