Governor Kay Ivey Assumes Office

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley is out and Governor Kay Ivey is in. After Bentley announced his resignation ahead of an impeachment hearing, his successor would become the state's second female governor and the first to rise through the political ranks on her own. Kay Ivey is the first Republican woman elected lieutenant governor of Alabama and the first Republican to hold that office for two straight terms. Alabama's first female governor was Lurleen Wallace. She was wife of four-term Governor George C. Wallace. She ran as a surrogate for her still-powerful husband in 1966 when he couldn't seek re-election because of term limits. She won, but died in office in 1968. Her husband regained the governor's seat in 1970.  Click here to listen to Ivey's first speech after taking the oath of office.