1. Kathryn Jean Whitmire is an American politician, businesswoman, and accountant best known as the first woman to serve as Mayor of Houston, serving for five consecutive two-year terms from 1982 to 1992.
24 Facts About Kathy Whitmire
1. 2.
Kathy Whitmire won the election, getting 59.8 percent of the votes.
3.
Kathy Whitmire Niederhofer received her basic education in the Houston Independent School District, ultimately graduating from San Jacinto High School.
4.
Kathy Whitmire continued her studies at the university to earn a Master of Accountancy degree in 1970.
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Kathy Whitmire began working to qualify as a Certified Public Accountant, and opened an accounting firm with her husband.
6.
Kathy Whitmire's father had been active in precinct-level politics, and the family frequently talked about local political issues.
7.
Kathy Whitmire's husband's brother, John Whitmire, already a rising star in the Texas Democratic Party, was a willing political mentor.
8.
Kathy Whitmire won the race for a full two-year term in a landslide, defeating Steve Jones in the Runoff Elections with 110,762 votes to Jones' 78,365 votes, making history as the first woman ever to hold the office.
9.
Kathy Whitmire diligently looked for inefficiencies or outright wasteful practices in each of the city offices.
10.
Kathy Whitmire decided to run for mayor in the 1981 election.
11.
However, McConn lost in the general election to Jack Heard, formerly Sheriff of Harris County and the City Controller, Kathy Whitmire, sending the race to a runoff between the latter two.
12.
Kathy Whitmire said in her speeches that her opponent's experience was too narrowly focused on law enforcement.
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Kathy Whitmire was supported by a coalition of women, minorities, and other groups who were looking for a more progressive city government.
14.
Kathy Whitmire won the race with 170,695 votes to Heard's 102,446 votes [1].
15.
Kathy Whitmire left Houston in 1990 to serve as Police Commissioner of New York City.
16.
Kathy Whitmire won that election, getting about 60 percent of the vote.
17.
Kathy Whitmire was re-elected in 1987, winning 74 percent of the vote.
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In 1995 and 1996, Whitmire served as lecturer on Public Policy at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and was a Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics.
19.
Kathy Whitmire is credited with attracting former US Senator Bill Bradley to join the academy as a scholar and chairman of the board.
20.
Kathy Whitmire has said that she has no plans to return, although she visits the city regularly to see family and friends.
21.
In 2001, Kathy Whitmire moved to Hawaii, where she became an active investor in real estate.
22.
Kathy Whitmire commutes by air to work at the University of Maryland, where she is a professor at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership.
23.
On July 1,2005, Kathy Whitmire became the volunteer president of The Outdoor Circle, an organization dedicated to preserving Hawaii's beauty by eliminating outdoor blight.
24.
Kathy Whitmire has received numerous awards for her efforts and accomplishments, including:.