1. Kay Ellen Ivey is an American politician who is the 54th governor of Alabama, serving since 2017.
49 Facts About Kay Ivey
1. 2.
Kay Ivey was the 38th Alabama state treasurer from 2003 to 2011 and the 30th lieutenant governor of Alabama from 2011 to 2017.
3.
Kay Ivey won a full term in 2018 and was reelected in 2022.
4.
Kay Ivey graduated from Auburn University, where she was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta, becoming president of her first-year pledge class, and served in the Student Government Association all four years.
5.
In 1967, Kay Ivey participated in a blackface skit while attending Auburn.
6.
In 1967, Kay Ivey moved to California and became a high school teacher for several years.
7.
In 1979, Kay Ivey was appointed by then-Governor Fob James to serve in the state cabinet.
8.
Kay Ivey later served as the reading clerk of the Alabama House of Representatives between 1980 and 1982 and served as Assistant Director of the Alabama Development Office between 1982 and 1985.
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In 1982, Kay Ivey ran unsuccessfully for State Auditor as a Democrat.
10.
Kay Ivey was Director of Government Affairs and Communications for the Alabama Commission on Higher Education from 1985 until 1998.
11.
Kay Ivey was the first Republican elected state treasurer since Reconstruction.
12.
Kay Ivey served as Treasurer during the near-complete financial collapse of the Prepaid Affordable College Tuition program.
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Under the Alabama Constitution, Kay Ivey was not eligible to seek reelection to a third term as state treasurer in 2010.
14.
Kay Ivey's name surfaced in press speculation about gubernatorial candidates in 2010.
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In 2009, Kay Ivey announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor in the 2010 elections, joining a crowded field of seven Republican candidates.
16.
In March 2010, Kay Ivey abandoned her run for governor and qualified to run for lieutenant governor.
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Kay Ivey ran against State Senator Hank Erwin of Montevallo and schoolteacher Gene Ponder of Baldwin County for the Republican nomination.
18.
In 2014, Kay Ivey was challenged in the Republican primary by pastor Stan Cooke of Jefferson County.
19.
Kay Ivey received the support of major lobbying groups, such as the Business Council of Alabama, Alabama Retail Association, Alabama Farmers Federation, and Alabama Forestry Association.
20.
Kay Ivey defeated Cooke in the primary, with 257,588 votes to Cooke's 160,023.
21.
In November 2014, Kay Ivey won reelection with 738,090 votes to Fields's 428,007.
22.
Kay Ivey is the second female governor in the state's history.
23.
In September 2017, Kay Ivey announced that she was running for election to a full term in the 2018 gubernatorial election.
24.
Kay Ivey won a full term in 2018, defeating Democratic nominee Walt Maddox.
25.
Kay Ivey was reelected in 2022, defeating Democratic nominee Yolanda Flowers.
26.
When Kay Ivey succeeded Bentley, she rescheduled the special election for December 12,2017.
27.
Kay Ivey said the legislation would allow the state "to remain on a level playing field with other states, as we compete for job creating capital investments" and Alabama's ability to attract highly sought-after economic development projects would allow the state to continue experiencing "record-low unemployment".
28.
In October 2018, Kay Ivey announced her intent to form an advisory council with the purpose of studying ways to improve science, technology, engineering and math instruction in schools to meet an expectation of strong job demands over the following decade.
29.
Kay Ivey said that STEM-related jobs were expected to grow faster than most other forms of employment while paying a median wage roughly twice as large as jobs in other fields and that the Governor's Advisory Council for Excellence in STEM would include educators and representatives of government, business and industry who would give her a comprehensive report on the matter by the end of the year.
30.
In March 2024, Kay Ivey signed SB 129, preventing public teachers from getting students to conform or accept "divisive concepts" and blocking public funds from being used for DEI efforts.
31.
In May 2017, Kay Ivey signed House Bill 24, which would permit religious agencies to refuse to place an adopted child in an LGBTQ family.
32.
In March 2022, Kay Ivey signed into law House Bill 272, known as constitutional carry.
33.
On May 15,2019, Kay Ivey signed the more restrictive House Bill 314, which intended to criminalize abortion as of November 2019, with the exception of cases where the mother's life is under threat or the fetus might not survive.
34.
In March 2018, Kay Ivey announced that Alabama would seek permission to put work or job-training requirements on the Medicaid benefits for roughly 75,000 able-bodied adults whose incomes were just a few hundred dollars a month.
35.
On March 13,2020, Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic.
36.
Kay Ivey was initially reluctant to issue a stay-at-home order, but bowed to pressure from Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth, among others, who criticized Ivey's pandemic response as inadequate.
37.
In May 2021, Kay Ivey prohibited Alabama's businesses and public institutions from requiring proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to access facilities and services.
38.
In 2024, Kay Ivey joined five other Republican governors in a statement opposing the United Auto Workers unionization campaign.
39.
In October 2018, Ivey appointed Ruby L Perry and Kevin McKinstry to the Alabama Environmental Management Commission.
40.
In May 2024, Kay Ivey signed into law a bill that criminalizes the use of artificial intelligence to create materially deceptive media in election campaigns.
41.
In June 2021, Kay Ivey's office announced her decision to run for a second full term as governor.
42.
Kay Ivey drew 14 challengers by the time the candidate qualification period closed.
43.
Shortly after being inaugurated for her second full term as governor in January 2023, Kay Ivey signed an executive order aiming to promote transparency in state government by requiring agencies to respond to public records requests.
44.
Kay Ivey signed an amicus curiae filing in support of Cooper's efforts to suppress the release of the communication records with her office.
45.
In October 2018, Kay Ivey met with Vice President Mike Pence when the latter came to Alabama for a National Republican Senatorial Committee event and the pair discussed getting aid to Alabamians affected by Hurricane Michael.
46.
Kay Ivey has been married and divorced twice, and has no children.
47.
Kay Ivey is a member of First Baptist Church in Montgomery.
48.
Kay Ivey received an outpatient treatment at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on September 20,2019.
49.
In 2021, Kay Ivey received an honorary Doctor of Letters from Jacksonville State University.