Evelyn Gandy

Evelyn Gandy
Gandy c. 1973
Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi
In office January 14, 1976 – January 16, 1980
Governor	Cliff Finch
Preceded by	William F. Winter
Succeeded by	Brad Dye
Insurance Commissioner of Mississippi
In office January 17, 1972 – 1976
Governor	Bill Waller
Preceded by	Walter Dell Davis
Succeeded by	George Dale
State Treasurer of Mississippi
In office 1968–1972
Governor	John Bell Williams
Preceded by	William F. Winter
Succeeded by	Brad Dye
In office January 1960 – 1964
Governor	Ross Barnett
Preceded by	Robert D. Morrow, Sr.
Succeeded by	William F. Winter
Personal details
Born	(1920-09-04)September 4, 1920 Hattiesburg, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	December 23, 2007(2007-12-23) (aged 87) near Hattiesburg, Mississippi, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	Mississippi Southern College University of Mississippi School of Law
Profession	Attorney

Edythe Evelyn Gandy (September 4, 1920 – December 23, 2007) was an American attorney and politician who served as Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi from 1976 to 1980. A Democrat who held several public offices throughout her career, she was the first woman elected to a statewide constitutional office in Mississippi. Born in Hattiesburg, she attended the University of Mississippi School of Law as the only woman in her class. Following graduation, she took a job as a research assistant for United States Senator Theodore Bilbo. She briefly practiced law before being elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives, where she served from 1948 to 1952. Defeated for re-election, she worked as director of the Division of Legal Services in the State Department of Public Welfare and Assistant Attorney General of Mississippi until she was elected State Treasurer of Mississippi in 1959.

Following an unsuccessful campaign for the office of lieutenant governor in 1963, Gandy was appointed State Welfare Board commissioner. She was re-elected state treasurer and served again in that role from 1968 to 1972. She subsequently became insurance commissioner, and in that capacity she investigated false advertising, lobbied for the passage of a no-fault insurance law, pushed for stronger licensing requirements for insurance agents, and restructured the Mississippi Insurance Department. In 1975 she ran a successful campaign to be elected lieutenant governor, thus becoming the first woman to serve in that role in Mississippi and in the Southern United States. Following unsuccessful gubernatorial campaigns in 1979 and 1983, Gandy returned to the practice of law. She remained publicly active in women's organizations and state Democratic politics until her death in 2007.