Name Amy Tuck | ||
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Governor Ronnie MusgroveHaley Barbour Alma mater Mississippi State UniversityMississippi College Political party Democratic Party, Republican Party | ||
Ms boys state amy tuck
Amy Tuck (born July 8, 1963) is the former 30th Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi. A Republican, she is only the second woman elected to statewide office in Mississippi and the first to have been re-elected.
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Biography
A native of tiny Maben in Oktibbeha County in north central Mississippi, Tuck received a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a Master of Public Administration degree from the Mississippi State University at Starkville and a Juris Doctorate from the Mississippi College School of Law in the capital city of Jackson.
In 1990, as a Democrat she defeated five others to be elected to the Mississippi Senate to represent Choctaw, Montgomery, Oktibbeha, and Webster counties. In 1995, Tuck ran for Secretary of State to fill the post of Dick Molpus, who ran unsuccessfully for governor against the Republican Kirk Fordice. She was narrowly defeated in the Democratic primary election by Eric Clark, the eventual winner. Undeterred by the political setback, she ran for lieutenant governor in 1999 and defeated Bill Hawks.
In 2002, just two years into her term having been elected as a Democrat, Tuck made national headlines when she switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. She cited philosophical differences with her former party on issues such as abortion, gay rights, civil justice reform, and congressional redistricting. In 2003, Tuck was re-elected with 61 percent of the vote, this time as a Republican. She defeated the Democratic former state Senator Barbara Martin Blackmon.
Because of term limits, Tuck was ineligible to seek a third term as lieutenant governor in 2007. Phil Bryant won the 2007 election for Mississippi Lieutenant Governor and succeeded Tuck in the position in January 2008.
On October 16, 2007, it was announced that Tuck would become a special assistant to the president at her alma mater, Mississippi State University. Her appointment, which was approved by the state board of trustees of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, was effective January 2008 once her official state duties were complete. In her new role at MSU, Tuck interacts with state, federal and private sector officials to facilitate the university's economic development efforts, provide consultation on public policy issues and interact with a variety of state, national and international organizations. Tuck currently serves as Mississippi State's Vice President of Campus Services, in which capacity she oversees facilities management, parking and transit operations, the Office of the Campus Master Planner, the Office of the Campus Architect, sustainability, and utilities.