Genevieve Blatt

Genevieve Blatt (June 19, 1913 – July 4, 1996) was an American politician and attorney from Pennsylvania. She became the first woman to hold statewide elected office in Pennsylvania when she was elected State Secretary of Internal Affairs in 1954, and she ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic Party nominee in the 1964 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania. Early life and education A native of East Brady, Clarion County, Blatt received a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1933, and an M.A. from the school in 1934. She received a J.D. from Pittsburgh's law school in 1937. Blatt became secretary and chief examiner of the Pittsburgh Civil Service Commission in 1938, and went on to serve as an assistant city solicitor. Political career Blatt became active in Democratic politics in the 1930s, beginning with her selection as a delegate to the 1936 Democratic National Convention, where she was the first delegate to vote for Roosevelt. She went on to attend every succeeding convention through 1972. Blatt later served on the National Committee's policy committee, and was vice chair of the Pennsylvania delegation to the 1956 convention. She made her first run for elected office in 1950, when she unsuccessfully sought the office of State Auditor General. Four years later, she became the first woman to hold statewide elected office in Pennsylvania, when she was elected State Secretary of Internal Affairs. Blatt was re-elected in 1958 and 1962 but lost her bid for a fourth term in 1966, when she was narrowly defeated by Republican John Tabor. The office of Internal Affairs Secretary, which had long been considered for elimination, was dissolved in 1968.