Tillie K. Fowler
| Tillie Fowler | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference | |
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In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2001 |
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| Leader | Dennis Hastert |
| Preceded by | Jennifer Dunn |
| Succeeded by | Deborah Pryce |
| Secretary of the House Republican Conference | |
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In office July 17, 1997 – January 3, 1999 |
|
| Leader | Newt Gingrich |
| Preceded by | Jennifer Dunn |
| Succeeded by | Deborah Pryce |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 4th district |
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In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2001 |
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| Preceded by | Craig James |
| Succeeded by | Ander Crenshaw |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 23, 1942 Milledgeville, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | March 2, 2005 (aged 62) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Alma mater | Emory University |
Tillie Kidd Fowler (December 23, 1942 – March 2, 2005) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2001.
Fowler was born in Milledgeville, Georgia in 1942. Her father, Culver Kidd, Jr., served in the Georgia state legislature for 46 years — 16 years in the state house and 30 in the state senate. Her brother, Rusty Kidd, would later become a member of the Georgia House in 2009. She earned her undergraduate degree from Emory University, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, in 1964 and earned a law degree from Emory University School of Law three years later. Her father had pushed her to attend law school because she was a fairly outspoken woman by the standards of the time. She was admitted to the bar soon after getting her degree, but no Atlanta-area law firm would hire a woman at the time. However, U.S. Congressman Robert G. Stephens, Jr. of Georgia hired her as a legislative assistant for three years. She then worked as general counsel in the White House Office of Consumer Affairs until 1971.
She married in 1971 and moved to Jacksonville, Florida that year, where she changed her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican much to her father's chagrin. She was active in volunteer activities and the area Junior League, serving as the Jacksonville chapter's president from 1982 to 1983. She was elected to the Jacksonville City Council in 1985. In 1989, Fowler became the council's president.
In 1992, Fowler won the Republican nomination for Florida's 4th Congressional District, based in Jacksonville. The district had previously been the 3rd, represented by 22-term incumbent Charlie Bennett, but had been renumbered as the 4th after Florida gained four districts in the 1990 United States Census. Bennett was the second-longest serving member of the House and the longest-serving member of either house of Congress in Florida history. Even though Jacksonville had been under Republican influence for some time (the city has only voted for the Democratic presidential nominee once since 1972 even though Democrats still have a substantial majority in registration), Bennett seemed to have an unbreakable hold on the seat. Indeed, Fowler was only the seventh Republican to even challenge him.
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