Lyda Green

Lyda N. Green (born October 16, 1938 in Livingston, Texas) is a retired educator and Republican politician in the U.S. state of Alaska. Green, as a political newcomer, was elected to the Alaska Senate in 1994, defeating a 22-year Democratic incumbent in a district representing most of the population of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Two Democratic members of the Alaska House of Representatives, also from the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, were defeated in the same election. Green served a total of fourteen years in the Senate and was its president in her final two years in office.

Political career

Lyda Green was a member of the Alaska Senate, serving from 1995 to 2009. She was first elected in 1994 by defeating Democratic incumbent Jalmar M. "Jay" Kerttula, who was the longest-serving member in the history of the Alaska Legislature. Kerttula was long regarded as vulnerable, and was re-elected in 1984 with under 52% of the vote just as the Matanuska-Susitna Borough was starting to trend Republican. He was twice re-elected after that against veteran campaigners. Given the political atmosphere at the time, Green benefited from being a first-time candidate running against an incumbent who had been in office for over 30 years.