Simpson, Edna O. (Edna Oakes), 1891-1984

Edna Oakes Simpson (October 26, 1891 – May 15, 1984) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, she served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois from 1959 to 1961.

Born Edna Borman in Fieldon, Illinois, she married Sidney Simpson, an automobile dealer and longtime GOP chairman of Greene County, in western Illinois. In 1942 Sid Simpson was elected as a Republican to the House of Representatives for a seat encompassing Greene County and 13 other counties situated between the Mississippi River and the capital of Springfield in the central part of the state. Ten days before the November 4, 1958 election, her husband collapsed and died. Only a day later, on October 27, the congressional district’s GOP committee convinced Edna Simpson to put her name on the ballot in place of her husband’s. In spite of not campaigning, she won with 55 percent of the vote.

In Washington, Edna Simpson chose to remain an obscure figure. During her two years in the House, Edna Simpson never made a speech on the floor, remaining virtually unknown to her colleagues. One of the only times she wielded her official prerogative was in a dispute with the Office of the Clerk of the House about the name that would appear on her congressional stationery. The Clerk planned to print “Edna Oakes Simpson” (Oakes was the name of her first husband, who died less than a year after they were married). Over the Clerk’s objection, the Congresswoman received her preference: “Edna (Mrs. Sid) Simpson.”

In December 1959, Edna Simpson announced she would not seek re-election in 1960, choosing instead to retire to a quiet private life in Illinois. She died in Alton, Illinois, on May 15, 1984.