Boosalis, Helen, 1919-2009

<p><b>RACES</b>
<ul>
<li>11/04/1986 NE Governor Lost 46.98% (-5.88%)</li>
<li>05/13/1986 NE Governor - D Primary Won 43.82% (+17.75%)</li>
<li>05/01/1979 Lincoln, NE Mayor Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>05/06/1975 Lincoln, NE Mayor Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>
</p>

<p>Helen G. Boosalis (August 28, 1919 - June 15, 2009) was a Nebraska Democratic Party politician.</p>

<p>Helen Boosalis was born as Helen Geankoplis in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Greek immigrant parents, where she grew up working in her father's Minneapolis restaurant. In 1945 she married Michael Gus "Mike" Boosalis, a World War II veteran and graduate of the University of Minnesota. Their daughter, Mary Beth, was born three years later. In 1951, the family moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, where her husband had accepted a job at the University of Nebraska.</p>

<p>In 1959 Boosalis was elected to the Lincoln City Council, scoring an upset victory over an incumbent, and was subsequently reelected three times. She won another upset victory over incumbent Sam Schwartzkopf to become the city's first woman mayor in 1975. From 1981 to 1982, she served as the first female President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.</p>