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

<p>Edna Oakes Simpson (October 26, 1891 – May 15, 1984) was a U.S. Representative from Illinois, wife of Sidney E. Simpson.</p>

<p>Born in Carrollton, Illinois, Edna Simpson was elected as a Republican to the Eighty-sixth Congress (January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1961). She did not seek renomination in 1960. She was a resident of Carrollton, Illinois, until her death in Alton, Illinois, on May 15, 1984.</p>

<p>Edna O. Simpson, the wife of Congressman Sidney Elmer Simpson of Illinois, was unexpectedly thrust into public life when her husband collapsed and died less than two weeks before the 1958 midterm elections. A day after Sid Simpson’s death, Edna Simpson agreed to replace him as the GOP nominee in the western Illinois congressional district. Virtually unknown in Washington prior to her election, Simpson remained an outsider during her single term in the House. In 1960 she declined to stand for renomination.</p>

<p>Edna Simpson was born Edna Borman, daughter of John and Emily Armstrong Borman, in Fieldon, Illinois, on October 26, 1891. On February 1, 1920, Edna Borman married Sid Simpson, an automobile dealer and longtime GOP chairman of Greene County, in western Illinois. The Simpsons raised two daughters, Martha and Janet. 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. He went on to serve a total of eight terms in Congress and, from 1953 to 1955, chaired the District of Columbia Committee when Republicans controlled the House. As chair and later as Ranking Republican Member, Simpson helped to create a long-range public works program for the capital. He also rose to the third-ranking spot on the Agriculture Committee. Simpson was re-elected by sizeable majorities and, in his final four elections, carried each county in his district. During her husband’s 16 years in the House, Edna Simpson and her daughters resided primarily in Carrollton, Illinois, Sid Simpson’s hometown.</p>

<p>Ten days before the November 4, 1958, election, Sid Simpson collapsed and died while presiding over the dedication of a new hospital wing in Pittsfield, Illinois. Edna Simpson was seated beside him and watched as doctors tried unsuccessfully to revive him. 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. With congressional redistricting looming on the horizon—Illinois eventually lost a House seat with the reapportionment that transpired after the 1960 Census—party leaders may have found it difficult to recruit a seasoned politician to replace Sid Simpson in the House. Additionally, Edna Simpson’s candidacy most likely held appeal for the GOP due to potential voter sympathy for the grieving widow and the significance of name recognition in such an abridged election campaign. Her opponent was Democratic nominee Henry W. Pollack, an attorney from Quincy, Illinois, whom Congressman Simpson had defeated by a wide margin in 1956. Edna Simpson did not campaign or make a single speech but won a seat to the 86th Congress (1959–1961) by easily defeating Pollack with 55 percent of the vote.</p>