Edwards, Elaine Schwartzenburg, 1929-2018

Elaine Lucille Edwards (née Schwartzenburg; March 8, 1929 – May 14, 2018) was an American politician from Louisiana. Edwards was a Democratic member of the United States Senate in 1972 appointed by her husband, Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards, following the death of Allen Ellender. She was the First Lady of Louisiana for twelve non-consecutive years from 1972 to 1980 and again from 1984 to 1988, making her the state's longest-serving First Lady.

Born in Marksville, Louisiana, she graduated from Marksville High School and, in 1949, she married her childhood sweetheart Edwin Edwards. Her hisband embarked on a long political career in which he served as a Crowley, Louisiana, city councilman and a state senator. In a 1965 special election, Edwards was elected as a Democrat to the first of four U.S. House terms. As her husband’s political career developed, Elaine Edwards participated in a variety of civic and philanthropic pursuits. Congressman Edwards left the House in May 1972 to serve as governor of Louisiana.

When longtime Louisiana Senator Allen Joseph Ellender died on July 27, 1972, Governor Edwards appointed his wife to fill the vacancy. Edwards made the controversial decision in order to avoid the politically tricky endorsement of a successor to Ellender and the difficulty of finding an interim candidate who would step down shortly after a full-term successor was elected. Though initially hesitant, she ultimately accepted the position, resigning her seat on November 13, 1972, in order to provide Louisiana Senator-elect John Bennett Johnston Jr. an edge in seniority by finishing the remainder of Ellender’s term.

After her senate tenure, Edwards owned a small business producing custom-made dresses and would continue this business even while serving as first lady during her husband’s third term in the 1980s. After divorcing her husband in 1989, she moved to New York City in the 1990s to find occasional work as a soap opera actress. Edwards retired to Baton Rouge, where she lived until her death.