Blitch, Iris, 1912-1993

Iris Faircloth Blitch (April 25, 1912 – August 19, 1993) was a United States Representative from Georgia. A Democrat, she was the fourth woman to represent Georgia in the Congress, and the first to win a regularly scheduled general election. Blitch was a vocal advocate both for women's rights and racial segregation.

Born Iris Faircloth near Vidalia, Georgia, she was raised in Frederick, Maryland after her parents' deaths, returning to Georgia to attend the University of Georgia at Athens. After her first year of school, Iris Faircloth married businessman Brooks Erwin Blitch Jr. Blitch worked with her husband in managing their farm as well as cattle, timber, naval stores, fertilizer, and pharmacy businesses in Homerville, Georgia. In 1946, Blitch was elected to the Georgia Senate; she was subsequently elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1948 but lost her reelection bid to that office in 1950. She won election to the state Senate again in 1952 and remained in that position through December 31, 1954. From 1948 through 1954, Blitch was Georgia's Democratic Party national committee member. Blitch returned to school in 1949, attending South Georgia College at Douglas, where she studied political science, accounting, and English.

In 1954 Iris Blitch set her sights on the U.S. House of Representatives, narrowly winning the September 1954 Democratic primary; facing no opposition in the general election, Blitch began her House service in January 1955. She was unopposed in each of her three succeeding elections. Much of her focus was devoted to the agricultural issues that affected her rural district. A staunch segregationist, in 1956, Blitch was among the 101 Southern politicians to sign the Southern Manifesto.

Due to severe arthritis, Blitch declined to run for renomination for a fifth term in 1962. In 1964, Mrs. Blitch left the Democratic Party and endorsed Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater. Following her political service, Blitch resided on St. Simons Island, Georgia, until 1988, when she moved to San Diego, California, where she died in 1993.