Ann McBride Norton

Ann McBride Norton (June 23, 1944 – May 5, 2020) was an American activist and business executive. She served as president of Common Cause, a non-partisan watchdog group based in Washington, D.C.[1][2][3]

Ann McBride Norton
BornVirginia Ann deGravelles 
23 June 1944 
Lafayette 
Died5 May 2020  (aged 75)
Alma mater
OccupationLobbyist 
Employer
ChildrenMary McBride 
Parent(s)
  • Charles deGravelles 
FamilyJohn W. deGravelles 
Awards

Biography

Virginia Ann deGravelles was born in Lafayette, Louisiana on June 23, 1944.[1] Her parents were Charles Camille deGravelles, who served as chairman of the Republican Party of Louisiana, and Virginia (née Wheadon) deGravelles, who was affiliated with the Republican National Committee.[1] Her brother was John W. deGravelles, a United States District Judge.[4]

Norton attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana but left in 1964 to marry Charles W. McBride, who was press secretary to Russell B. Long and chief of staff to J. Bennett Johnston.[1]

In the 1970s, Norton was a volunteer at Common Cause during the Watergate scandal before becoming the chief lobbyist for Common Cause on Capitol Hill. In 1992, she earned a bachelor’s degree at American University in Washington D.C.[1] Three years later, she succeeded Fred Wertheimer to serve as Common Cause's president and chief executive.[5]

After her marriage to McBride ended in divorce, she married Edward M. Norton, an environmental activist. They removed to Southwest China to support the Yunnan Great Rivers Project, a collaboration between the Government of China and The Nature Conservancy,[6] after she retired from Common Cause in 1999.[1]

Personal life

She died at her home in Washington D.C., on May 5, 2020, at the age of 75,[7] from complications associated with Alzheimer's disease.[5] Her husband and her two children with her first husband, Claire McBride and Mary McBride, survive her.[1]

See also

References
  1. Seelye, Katharine Q. (12 May 2020). "Ann McBride Norton, First Woman to Run Common Cause, Dies at 75". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  2. "Ann McBride, first woman to run Common Cause, dies". The Fulcrum. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  3. "A Common Good". Harvard Law Today. Harvard Law School. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  4. "- CONFIRMATION HEARINGS ON FEDERAL APPOINTMENTS". www.govinfo.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
  5. "Ann McBride Norton, First Woman to Run Common Cause, Dies at 75". Distinct Today. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  6. Litzinger, Ralph (2004). "The Mobilization of "Nature": Perspectives from North-West Yunnan". The China Quarterly. 178 (178): 488–504. doi:10.1017/S030574100400027X. JSTOR 20192344.
  7. Bernstein, Adam (May 6, 2020). "Ann McBride Norton, who led Common Cause and championed campaign-finance laws, dies at 75". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
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