Contact: Joe Farris
Lt. Gov.-elect Amy Tuck, an Oktibbeha County resident and Mississippi State graduate, will be honored at a Thursday [Dec. 9] reception sponsored by the Starkville Area Chamber of Commerce and the university.
The public program will take place 5:30-7 p.m. at the Bost Extension Center auditorium on campus.
Chamber and local government officials, MSU President Malcolm Portera and Tuck are among those expected to speak briefly or make presentations. The Starkville Restaurant Association is providing food.
The Democratic nominee for the state's second-highest office, Tuck was elected Nov. 2 in a race against Republican Sen. Bill Hawks, also a Mississippi State graduate. When sworn in next month, she will become only the second woman in the state's 182-year history to serve as lieutenant governor. Evelyn Gandy held the post from 1976-80.
"The chamber is pleased to join with Mississippi State University to welcome our own lieutenant governor-elect, Amy Tuck, back home to celebrate her newest public service achievement," said chamber president Peggy Reed. "She is a long-time friend to her hometown community and extremely generous in her commitment to Oktibbeha County.
"We have seen her develop from the earliest stages of her political career and feel confident of her success in this latest endeavor," Reed added.
Tuck holds two degrees from MSU, a bachelor's degree in political science in 1985 and a master's in public policy and administration in 1994.
She served in the Senate from 1990-95 and was secretary of that legislative body from 1996 until she resigned earlier this year to run for lieutenant governor.
"Mississippi State is pleased to join the Chamber of Commerce in honoring the first Mississippi State graduate to win the office of lieutenant governor," said John Tomlinson, MSU coordinator of government relations. "We look forward to a long and productive working relationship with Lt. Gov. Tuck as she continues to build on her already impressive career in public service."