Lucille May Grace (October 3, 1900 – December 22, 1957) was an American politician who was the Louisiana Register of State Lands from 1931 to 1952 and again from 1956 to 1957. She was the state's first female statewide elected officeholder[2] and first female gubernatorial candidate.
After the death of her father, Fred J. Grace, on September 9, 1931, she was appointed to succeed him as Louisiana Register of State Lands by Governor Huey Long,[4] before being elected in every leap-year election from 1932 to 1956 (except 1952).[1][a] She also ran in the 1952 Louisiana gubernatorial election, making her the state's first female gubernatorial candidate.[3]
After her unsuccessful gubernatorial bid in 1952, she took over her old position from Ellen Bryan Moore in 1956[6] before her death in Baton Rouge[1] the next year. Her husband ran for the office in 1959 but Moore retained the seat.[7]
She had one son with her husband Fred C. Dent.[1] Despite being married, she kept her maiden name in order to maintain her recognition.[8]
^During the time she held the office, Sections 1 and 18 of Article V of the Louisiana Constitution defined the Register of State Lands position as a political office elected every four years alongside several members of the state's eight-member executive department,[5] but this ability of this office was removed by the 1974 constitution after her death.