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JaneEskindis being remembered as a "political legend" after a career that began in Nashville more than 50 years ago. She died Thursday at age 83.
Eskind became the first woman to win a statewide party nomination when she challenged Republican Senator Howard Baker in 1978. She spoke about how much people doubted her in a video for the Tennessee Women's Hall of Fame.
"During the campaigns, there were many people who thought that I should go home and have a baby, as improbable as it was at the time," she said.
After losing to Howard Baker, Eskind was elected to the public service commission, now known as the Tennessee Regulatory Authority. She also ran for governor in 1986 and U.S. Congress in 1987. She was the first woman to chair the Tennessee Democratic Party in 1994, and increasingly became known for her philanthropy.
Current party chair Mary Mancini says "all women in Tennessee politics stand on Jane's shoulders."
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