Elizabeth Rickey, GOP activist who denounced David Duke, dies at age 53
Elizabeth "Beth" Rickey, a longtime Republican activist best known for denouncing David Duke when he started campaigning for his House seat in the late 1980s, died Saturday in a motel room in Santa Fe, N.M. She was 53.
No cause of death was available Monday. However, Mary Olivea, a friend in Santa Fe, said Ms. Rickey had moved to New Mexico because she suffered from several health problems, including an immune-system disorder, Crohn's disease and high blood pressure.
A founding board member of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism and a member of the Republican State Central Committee, Ms. Rickey "did probably more than any other human being to stop Duke's rise," said Quin Hillyer, a longtime friend and ally in the anti-Duke movement.
Hillyer and Ms. Rickey worked together on John Treen's campaign for the House in early 1989. Treen, a brother of former Gov. Dave Treen, lost to Duke in the campaign.
Doing research for Treen's campaign, Ms. Rickey became "horrified" by what she learned about Duke, Hillyer said.
Two of her most notable denunciations of Duke involved trips to Duke's Metairie legislative office and to a Populist Party meeting in Chicago...
Read entire article at nola.com
No cause of death was available Monday. However, Mary Olivea, a friend in Santa Fe, said Ms. Rickey had moved to New Mexico because she suffered from several health problems, including an immune-system disorder, Crohn's disease and high blood pressure.
A founding board member of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism and a member of the Republican State Central Committee, Ms. Rickey "did probably more than any other human being to stop Duke's rise," said Quin Hillyer, a longtime friend and ally in the anti-Duke movement.
Hillyer and Ms. Rickey worked together on John Treen's campaign for the House in early 1989. Treen, a brother of former Gov. Dave Treen, lost to Duke in the campaign.
Doing research for Treen's campaign, Ms. Rickey became "horrified" by what she learned about Duke, Hillyer said.
Two of her most notable denunciations of Duke involved trips to Duke's Metairie legislative office and to a Populist Party meeting in Chicago...