Former U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole honored by NC leaders

North Carolina's former U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole was officially honored Wednesday for her long career in public service by state lawmakers and the governor.
Dole is scheduled to be recognized again Friday with the naming of a section of Interstate 85 in Salisbury in her honor.
Dole, a Salisbury native and graduate of Duke University, is the first woman elected by North Carolina to serve in the U.S. Senate. She won her seat as a Republican successor to former N.C. Senator Jesse Helms in 2002, defeating Democrat Erskine Bowles. Dole lost her re-election bid to former Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan in 2008.
During her tenure in public service, Dole served as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation under former President Ronald Reagan and U.S. Secretary of Labor under George H.W. Bush. She also served as president of the American Red Cross and started a national foundation to help wounded veterans and their caregivers.
Dole is also the wife of the late Bob Dole, a long-serving U.S. senator from Kansas who was also the Republican presidential nominee in 1996, and vice-presidential nominee in 1976, running alongside former Republican President Gerald Ford.
Dole herself ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, but lost to Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
"Because of her dedication to the public interest, Elizabeth has earned the respect and friendship of people in her home state of North Carolina, across America and around the globe," said state Rep. Harry Warren (R-Rowan), who spoke in her honor.
House Speaker Destin Hall called Dole "one of North Carolina's greatest stateswomen."
"You're a trailblazer with an unwavering commitment to the people of our state, continuing to serve, even to this very day," Hall said to Dole, "reminding us that true public service doesn't retire. It simply endures."
The state Senate was next to honor Dole, and she's expected to be the guest of honor at a Wednesday afternoon event hosted by Gov. Josh Stein at the governor's mansion.
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