of new bills in the final ten days of any legislative session. In an oral history interview in 1977, Stovall gave her plainspoken view of the ERA: "It's ridiculous after 200 years that women are still second class citizens. No – black men were allowed to vote fifty years before women could vote. As long there is still some statutes that say there are certain things that a woman can not do, we are still second class citizens." After her veto the following year, she resolutely defended her action, declaring: "Every elective official is faced sooner or later with the prospect of acting for political expediency, acting from conscience and law, or avoiding the issue by not acting at all. When the people vote to elect their leaders, they expect them to act and act decisively." Later career Stovall sought election as Governor of Kentucky in 1979 but lost in the Democratic primary to John Y. Brown, Jr., who went on to win the general election. Stovall won 47,633 votes, taking fifth place behind Brown's 165,188 votes; 139,713 for Harvey I. Sloane, the mayor of Louisville; 131,530 for former state representative Terry McBrayer; and 68,577 for 1st District Congressman Carroll Hubbard. Stovall did finish ahead of four minor candidates in the primary, but it would be her last race and the only loss of her career. After the primary, Stovall announced her retirement from state politics. To celebrate her 30 years of public service, a large party was held in the Kentucky State Capitol on December 3, 1979. Congratulations were sent by President Jimmy Carter and the date was officially proclaimed by the state as "Thelma Stovall Day". Despite their former rivalry, Governor Brown appointed Stovall as the state's Commissioner of Labor in December 1982. In his announcement, Brown praised her as "the grande dame of the feminist movement and... the indisputable advocate of working people". Death Stovall died in her sleep in Louisville at the age of 74. She was honored by being allowed to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. She is interred at Louisville's Resthaven Cemetery. Honors Thelma Stovall Park is located along the Green River in her hometown of Munfordville. Stovall's portrait, painted by Louisville portrait painter Doris Leist, hangs in the Capitol and a plaque commemorating her achievements was placed there in 1982. A Kentucky newspaper wrote in praise for one of the state's