Mort Lloyd was a popular
television anchor at
WDEF-TV in Chattanooga, who had entered the 1974
Democratic primary for
Tennessee's 3rd congressional district, to oppose two-term incumbent
Republican Congressman
LaMar Baker. Lloyd had won the primary in the Chattanooga-based district on August 1, but he was killed in an airplane crash on August 20 while flying to visit his parents, and the Democratic Party selected his widow to replace him on the ballot. She went on to defeat Baker in the General Election in November. That election saw many Republicans, in competitive and marginal districts, defeated, in large part because of the
Watergate scandal. Lloyd was a moderate-to-conservative Democrat, receiving a score of 53% from the
American Conservative Union.
Congress She became the first woman ever elected to
Congress from Tennessee for a full term.
Willa Eslick,
Louise Reece, and
Irene Baker were all elected in special elections to succeed their husbands as caretakers and did not run for a full term in the next election. Lloyd was considered a conservative Democrat by national standards, but a moderate by Tennessee standards. She often broke with the Democratic Party's national leadership, her views reflecting those of her conservative-minded district. Lloyd served on the
House Science Committee for her entire congressional career. That committee had jurisdiction over legislation related to
nuclear weapons and research facilities at
Oak Ridge in her district. By the time of her retirement from Congress, she was the second-ranking Democrat on the committee. She was a strong advocate for the
Clinch River Breeder Reactor project in
Oak Ridge. She also served on the
Committee on Public Works (1975–87), on the
Armed Services Committee (1983–95), and on the
House Select Committee on Aging for much of her congressional career. Lloyd cosponsored legislation related to
women's health, notably the
Mammography Quality Standards Act, which was enacted in 1992. After she was diagnosed with
breast cancer in 1991 and was denied a
silicone breast implant because the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had removed them from the market, Lloyd became an advocate for breast cancer treatment and women's health. She advocated for the availability of
breast implants for reconstructive surgery. Her fight with cancer led her to reverse her longstanding opposition to abortion; she announced on the floor of the House that having to fight to make decisions about her treatment "that should have been mine alone" led to her change of heart on the issue. In 1992, her Republican opponent was real estate broker
Zach Wamp. In one of the closest contests of her career, she only defeated Wamp by 2,900 votes (1%), and only then because of the withdrawal of underground environmental candidate Peter Melcher. Lloyd lost badly in
Hamilton County, home to Chattanooga, and retained her seat only due to a strong showing in the Oak Ridge area. Despite Tennessee's
Senator Al Gore being elected Vice President as
Bill Clinton's running mate, the Clinton–Gore Democratic ticket won the 3rd District by only 39 votes out of 225,000 cast, one of their worst performances in the state. The closeness of the race is believed to have influenced her decision not to stand for an 11th term in 1994. She endorsed Wamp's bid for Congress that year, which may have contributed to his narrow victory. That election was one of only two times since Lloyd left office that the Democrats have cleared the 40 percent mark in the district. ==Post-retirement and death==