Rita Clements, who blazed an early trail for women in politics as an influential member of the Republican National Committee in the early 1970s, and went on to become a University of Texas Regent and Texas First Lady, has died at the age of 86, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.

"Texas has suffered a tremendous loss, but Rita leaves behind an incredible legacy," Gov. Abbott said in a statement.

Mrs. Clements was a powerful Republican Party activist back in the days when Republicans, as the joke went, could 'caucus in a phone booth,' beginning her career as a volunteer for Dwight Eisenhower's campaign for President in 1952.

Her wok was key to the election of Republican John Tower to the US Senate to succeed LBJ in 1961 and she laid the groundwork for the growth of the Texas Republican Party in the 1970s.

The growth peaked in 1978 when her husband, oil executive Bill Clements became the first Republican governor of Texas since reconstruction.

In the Governor's Mansion, Mrs. Clements was a full partner, taking the lead in issues from historic preservation with her groundbreaking Texas Main Street program, and the restoration of the Texas State Capitol.. But she was a formidable political operative in her own right, helping guide the efforts of her husband and many young Republicans, leading directly to the Republican domination of Texas politics that began in the 1990s and continues today.

Mrs. Clements is a member of the Texas Women's Hall of Fame.

Bill Clements died in 2011.. Mrs. Clements died of complications from Alzheimer's Disease.

Photo: Getty Images