Carolyn Warner, an education leader and advocate who nearly became Arizona's first female governor, died of cancer Tuesday.

She was 88.

"Arizona has lost an icon," Phoenix Mayor Thelda Williams said in a statement Wednesday. "A trailblazer in her own right — Carolyn Warner leaves a legacy of tireless dedication and advocacy for public education that will always be remembered."

The chairwoman and founder of Corporate Education Consulting began her political career nearly 50 years ago as a Phoenix Union High School District board member. The mother of six said she was approached to run after moving to Phoenix from Oklahoma in 1953.

"We had a family meeting, and the kids said, 'Go for it,'" Warner said on Arizona PBS earlier this year.

She became the first non-educator elected as state superintendent of public instruction, a post she held for 12 years. She ran for U.S. Senate in 1976 but lost the Democratic primary.

A decade later, Warner became the second woman in Arizona history to win her party's nomination in the governor's race, only to lose in the general election to Republican Evan Mecham.

Warner later said she believed part of the reason she lost was because the state was not ready for a woman to lead.

'Stiff resistance'

Research conducted by Heidi Osselaer, a historian and Arizona State University professor, suggested she was right.

"Although many prejudices against female officeholders in Arizona had been laid to rest by the 1980s, women still faced stiff resistance when it came to the office of governor," Ossalaer wrote in "Winning Their Place: Arizona Women in Politics."

"Business and political leaders were unhappy with Warner's selection and encouraged Democratic businessman William Schulz to enter as an independent, which split the Democratic vote."

About 40 percent of voters supported Mecham, about 34 supported Warner and about 26 supported Schulz.

"Warner had difficulty raising funds for her campaign and narrowly lost," Ossalaer wrote. "Ironically, Warner's loss would set the stage for the first woman to become Arizona's governor just two year later."

When Mecham was impeached after facing charges of obstruction of justice and misuse of government funds, then-Secretary of State Rose Mofford took his place in the Governor's Office.

'A contagious love of politics'

Warner's losses didn't make her any less enthusiastic about politics. When state Sen. Martín Quezada began campaigning for a school-board seat in 2006, she encouraged him to pursue public life and offered hard-won advice.

"Since then, I've always looked up to her," Quezada said.

As she talked about her own time as a school-board member, she showed "genuine passion" for kids, schools, teachers and education, Quezada said.

"She was a giant," he said. "Everyone knew her, respected her."

Felecia Rotellini, Arizona Democratic Party chairwoman, similarly described Warner as a mentor in a statement Wednesday.

"Carolyn had a contagious love of politics, and conveyed her beliefs and Democratic values through her exceptional speeches," Rotellini said. "She championed the life-altering power of education and dedicated her life to the children of Arizona and to improving our public schools."

Athia Hardt, who reported for The Arizona Republic in the 1970s, recalled covering Warner's school-board meetings at a time when "Carolyn and I would be the only two women in the room."

Decades later, Hardt remembered Warner giving speeches that inspired many in education.

She also recalled her impeccable wardrobe and spectacular Christmas parties.

'Unique sparkle'

Deborah Dillon, who worked on Warner's 1976 Senate campaign, described Warner as the matriarch of her family, supporting her children at every turn and instilling in them values of service and giving.

"All of her grandchildren revered her," Dillon said. "Her daughters and her son, Steven, were her rocks."

At 88, Warner was still flying around the country, sharing her book and speaking about education. She recently flew to the Tribeca Film Festival to support her grandson.

Given her stamina, Warner's illness took everyone by surprise, Dillon said.

She was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma in May, according to her family.

"As always, she was alert and in charge up to the very end," her daughter Christi Warner Beyer said in an email. "She passed at home with all of us by her side."

Fred DuVal,Democratic nominee in the 2014 gubernatorial election, said in a Facebook post that he visited Warner the day before she died.

"She was full of her unique sparkle," he wrote. "We recapped our Oklahoma football, gossiped about politics and recounted our first campaign trips on her 1974 campaign."

DuVal said Warner "passionate about her state, her politics and her friends," and he "cherished being among them"

"RIP dear Carolyn," he wrote. "We have lost a great."

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