Jae Spears

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Jae Spears" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Ursula Jae (Marshall) Spears (January 5, 1923 – March 16, 2013) was an American politician.^[1] Spears served in the West Virginia House of Delegates 1974–1980 and then the West Virginia State Senate 1980–1992. She was the first woman to serve as Senate Majority Whip and the first and only, female to chair the powerful Senate Finance Committee. Spears pioneered the participation of women in the legislative process. Elected in 1974 as one of only eight women to the 100-member House of Delegates, she saw, during her 18 years of service, the female membership of that body grow to nearly 25 percent.