POLSON, Mont. (AP) — Former Republican state Sen. Ethel Harding of Polson, who voted against a 1991 bill that would have required the governor to appoint more women and minorities to state boards and commissions, has died.

Grogan Funeral Home says Harding died Friday at the age of 83.

The Associated Press reports Harding served as Lake County Clerk and Recorder from 1966 through 1984, when she ran for state Senate.

In 1974, her daughter Lana was raped and murdered by Duncan McKenzie. After numerous appeals, he was executed by legal injection in May 1995.

Harding retired after serving three terms in the Senate and began a children's ministry in Pablo.

She was preceded in death by her husband Warren and her daughter. She is survived by her son Greg of Ronan and his family.

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