A member of the Democratic Party, she won the special election to fill the Senate seat of her husband, Jesse L. Yancy Jr., who died in 1970.

[2][3] Shortly after graduating from high school, she married Jesse L. Yancy Jr., an attorney who was elected to the Mississippi State Senate in 1967, representing Calhoun, Chickasaw, Clay, and Monroe counties.

[6] After Jesse Yancy Jr. died of a heart attack on August 26, 1970, a special election was held to fill his Senate seat.

[11] She later announced that she would not seek re-election in the 1971 elections, and worked on Cliff Finch's unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor that year.

[4] During the governorship of Cliff Finch, she was the director of the Governor's Action Line, a state-run public information service that provided assistance to callers.