Winning just 35.3 percent of the vote, she nevertheless bettered Goldwater's tally in Michigan—33.1 percent—and did so with little funds; to accomplish that much was a tribute to her energy, organization and down-to-earth appeal.
[1][2] The Michigan Political History Society eventually selected Elly Peterson as the best Republican state chairwoman in the last fifty years.
Inquisitive and probing, she was also quick to laugh and often referred to as "mother" by her interns, such as Christine Todd Whitman.
Peterson also strongly supported abortion rights and was a charter member in the National Women's Political Caucus.
At this time, in the early 1970s, the conservative wing of the Republican Party was beginning to create friction with the liberal members, Peterson amongst them.
Peterson joined the American Red Cross and spent 22 months in England, France and Germany.