[4] She was an active member of many organizations, including the Business and Professional Women's Club, the League of Women Voters, Delta Kappa Gamma, United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Daughters of American Colonists, South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation, the Altrusa Club, and the Salvation Army.
[5] Her opponent in the primary was Corinne Boyd Riley, running to complete the term of her deceased husband; it was believed to be the first time in South Carolina history that two women had competed against each other in a congressional election.
[10] Fitzgerald's challenge of Riley was considered somewhat surprising, as it was tacitly understood among South Carolina's political class that any widow running to succeed her husband would remain unchallenged in the general election.
Riley was still in mourning for her late husband and did no strenuous campaigning, promising only to pursue his agenda as best she could and to retire at the end of her term.
Even so, Riley won the primary by a two-to-one plurality, carrying all eight counties in the district; she would later describe her victory over Fitzgerald as "rather surprising".