Mary Wright, wife and teacher, was active in the populist movement and woman suffrage in Idaho. In 1898 she was nominated for the position of Idaho State School Superintendent of Public Instruction by the Populist Party, a nomination she declined after a fusion candidate was promoted , instead accepting nomination to the state House of Representatives. She was elected and served as chair of the Populist Caucus, perhaps the first woman to lead a party in a state legislature in the United States. She was nominated for Speaker. After completing her term she was elected Clerk of the House for the sixth session in 1901, and also convened the session beginning in 1903. She worked professionally in politics until the Populist Party stopped nominating candidates.
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