SAN DIEGO, Calif. (AP) - The San Diego County District Attorney's office says an aide to then-President Jimmy Carter has died in San Diego after a battle with cancer. Margaret "Midge" Costanza was 77 years old.
Costanza was elected to the city council in Rochester, N.Y., in 1973 and met Carter the next year when he campaigned for her in an unsuccessful bid for Congress.
She was co-chair of Carter's presidential campaign in New York and seconded his nomination at the Democratic National Convention. In the White House, she was assistant to the president for public liaison.
Costanza remained active in Democratic politics after moving to San Diego in 1990. In 2005, she joined the district attorney's office as a public affairs officer.
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