PALM HARBOR, Fla. — No matter how busy she is, Ms. Margaret “Peggy” Glode always makes time to exercise her right to vote — even at 108 years old.
The Pinellas County centenarian celebrated her 108th birthday on Monday with friends, family and a little bit of dancing at the Accordia Woods Assisted Living Community in Palm Harbor.
We first spoke to Peggy in 2022 when she shared why she is so passionate about encouraging others to vote.
"I think it's essential. It's our duty to get out and vote and make our vote count,” she told 10 Tampa Bay at the time. “Look at the women who died then too, people, our forefathers fought to get the vote for us. And now some people are just disregarding it, and I think it's a shame."
Peggy was born in England and moved to the U.S. as a young girl in the mid-1920s — just a few years after the 19th Amendment was ratified, granting women the right to vote. And since then, she has made it a point to vote in every general election since she turned 21, back when former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt lived in the White House.
There are certain issues that drive Peggy to mail in her ballot every election, including immigration and abortion rights.
“It's up to each individual woman what she wants to do with her body. It's not up to the man to tell us what to do,” she said in 2022.
She thinks today's divisive political landscape has gotten far "too personal," which is why she doesn't let party lines hold her back from letting her voice be heard.
"I don't think I ever have voted straight ticket,” Peggy said. "The idea is, if you don't vote, then you can't complain about anything. Every vote counts."
With her sights set on voting in the 2024 election, we can be sure Peggy is keeping up with her secret tips for longevity: “good living” and “a glass of scotch every night before bed."