Donna M. Soucy (born September 7, 1967) is an American attorney and Democratic member of the

New Hampshire Senate The New Hampshire Senate has been meeting since 1784. It is the upper house of the New Hampshire General Court, alongside the lower New Hampshire House of Representatives. It consists of 24 members representing Senate districts based on populatio ...

, first elected in 2012 in the 18th district. She is previously served as the

President of the New Hampshire Senate The position of President of the New Hampshire Senate The New Hampshire Senate has been meeting since 1784. It is the upper house of the New Hampshire General Court, alongside the lower New Hampshire House of Representatives. It consists of 24 m ...

, from December 5, 2018 until December 2, 2020. Soucy serves on the Senate Commerce, and Rules and Enrolled Bills committees, in addition to the Joint Fiscal Committee Soucy has also previously served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives and as a

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

alderman.

Early life and education

Soucy's mother was Lillian Soucy, a New Hampshire state representative who died in 1990, the year after she graduated from Saint Anselm College in

Goffstown, New Hampshire Goffstown is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 18,577 at the 2020 census. The compact center of town, where 3,366 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the Goffst ...

. Her father, C. Arthur Soucy, also served as a Manchester city

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

and as a city official in other capacities, and as a member of the federal Electoral College. Soucy attended the Franklin Pierce Law Center (now the

University of New Hampshire School of Law The University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law is a public law school in Concord, New Hampshire, associated with the University of New Hampshire. It is the only law school in the state and was founded in 1973 by Robert H. Rines ...

) and received a '' Juris Doctor'' degree.

Senate career

First elected in 2012, Soucy became the minority leader in August 2018, after the incumbent

Jeff Woodburn Jeffrey R. Woodburn (born June 1965) from Dalton, New Hampshire is a former Democratic member of the New Hampshire Senate for the 1st district, elected in 2012. He was the minority leader of the Senate Democratic caucus. Woodburn served on the ...

stepped down from his leadership post because he had been arrested on domestic violence charges. Soucy was re-elected to her Senate seat that November, but Woodburn was not, as Democrats won the majority of Senate seats statewide. The 14 Democratic senators-elect chose Soucy as their leader at a caucus shortly after the 2018 mid-term election; she was later unanimously elected Senate President on December 5, 2018.

References

External links

*
Senator Donna Soucy
government website
Donna Soucy for Senate
campaign website * * * , - , - 1967 births 2020 United States presidential electors 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Living people Democratic Party members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Democratic Party New Hampshire state senators Politicians from Manchester, New Hampshire Saint Anselm College alumni University of New Hampshire School of Law alumni Women state legislators in New Hampshire {{NewHampshire-politician-stub