Edward S. Flanagan (December 18, 1950 – November 3, 2017), commonly known as Ed Flanagan, was an American politician from

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. He served as

Vermont State Auditor The Vermont State Auditor of Accounts is one of six constitutional officers in Vermont, elected statewide every two years. The Office provides an independent and objective assessment of Vermont's governmental operations. The current Auditor is ...

from 1993 to 2001 and as a

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

from 2005 to 2011.

Early life

Flanagan was born in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, the son of Bernard Lawrence Flanagan (1919-1970) and Margaret (Sawyer) Flanagan. When Flanagan was born, his father was employed on the staff of U.S. Senator

George Aiken George David Aiken (August 20, 1892November 19, 1984) was an American politician and horticulturist. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 64th governor of Vermont (1937–1941) before serving in the United States Senate for 34 years, ...

. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

with a B.A. in history and political science in 1973, and earned a J.D. from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1976. His older brother, Robert Flanagan, also entered politics, but as a Republican serving in the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

and as that state's

Secretary of Transportation A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...

from 2003 - 2007.

Start of career

Beginning in 1977, Flanagan served in the

Carter Administration Jimmy Carter's tenure as the 39th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. A Democrat from Georgia, Carter took office after defeating incumbent Republican President ...

as a policy analyst under

Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health matters. The secretary is ...

Joseph Califano, before beginning the private practice of law. He began to reside permanently in Vermont in 1988, and was an unsuccessful candidate that year for

Vermont Attorney General The Vermont Attorney General is a statewide elected executive official in the U.S. state of Vermont who is elected every two years. It was created by an act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1790, repealed in 1797, and revived in 1904. The office ...

Vermont State Auditor

Flanagan served as Vermont's

State Auditor State auditors (also known as state comptrollers, state controllers, state examiners, or inspectors general) are fiscal officers lodged in the executive or legislative branches of U.S. state governments who serve as external auditors, financial ...

from 1993 through 2001, becoming the first openly gay, statewide-elected official in the United States when he came out in 1995, before his 1996 reelection. Flanagan was the Democratic nominee in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

contest in 2000, becoming the first openly gay individual to be nominated by a major party as a

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. In that election, Flanagan was defeated by incumbent U.S. Senator

Jim Jeffords James Merrill Jeffords (May 11, 1934 – August 18, 2014) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. senator from Vermont. Sworn into the Senate in 1989, he served as a Republican until 2001, when he left the party to become ...

. His U.S. Senate campaign, like many of his campaigns before and since, won the backing of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. In 2002, Flanagan made a bid for the Democratic nomination for State Treasurer but was defeated by Senator Jeb Spaulding, who went on to win the office.

Vermont Senate

In 2004, Flanagan was elected to the

Vermont State Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-m ...

, representing the Chittenden senate district. In November 2005, he was seriously injured in a car accident during a period of particularly bad weather; his car slid into a ravine off Interstate 89 in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. He was not easily observable from the roadway, and hung upside down in subfreezing temperatures for 18 hours before someone spotted his car and he was rescued. He spent three weeks in a coma, and six months in the hospital. Flanagan returned to the statehouse in early May 2006; some observers later questioned whether Flanagan was suffering from the effects of a traumatic brain injury, but he won reelection in 2006 and 2008. On December 4, 2006 Flanagan had another car accident when he went off the road while turning onto I-89 in

South Burlington South Burlington is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Along with neighboring Burlington, it is a principal city of the Burlington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,292. It is home to the head ...

. He later stopped driving and began to use an electric bicycle for local transportation. Flanagan did not seek reelection to the Senate in 2010.

Retirement and death

In failing health for the last decade of his life, Flanagan died on November 3, 2017 at a nursing home in New Hampshire.

References