Lucia M. Cormier (November 20, 1909 – January 26, 1993) was an American politician from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. Cormier, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

from Rumford, served in the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via p ...

from 1947 to 1950 and 1953 to 1960. In 1950, Cormier defeated Adrian Scolten to win the Democratic nomination for

Maine's 1st congressional district Maine's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Maine. The geographically smaller of the state's two congressional districts, the district covers the southern coastal area of the state. The district consists o ...

. She lost in the general election to incumbent Robert Hale with 46% of the vote, which was considered a strong showing in Republican-controlled Maine. She later became a Maine delegate to the Democratic National Committee. In 1960, Cormier left the Legislature and became the Democratic nominee for United States Senate. Her opponent was incumbent Republican

Margaret Chase Smith Margaret Madeline Smith (née Chase; December 14, 1897 – May 29, 1995) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, she served as a U.S. representative (1940–1949) and a U.S. senator (1949–1973) from Maine. She was the firs ...

. On September 5, 1960, Cormier and Smith appeared on the cover of Time magazine. The Cormier-Chase Smith election was the first all-woman election for Senate in United States history. Cormier lost in the general election after receiving only 38.4% of the vote. Democratic President John F. Kennedy appointed Cormier to the position of collector of customs for Maine and New Hampshire. She maintained that position until her retirement in 1974. Cormier died in Daytona Beach, Florida in January 1993.

Personal

Cormier was born in

Rumford, Maine Rumford is a New England town, town in Oxford County, Maine, Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,858 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Rumford is home to both ND Paper Inc's Rumford Mill and the Black Mountain ...

in 1909 and graduated from

College of Saint Elizabeth Saint Elizabeth University (SEU) (formerly College of Saint Elizabeth) is a private Catholic, coeducational, four-year, liberal arts university in Morris Township, New Jersey. Portions of the campus are also in Florham Park. SEU has 25 underg ...

in New Jersey. She never married and had no children. She became active in politics only in 1945 at the age of 34 by attending a local Democratic Party meeting. Within a year, she ran for and won a seat in the Maine House of Representatives.

References

1909 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American legislators 20th-century American women politicians Saint Elizabeth University alumni Maine Democrats Minority leaders of the Maine House of Representatives People from Rumford, Maine Women state legislators in Maine {{Maine-politician-stub