Nancy Elizabeth Hollister (née Putnam; born May 22, 1949) is an American politician from the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. Hollister was the first and, to date, only female
governor of Ohio, serving briefly from December 1998 to January 1999. She attended
Kent State University
Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in ...
, and upon leaving college she became a housewife. She began her political career in the 1980s. She is a member of the
Republican Party.
Early life
Putnam was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, the daughter of Benjamin Hay Putnam Jr. (1925-2007) and Mary Elizabeth White (1926-1990). Her parents had married in 1945 in West Virginia and had moved briefly back to Terre Haute (her mother's hometown) before moving to
Marietta, Ohio
Marietta is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Ohio, United States. It is located in southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Ma ...
, where her father's family resided. Her 6th great-grandfather was Revolutionary War General
Israel Putnam
Israel Putnam (January 7, 1718 – May 29, 1790), popularly known as "Old Put", was an American military officer and landowner who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). He als ...
. Her 8th great-grandmother was Bathsheba Folger Pope, an accuser of witches during the
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...
.
She has five siblings: Emily, Esther, Sarah and Benjamin Hay Putnam, III.
Political career (1980–1990)
Nancy Hollister first entered public office when she was elected to the
Marietta City Council in 1980.
Hollister would serve on city council until being elected Mayor of
Marietta in 1984. As Mayor, Hollister worked to attract new businesses to the area, promote tourism, and secured funding for a new bridge across the
Ohio River.
Political career (1991–1994)
Since Hollister was a mayor in
Southeastern Ohio
Appalachian Ohio is a bioregion and political unit in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, characterized by the western foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and the Appalachian Plateau. The Appalachian Regional Commission defines th ...
,
Governor Voinovich appointed Nancy Hollister as director of the
Governor's Office of Appalachia. In this position, Hollister would advise the Governor on how to improve the economy, and life, for
twenty-nine counties.
Lieutenant governor
Hollister was elected
Ohio's 60th
lieutenant governor in 1994 to replace incumbent lieutenant governor
Mike DeWine, who was elected to the U.S. Senate. Hollister would oversee several State and Local Government Commissions. These included the
Governor's Office of Appalachia, the Governor's Workforce Development Board, the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the
Ohio Bureau of Employment Services, the Ohio School-to-Work Initiative, the Office of Housing and Community Partnership, the Ohio Coal Development Office, and the Ohio Farmland Preservation Task Force.
Governor of Ohio
On November 3, 1998, as part of
that year's midterm election, Governor
George Voinovich was elected to 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 ...
, and
Bob Taft
Robert Alphonso Taft III (born January 8, 1942) is an American politician and attorney, who served as the 67th governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007 as a member of the Republican Party.
A member of the Taft political dynasty, Taft served first in ...
was elected to the governorship. On the same day, Hollister ran for a seat in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
, having defeated former Rep.
Frank Cremeans
Frank Arnold Cremeans (April 5, 1943 – January 2, 2003) was an American small-businessman who represented Ohio in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican. He served one term in Congress, from 1995 to 1997.
Cremeans was ...
for the Republican nomination, but she lost to incumbent
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 ...
Ted Strickland
Theodore Strickland (born August 4, 1941) is an American politician who was the 68th governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ...
(who would later succeed Taft as governor).
Voinovich resigned as governor on December 31, 1998 (so he could be sworn into the Senate three days later), and with that, Hollister became governor. Hollister became Ohio's first and to date only
female governor. She only served 11 days in office - which would also make her Ohio's shortest-serving governor - as she was essentially finishing out Voinovich's term. She was succeeded by Taft, whose term officially began on January 11, 1999.
Politics (2000–present)
Upon leaving the Governor's office, Hollister was appointed to the
Ohio House of Representatives
The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate.
The House of Representatives first met in Ch ...
, representing the 93rd district, in 1999. She ran for and was elected to the seat in 2000 and 2002. In her final run for office to date, Hollister was defeated by
Jennifer Garrison
Jennifer Garrison (born April 2, 1962) is an American politician of the Democratic party from Marietta, Ohio. From 2005 to 2010 she represented the 93rd District in the Ohio House of Representatives, which includes Guernsey, Monroe and Noble ...
in 2004.
A key issue in the campaign was Hollister's opposition to a constitutional amendment to ban
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
. Garrison – the Democrat – ran to the ideological right of Hollister on the same-sex marriage ban which passed during the same 2004 election 61.71% to 38.29%.
She served on the board of trustees of the
Ohio History Connection
Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...
between 2011 and 2016.
As of Oct 2020 she is an ad-hoc board member of the Friends of the Museums, which manages the
Campus Martius Museum and
Ohio River Museum in Marietta.
In May 2016, she was appointed by Gov.
John Kasich
John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasic ...
to fill a vacancy on the
state Board of Education.
Personal life
She married Jeffrey Lynn Hollister (b. 1949) on March 21, 1970 in
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, Ohio. They have five children: Jonathan Dunham Hollister (b. 1970), Jeremy Douglas Hollister (b. 1973), Justin Harrington Hollister (b. 1976), Emily Elizabeth Hollister (b. 1979) and Sarah Katherine Hollister (b. 1982).
See also
*
Election Results, U.S. Representative from Ohio, 6th District
*
Election Results, Ohio Lieutenant Governor
*
Hollister
*
List of female governors in the United States
As of November 2022, 45 women have served or are serving as the governor of a U.S. state (two acting governors due to vacancies) and three women have served or are serving as the governor of an unincorporated U.S. territory. Two women have ser ...
*
List of female lieutenant governors in the United States
As of January 18, 2023, there are 22 women currently serving (excluding acting capacity) as lieutenant governors in the United States. Overall, 118 women have served (including acting capacity).
Women have been elected lieutenant governor from 4 ...
References
External links
Profile on the Ohio Ladies Gallery website*
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollister, Nancy P.
1949 births
Republican Party governors of Ohio
Kent State University alumni
Lieutenant Governors of Ohio
Living people
Mayors of places in Ohio
Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives
Ohio city council members
Women city councillors in Ohio
Politicians from Marietta, Ohio
Women mayors of places in Ohio
Women state governors of the United States
Women state legislators in Ohio
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American women politicians
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians