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 sover ...

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 A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, 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 As ...

, and upon leaving college she became a housewife. She began her political career in the 1980s. She is a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

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, Mar ...

, 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 Marietta may refer to: Places in the United States *Marietta, Jacksonville, Florida *Marietta, Georgia, the largest US city named Marietta *Marietta, Illinois *Marietta, Indiana *Marietta, Kansas *Marietta, Minnesota *Marietta, Mississippi *Mar ...

City Council in 1980. Hollister would serve on city council until being elected Mayor of

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 The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

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 A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

in 1994 to replace incumbent lieutenant governor

Mike DeWine Richard Michael DeWine (; born January 5, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 70th and current governor of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, DeWine began his career as a prosecutor before being elected to the O ...

, 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 George Victor Voinovich (July 15, 1936June 12, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 1999 to 2011, the 65th governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998 and the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989, th ...

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 i ...

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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, 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 ...

, 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 co ...

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 Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

. 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 Connec ...

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 The Campus Martius Museum interprets Ohio history. Campus Martius was the second fortification in Marietta, Ohio and the first primarily for civilian defense. The Rufus Putnam House, incorporated in the Museum, is the only remaining part of the ...

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 on ...

, 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).

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