Ruth Hardy (born 1970) is an American political figure from

East Middlebury, Vermont East Middlebury is a census-designated place in the town of Middlebury, Addison County, 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 sout ...

. 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 ...

, she was elected to the

Vermont 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 ...

in 2018.

Early life

Ruth Ellen Hardy was born in the

Tompkins County Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 105,740. The county seat is Ithaca. The name is in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins, who served as Governor of New York and Vice President ...

area of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

circa 1970, a daughter of Robert B. Hardy Jr. and Miriam (Smith) Hardy. Robert Hardy (1930-2005) was a graduate of Cornell University and

Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...

, and he served for more than thirty years as an Administrative Law Judge for the New York State Department of Labor. Ruth Hardy was raised and educated in Tompkins County and is a 1988 graduate of

Dryden High School Dryden High School is a public high school located in Dryden, Tompkins County, New York, U.S.A., and is the only high school operated by the Dryden Central School District. This district is in New York State's southern tier and encompasses an are ...

Dryden, New York Dryden is a town in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 14,435 at the 2010 census. The town administers an area that includes two villages, one also named Dryden and one named Freeville, as well as a number of hamlets. ...

. Hardy received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in Government from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

in 1992 and in 1996 she received a

Master of Public Affairs The master of public affairs (M.P.Aff., M.P.A. or MPA) is a master-level professional degree offered in public policy schools that provides training in public policy and the operation of government. Courses required for this degree educate stud ...

degree from the

Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs (or LBJ School of Public Affairs) is a graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin that was founded in 1970 to offer training in public policy analysis and administration for students that ar ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. She was a fiscal analyst for the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau and specialized in education issues. Hardy moved to

in 2002.

Career

After relocating to Vermont, Hardy served as executive director of the Open Door Clinic in

Middlebury, Vermont Middlebury is the shire town (county seat) of Addison County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 9,152. Middlebury is home to Middlebury College and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History. History One of ...

. In addition, she worked as assistant budget director at

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

, and director of government grants at

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

of Northern New England. She also served as executive director of Emerge Vermont, which recruits and trains women to run for public office. Hardy served three terms on Middlebury-area school boards and was chairwoman of Middlebury's Mary Hogan School Board, co-chairwoman of the Addison Central Supervisory Union Unification Charter Committee, and Chair of the Addison Central School District Finance Committee. She is a graduate of the Snelling Center's Vermont Leadership Institute.

Vermont Senate

In early 2018, incumbent Democrat

Claire D. Ayer Claire D. Ayer (born September 21, 1948) is a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic former member of the Vermont Senate, Vermont State Senate, representing the two-member at-large Addison Vermont Senate District, 2002–2012, Addison Senat ...

announced that she would not be a candidate for reelection to the

in the two-member at-large Addison County Senate District. Hardy announced her candidacy in May. In the November general election, Hardy and incumbent Democrat Christopher Bray were the top two finishers. At the start of her Senate term, Hardy was appointed to the Committees on Education and Agriculture, and was named clerk of the Agriculture Committee. In addition, she was named to the Senate's special panel on sexual harassment and the Joint Committee on Judicial Retention.

Family

In 1997, Hardy married

Jason Mittell Jason Mittell is a professor of American studies and film and media culture at Middlebury College whose research interests include the history of television, media, culture, and new media. He is author of three books, ''Genre and Television'' (2 ...

, professor of Film & Media at

. They are the parents of three children.

References

Sources

Newspapers

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Internet

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardy, Ruth 1970 births Living people 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Oberlin College alumni Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs alumni People from Middlebury, Vermont Democratic Party Vermont state senators Women state legislators in Vermont