Sue M. Minter (born January 23, 1961) is an American politician from the state of
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 ...
. She served in the
Vermont House of Representatives
The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...
from 2005 to 2011, led Vermont's recovery efforts after
Tropical Storm Irene The name Irene was used for thirteen cyclones worldwide: 12 tropical and one extratropical. Of the tropical cyclones named Irene, seven were in the Atlantic, two were in the South Pacific, and the Western Pacific, South-West Indian Ocean and Austral ...
, and became secretary of the
Vermont Agency of Transportation in 2015. Minter was the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
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nominee in the
Vermont gubernatorial election of 2016. She lost to 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 ...
nominee
Phil Scott.
Early life and career
Minter was born in
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Evelyn and Robert Wilson "Bob" Minter, who managed a candy business, Minter's Candies. Her family moved to
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, while she was in high school. Minter graduated from
Moses Brown School
Moses Brown School is an independent Quaker school located in Providence, Rhode Island, offering pre-kindergarten through secondary school classes. It was founded in 1784 by Moses Brown, a Quaker abolitionist, and is one of the oldest prepara ...
in 1979
and from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
with a concentration in
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
in 1983. She then earned a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in
urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
. She moved to Vermont in 1991 to become a consultant for
Conservation Law Foundation.
[
]
Political career
State representative
Minter ran for the Vermont House of Representatives
The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...
in 2004, representing the Washington-Chittenden-1 district (Duxbury
Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a historic seaside town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore approximately to the southeast of Boston, the population was 16,090 at the 20 ...
, Waterbury, and Huntington). She won, and was reelected for four terms. She served on the Transportation and Appropriations committees, in positions which emphasized budgeting over policy-making, and earned a reputation as a "solid" but not "ultra-liberal" Democrat with a good understanding of complex budget issues.
Vermont Agency of Transportation
Peter Shumlin
Peter Elliott Shumlin (born March 24, 1956) is an American politician from Vermont. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 81st governor of Vermont from 2011 to 2017.
He was first elected to the office in 2010, and was reelected to a ...
, the Governor of Vermont, appointed Minter as Deputy Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Transportation in January 2011. Following Tropical Storm Irene The name Irene was used for thirteen cyclones worldwide: 12 tropical and one extratropical. Of the tropical cyclones named Irene, seven were in the Atlantic, two were in the South Pacific, and the Western Pacific, South-West Indian Ocean and Austral ...
, Shumlin appointed Neale Lunderville to lead Vermont's recovery efforts, and four months later named Minter to replace him. Minter was praised for her leadership as chief recovery officer.[ She later served on President ]Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
's Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, co-chaired the White House Task Force Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery and Resilience, and led a Vermont team which assisted with Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
's response to major flooding in 2013.
Minter became Secretary of VTrans on January 1, 2015, following the retirement of Brian Searles. In response to an August workplace discrimination lawsuit against VTrans, she boosted employee training in harassment prevention and established an affirmative-action task force.
Candidate for governor
In September 2015, Minter resigned from her position at VTrans to run for governor in the 2016 gubernatorial election. Minter's former House colleagues described her as left-of-center and praised her as a "good Democrat" with a talent for understanding complicated budget issues, but questioned her preparedness for a gubernatorial run. Minter was endorsed by former Vermont Governors Madeleine Kunin
Madeleine Kunin (née May; born September 28, 1933) is a Swiss-born American diplomat, author and politician. She served as the 77th governor of Vermont from 1985 until 1991, as a member of the Democratic Party. She also served as United States ...
, Howard Dean and Phil Hoff; former Lieutenant Governor Doug Racine; and former State Representative Jason Lorber; along with 52 current legislators and 25 more former legislators, as well as the pro-choice Democratic group EMILY's List
EMILY's List is an American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "Early Money ...
. Environmentalist Bill McKibben
William Ernest McKibben (born December 8, 1960)"Bill Ernest McKibben." ''Environmental Encyclopedia''. Edited by Deirdre S. Blanchfield. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, December 31, 2017. is a ...
initially supported her rival Matt Dunne, but switched his support to Minter after Dunne revised his position on wind power
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...
.
Minter proposed job creation efforts involving strategic investments in infrastructure and housing, as well as industry-government collaboration to promote the technology, energy, and agricultural sectors. Her proposed "Vermont Promise" initiative would have paid for Vermont high school graduates to attend the Community College of Vermont or Vermont Technical College for two years for free, and for half of the current price afterwards.
Minter believes Vermont's pension fund
A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income.
Pension funds typically have large amounts of money to invest and are the major investors in listed and priva ...
should divest from coal holdings because they are "bad for our economy and bad for our environment." Minter followed her rival Matt Dunne in rejecting campaign contributions from corporations, writing "Whether you are a multimillionaire or a major corporation, you shouldn't be able to buy the governor's office." After the 2015 Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting
On November 27, 2015, a mass shooting occurred in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, resulting in the deaths of three people and injuries to nine. A police officer and two civilians were killed; five police officers and ...
, she called for universal background check
Proposals for universal background checks would require almost all firearms transactions in the United States to be recorded and go through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), closing what is sometimes called the privat ...
s on gun sales in Vermont, a position later taken up by her rivals. She also supports a ban on assault weapons
In the United States, ''assault weapon'' is a controversial term used to define firearms with specified characteristics. The definition varies among regulating jurisdictions, but usually includes semi-automatic firearms with a detachable ma ...
.
On August 9, Minter won the Democratic Party nomination for governor, defeating Dunne and Peter Galbraith
Peter Woodard Galbraith (born December 31, 1950) is an American author, academic, commentator, politician, policy advisor, and former diplomat.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he helped uncover Saddam Hussein's gassing of the Kurds. From 1993 ...
in the primary election
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...
. She faced Republican Phil Scott, the Lieutenant Governor of Vermont, in the November general election. Minter lost to Scott, 52% to 44%.
Post-political career
In September 2017, Minter became the president and chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of Special Olympics Vermont. She resigned from the job in September 2018. In December 2018, Minter became executive director of Capstone Community Action, a community action agency in Vermont that works to meet basic needs, advocate for economic justice and lift low-income people out of poverty.
Personal life
Minter lives in Waterbury, Vermont, with her husband David Goodman (brother of Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman (born April 13, 1957) is an American broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter, and author. Her investigative journalism career includes coverage of the East Timor independence movement, Morocco's occupation ...
, a journalist for '' Democracy Now!''). They have two children.
References
External links
Official 2016 campaign website
(Archived)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minter, Sue
1961 births
21st-century American politicians
Harvard University alumni
Living people
MIT School of Architecture and Planning alumni
Democratic Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives
People from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
People from Waterbury, Vermont
State cabinet secretaries of Vermont
Moses Brown School alumni
Women state legislators in Vermont
Candidates in the 2016 United States elections
21st-century American women politicians