Sarah L. Copeland-Hanzas (born July 9, 1970) is an American

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 *Demo ...

politician who is currently serving as the Secretary of State of Vermont. She previously 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

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's 2nd District, having been first elected in 2004.

Early life and career

Sarah Louise Copeland-Hanzas was born in

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest ...

on July 9, 1970 and her family moved to Vermont in 1971. She grew up in

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...

and graduated from

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

's Oxbow High School in 1988. She then attended the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

from which she received a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1992 and a Bachelor of Arts in geology in 1993. In 1995, she completed her teaching certification at Upper Valley Educators Institute in Lebanon, New Hampshire. After becoming qualified as a teacher, Copeland-Hanzas instructed secondary science in several Upper

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

Valley public schools and at Valley Vista residential treatment center in Bradford. Beginning in 2010, she owned a small business in Bradford, the Local Buzz Cafe, which she operated until she closed it in 2021.

Political career

In 2004, Copeland-Hanzas was elected to the

. She was reelected every two years through 2020, and served from January 2005 to January 2023. During her House service, Copeland-Hanzas was a member of the Health Care Committee and chair of the Government Operations Committee. From 2015 to 2017, she was the majority leader. While in the house, she also served on the Executive Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 2022, Copeland-Hanzas was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for secretary of state. In the August primary, she defeated deputy secretary of state Chris Winters and Montpelier city clerk John Odum; Copeland-Hanzas received 43 percent of the vote to 41 for Winters and 16 for Odum. In the November general election, she defeated perennial Republican candidate H. Brooke Paige by a vote of 61 to 33 percent. She was sworn in for the beginning of her term in January 2023.

Family

Copeland is married to John P. Hanzas Jr. They reside in Bradford and are the parents of three daughters.

References

, - 1970 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Democratic Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives Living people People from Bradford, Vermont People from Lake Forest, Illinois Secretaries of State of Vermont University of Vermont alumni Women state legislators in Vermont {{Vermont-politician-stub