Suzanne Dorothy Patrick (born October 6, 1955) is a retired

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

and a former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense. Patrick, a member of the Democratic Party, ran for Congress in

Virginia's 2nd congressional district Virginia's second congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, U.S. congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It currently encompasses all of the counties of Accomack County, Virginia, Accomack, Nort ...

during the 2014 United States House of Representatives elections.

Personal life and education

Patrick graduated from Randolph-Macon Women's College in 1977, and earned a Master's Degree in national security studies from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. Patrick is the fourth generation of her family to serve in the military.

Career

Patrick served in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

for 21 years, rising to the rank of

. From 2001-2005, she served as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for industrial policy. She has served as an Aerospace Analyst with

Sanford Bernstein AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (AB) is a global asset management firm providing investment management and research services worldwide to institutional, high-net-worth and retail investors. AllianceBernstein's headquarters are located in Nashvi ...

, and held senior management positions with

Creditanstalt The Creditanstalt (sometimes Credit-Anstalt, abbreviated as CA), full original name k. k. priv. Österreichische Credit-Anstalt für Handel und Gewerbe (), was a major Austrian bank, founded in 1855 in Vienna. From its founding until 1931, the ...

Bank and Ventana Capital Management, LLC. She also founded the hedge fund investment firm New Poland Eagle. She also worked for

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

John Lehman.

2014 congressional election

Patrick ran for Congress in

, challenging incumbent Republican Congressman Scott Rigell. Patrick criticized Rigell for voting for defense cuts as part of the sequester. '' The Hill'' reported that she planned to frame herself as a "centrist Democrat." Patrick was added to the

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds and organizes races in ...

’s ‘Red to Blue’ program, which provides additional financial support to candidates. The ''Rothenberg Political Report'' ratings show the race leaning Republican. Congresswoman

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

's own campaign committee donated to Patrick’s campaign. Patrick has been endorsed by

EMILY's List EMILYs List is a left-leaning 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 "E ...

, a political action committee that supports pro-choice candidates. ;Political positions Patrick opposes repeal of the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

Personal life

Patrick has owned a home in

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

since 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patrick, Suzanne 1955 births Living people Randolph College alumni Georgetown University alumni Virginia Democrats Place of birth missing (living people)