Ruth Hardy | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Vermont Senate from the Addison district | |
| Assumed office January 9,2019 Servingwith Christopher Bray | |
| Preceded by | Claire Ayer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1970 (age 55–56) |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Jason Mittell (m. 1997) |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence | East Middlebury,Vermont |
| Alma mater | Oberlin College University of Texas at Austin |
| Profession | State Senator |
Ruth Hardy (born 1970) is an American political figure from East Middlebury,Vermont. A Democrat,she was first elected to the Vermont Senate in 2018.
Ruth Ellen Hardy [1] [2] was born in the Tompkins County area of New York circa 1970,a daughter of Robert B. Hardy Jr. and Miriam (Smith) Hardy. [3] Robert Hardy (1930-2005) was a graduate of Cornell University and Cornell Law School,and he served for more than thirty years as an Administrative Law Judge for the New York State Department of Labor. [3] Ruth Hardy was raised and educated in Tompkins County and is a 1988 graduate of Dryden High School in Dryden,New York. [4] [5] [6]
Hardy received a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from Oberlin College in 1992 [5] [7] and in 1996 she received a Master of Public Affairs degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. [5] [8] She was a fiscal analyst for the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau and specialized in education issues. [5] Hardy moved to East Middlebury,Vermont in 2002. [5]
After relocating to Vermont,Hardy served as executive director of the Open Door Clinic in Middlebury,Vermont. [5] In addition,she worked as assistant budget director at Middlebury College,and director of government grants at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. [5] She also served as executive director of Emerge Vermont,which recruits and trains women to run for public office. [5]
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. [5] She is a graduate of the Snelling Center's Vermont Leadership Institute. [5]
In early 2018,incumbent Democrat Claire D. Ayer announced that she would not be a candidate for reelection to the Vermont Senate in the two-member at-large Addison County Senate District. [5] Hardy announced her candidacy in May. [5] In the November general election,Hardy and incumbent Democrat Christopher Bray were the top two finishers. [9]
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. [5] In addition,she was named to the Senate's special panel on sexual harassment and the Joint Committee on Judicial Retention. [5] She has been re-elected three times in 2020,2022,and 2024. She currently serves on the Finance Committee and Natural Resources and Energy Committee.
In 1997,Hardy married Jason Mittell,professor of Film &Media at Middlebury College. [1] [5] They are the parents of three children. [5]