Betty Ireland
{{Short description|American politician (born 1946)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|name = Betty Ireland
|honorific-suffix =
|image = Betty Ireland.jpg
|imagesize =
|smallimage =
|caption =
|order = 28th
|office = West Virginia Secretary of State
|term_start= January 17, 2005
|term_end = January 19, 2009
|governor = Joe Manchin
|governor-general =
|governor_general =
|succeeding =
|predecessor = Joe Manchin
|successor = Natalie Tennant
|birth_date = {{birth year and age|1946}}
|birth_place = Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.
|death_date =
|death_place =
|birthname =
|party = Republican Party
|otherparty =
|residence =
|alma_mater =
|occupation =
|profession = Politician, teacher, businesswoman
|cabinet =
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}}
Betty Ireland (born 1946) was the 28th Secretary of State of West Virginia from 2005 to 2009, as the first woman elected to the executive branch of West Virginia state government.{{cite web
| last = Weidling
| first = Jessica
| title = Betty Ireland, Secretary of State, West Virginia
| url = http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/253171?topic=117673
| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130125135008/http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/253171?topic=117673
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = January 25, 2013
| website = Govtech.com
| accessdate = February 11, 2016
}} She was also the first Republican elected to that position since 1972. Ireland did not seek a second term in 2008 due to her parents' health.[http://www.huntingtonnews.net/political/070712-staff-politicalireland.html] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927220042/http://www.huntingtonnews.net/political/070712-staff-politicalireland.html |date=September 27, 2007 }} On December 30, 2010, Ireland announced she would run in the 2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election, where she came in second place in the Republican primary.{{cite web |author=Jeremy Edwards |url=http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/Betty_Ireland_Announces_Run_for_Governor_112681109.html |title=Betty Ireland Announces Run for Governor |website=Wsaz.com |accessdate=February 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929232936/http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/Betty_Ireland_Announces_Run_for_Governor_112681109.html |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |url-status=dead }}
Career
Early in her career, Ireland spent several years teaching in the West Virginia public school system. Eventually, she entered the business sector, when Ireland took a job as an administrative assistant with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance.{{cite news|last=King|first=Joselyn|title=Ireland: Glass Ceiling Hangs Over Women|url=http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/510224/Ireland--Glass-Ceiling-Hangs-Over-Women.html?nav=510|accessdate=February 8, 2011|newspaper=The Intelligencer|date=June 2, 2008|location=Wheeling, West Virginia}} She subsequently became a certified pension consultant.{{cite news|last=Porterfield|first=Mannix|title=Ireland considers run for governor|url=http://www.register-herald.com/local/x1894468749/Ireland-considers-run-for-governor|accessdate=February 8, 2011|newspaper=The Register-Herald|date=December 9, 2010}}
For nearly six years (from 1977 to 1983), she was the owner of Retirement Systems & Services, a pension administration and consulting firm in Charleston, West Virginia. From 1983 to 1989, she was vice president and head of the pension division in the Trust Department of the Charleston National Bank of Commerce. Ireland moved to Jackson Kelly.
Ireland became executive director of the West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board in August 1998. She returned to Jackson Kelly in 2002 to head its ancillary business endeavors as president of Jackson Kelly Solutions.
2004 election to Secretary of State
In 2004, Ireland defeated longtime political figure Ken Hechler, 52% to 48%, in a general election race, as Hechler attempted to return to the Secretary of State position he previously held for sixteen years.{{citation needed|date=January 2011}}
2011 gubernatorial campaign
On December 30, 2010, Ireland announced her intention to run for governor in the special election that was to be held on October 4, 2011.{{cite news | title=Tomblin succeeds Manchin as West Virginia governor | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/15/AR2010111506129.html | newspaper=Washington Post | date=November 15, 2010 | accessdate=November 17, 2010}}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite news | title=Acting W.Va. Governor Proclaims Oct. 4 Election | url=http://www.wvgazette.com/ap/ApTopStories/201101210972 | newspaper=Charleston Gazette | date=January 21, 2011 | accessdate=January 21, 2011 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622093234/http://www.wvgazette.com/ap/ApTopStories/201101210972 | archivedate=June 22, 2011 }} She lost the primary election to political newcomer Bill Maloney.
Personal life
Ireland has four children with her husband, Sam Haddad.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{start box}}
{{s-ppo}}
|-
{{s-vac|last=Vernon R. Hayes, Jr.}}
{{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for Secretary of State of West Virginia|years=2004}}
{{s-aft|after=Charles Theophilus Minimah}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | before=Joe Manchin III | title=West Virginia Secretary of State | years=2005—2009 | after=Natalie Tennant}}
{{end box}}
{{Secretaries of State West Virginia}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ireland, Betty}}
Category:Politicians from Charleston, West Virginia
Category:Secretaries of state of West Virginia
Category:Women in West Virginia politics
Category:2012 United States presidential electors
Category:21st-century West Virginia politicians
Category:21st-century American women politicians
Category:Candidates in the 2011 United States elections