Ruth Ann Palumbo
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Ruth Ann Palumbo
| state_house = Kentucky
| district = 76th
| term_start = January 1, 1991
| term_end = January 1, 2025
| predecessor = Tony Curtsinger
| successor = Anne Donworth
| birth_date = {{birth date and age |1949|7|7}}
| birth_place = Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Democratic
| alma_mater = University of Kentucky
| occupation = Community Volunteer
| spouse = John II
| children = John III (deceased), Joseph, James, and Stephen
| residence = Lexington, Kentucky
| image = File:Ruth Ann Palumbo.jpg
}}
Ruth Ann Palumbo (born July 7, 1949) is an American politician who represented district 76 in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1991 to 2025, which covers downtown Lexington, Kentucky and eastern Fayette County.{{cite news|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LH&s_site=kentucky&p_multi=LH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11E1FA6FCCC45F20&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Beshear to shape legislation: 'It will be my bill' Lawmakers Want to Know Where Casinos Would Be|date=January 11, 2008|work=Lexington Herald-Leader|publisher=The McClatchy Company|pages=A8|access-date=4 February 2010|location=Lexington, Kentucky}} Palumbo is a member of the Kentucky Democratic Party.
Through her career, Palumbo has pushed for legislation concerning "more thorough investigations of child sexual abuse; Kentucky's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act [...]; and sponsorship of bills to protect the elderly in nursing homes," as well as bills to do with women's health, mammogram access, and healthcare in general.
Palumbo was first elected to the house in 1990, defeating Republican incumbent Tony Curtsinger. She did not seek reelection in 2024.
Politics
In 1998, Palumbo helped pass the Women's Health Act of 1998, which brought reconstructive mastectomies after breast cancer under coverage of medical insurance, as it previously had been considered cosmetic.
In the 2000s, Palumbo began caucusing with other female legislators (including Joni Jenkins, Susan Johns, Eleanor Jordan, Mary Lou Marzian, Kathy Stein, and more) to track legislation in their individual fields of expertise and work together to affect legislation more easily than they could have done alone. One early victory involved "building statewide opposition to a bill that, before their organized effort, likely would have gone unnoticed and passed easily, [...] removing the requirement that educational institutions offer women's softball as well as men's baseball, violating the spirit if not the letter of Title IX."{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5FrAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA33|title=Violence Against Women in Kentucky: A History of U.S. and State Legislative Reform|last=Jordan|first=Carol E.|date=2014-04-28|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=9780813144931|pages=33|language=en}}
In 2011, Palumbo became the longest-serving female member of the body.{{Cite news|url=https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/community/article44088045.html|title=Palumbo in line to be longest-serving female state legislator|last=Davis|first=Merlene|date=2011-04-03|work=Lexington Herald-Leader|access-date=2019-09-05}}
During the 2009, 2013, and 2015 legislative sessions, Palumbo chaired the Economic Development Committee.{{Cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Ruth_Palumbo|title=Ruth Palumbo|website=Ballotpedia|language=en|access-date=2019-09-05}} Palumbo has formerly chaired the House's Economic Development and Workforce Investment Committee and co-chaired the Task Force on Economic Development.{{Cite web|url=https://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/4122/ruth-palumbo|title=Ruth Ann Palumbo|website=Vote Smart|language=en|access-date=2019-09-05}}
On December 21, 2023, Palumbo announced that she would not run for reelection after serving for 33 years.{{cite web |last1=Horn |first1=Austin |title=Longtime Lexington state Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo will not seek re-election after 30+ years |url=https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article283378858.html |access-date=January 5, 2024 |website=kentucky.com |publisher=Lexington Herald-Leader}} Her son, James "Jamie" Palumbo, was defeated in the 2024 Democratic primary for his mother's seat by Anne Donworth.{{Cite news |date=May 22, 2024 |title=Just waking up, Kentucky? See the results from key 2024 primary elections |url=https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article288618383.html |access-date=July 8, 2024 |work=Lexington Herald-Leader}}
Personal life
During her youth, Palumbo thought about becoming a missionary but now considers her political work her mission. She attended Bryan Station High School before earning a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of Kentucky in 1972, and served as the President of the Fayette County Young Democrats from 1973 to 1974 and as the Treasurer of the Kentucky Young Democrats the same year. She once received a fellowship from the University of Kentucky, and she was President of the Lexington Philharmonic Women's Guild as well as being a board member of the Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute at the University of Kentucky. In 1988, she participated in Leadership Lexington.
Awards
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.ruthannpalumbo.com Ruth Ann Palumbo Official Website]
- [http://www.lrc.ky.gov/legislator/H076.htm Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives - Ruth Ann Palumbo]
- [http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=4122 Project Vote Smart - Representative Ruth Ann Palumbo (MT)] profile
- Follow the Money - Ruth Ann Palumbo
- [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=101116 2008] [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=82934 2006] [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=63518 2004] [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=2441 2002] [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=33054 2000] [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=61599 1998] [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=32917 1996] [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=32587 1994] campaign contributions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palumbo, Ruth}}
Category:Democratic Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives
Category:21st-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly
Category:University of Kentucky alumni