Ruth Hardy
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Ruth Hardy
| image = Ruth Hardy at Senate Education Committee Hearing (cropped).jpg
| caption = Hardy in 2020
| state_senate = Vermont
| state = Vermont
| district = Addison
| term_start1 = January 9, 2019
| term_end1 =
| predecessor1 = Claire Ayer
| successor1 =
| alongside1 = Christopher Bray
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1970}}
| birth_place = Tompkins County, New York, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Democratic
| spouse = Jason S. 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.
Early life
Ruth Ellen Hardy{{sfn|"Wedding Announcement, Ruth Ellen Hardy-Jason S. Mittell"}}{{sfn|"Journal of the Joint Assembly"}} was born in the Tompkins County area of New York circa 1970,{{sfn|"Middlebury Dem. Ruth Hardy Announces State Senate Bid|page=1}} a daughter of Robert B. Hardy Jr. and Miriam (Smith) Hardy.{{sfn|"Obituary, Robert B. Hardy Jr."}} 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.{{sfn|"Obituary, Robert B. Hardy Jr."}} Ruth Hardy was raised and educated in Tompkins County and is a 1988 graduate of Dryden High School in Dryden, New York.{{sfn|"Empire State Scholarships and Regents Scholarships"}}{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}}{{sfn|"Launching My Campaign"}}
Hardy received a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from Oberlin College in 1992{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}}{{sfn|"Oberlin College – Class of 1992 – 25th Reunion Photo"}} 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.{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}}{{sfn|"Meet the LBJ alumni running for office in 2018"}} She was a fiscal analyst for the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau and specialized in education issues.{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}} Hardy moved to East Middlebury, Vermont in 2002.{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}}
Career
After relocating to Vermont, Hardy served as executive director of the Open Door Clinic in Middlebury, Vermont.{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}} In addition, she worked as assistant budget director at Middlebury College, and director of government grants at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}} She also served as executive director of Emerge Vermont, which recruits and trains women to run for public office.{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}}
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.{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}} She is a graduate of the Snelling Center's Vermont Leadership Institute.{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}}
Vermont Senate
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.{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}} Hardy announced her candidacy in May.{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}} In the November general election, Hardy and incumbent Democrat Christopher Bray were the top two finishers.{{sfn|"Democrat Ruth Hardy claims open Addison Senate seat"}}
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.{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}} In addition, she was named to the Senate's special panel on sexual harassment and the Joint Committee on Judicial Retention.{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}} She has been re-elected twice in 2020 and 2022, serving on the Health and Welfare Committee, Finance Committee, and as the chair of the Government Operations Committee.
Family
In 1997, Hardy married Jason Mittell, professor of Film & Media at Middlebury College.{{sfn|"Wedding Announcement, Ruth Ellen Hardy-Jason S. Mittell"}}{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}} They are the parents of three children.{{sfn|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}}{{sfn|"Middlebury Dem. Ruth Hardy Announces State Senate Bid|page=1}}
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
=Newspapers=
- {{cite news |date=October 18, 1997 |title=Wedding Announcement, Ruth Ellen Hardy-Jason S. Mittell |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46843591/ruth-hardy-wedding/ |work=The Ithaca Journal |location=Ithaca, NY |page=15 |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|"Wedding Announcement, Ruth Ellen Hardy-Jason S. Mittell"}}}}
- {{cite news |date=June 2, 1988 |title=Empire State Scholarships and Regents Scholarships |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46846163/empire-regents-scholarships/ |work=The Ithaca Journal |location=Ithaca, NY |page=4A |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|"Empire State Scholarships and Regents Scholarships"}}}}
- {{cite news |date=December 22, 2005 |title=Obituary, Robert B. Hardy Jr. |url=http://www.sandersonfuneralservice.com/obituary/26225 |work=The Ithaca Journal |location=Ithaca, NY |page=15 |ref={{sfnRef|"Obituary, Robert B. Hardy Jr."}}}}
- {{cite news |last=Flowers |first=John |date=May 10, 2018 |title=Middlebury Dem. Ruth Hardy Announces State Senate Bid |url=https://ruthforvermont.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/addisonindependentannouncement.pdf |work=Addison County Independent |location=Middlebury, VT |ref={{sfnRef|"Middlebury Dem. Ruth Hardy Announces State Senate Bid}}}}
- {{cite news |last=Norton |first=Kit |date=November 6, 2018 |title=Democrat Ruth Hardy claims open Addison Senate seat |url=https://vtdigger.org/2018/11/06/democrat-ruth-hardy-claims-open-addison-senate-seat/ |work=VT Digger |location=Montpelier, VT |ref={{sfnRef|"Democrat Ruth Hardy claims open Addison Senate seat"}}}}
- {{cite news |date=November 6, 2018 |title=Meet the LBJ alumni running for office in 2018 |url=https://lbj.utexas.edu/meet-lbj-alumni-running-office-2018 |work=Texas LBJ School |location=Austin, TX |ref={{sfnRef|"Meet the LBJ alumni running for office in 2018"}}}}
=Internet=
- {{cite web |url=https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2020/Docs/JOURNAL/ja190221.pdf |title=Journal of the Joint Assembly |last=Bloomer |first=John H. Jr. |date=February 21, 2019 |website=Legislature.vermont.gov |publisher=Vermont Joint Assembly |location=Montpelier, VT |page=4 |ref={{sfnRef|"Journal of the Joint Assembly"}}}}
- {{cite web |url=https://www.oberlin.edu/sites/default/files/content/office/alumni/documents/1992photokey_0.pdf |title=Oberlin College – Class of 1992 – 25th Reunion Photo |date=May 2017 |website=Oberlin.edu |publisher=Oberlin College |location=Oberlin, OH |access-date=March 17, 2020 |page=1 |ref={{sfnRef|"Oberlin College – Class of 1992 – 25th Reunion Photo"}}}}
- {{cite web |url=https://ruthforvermont.com/2018/05/25/campaign-launch-remarks-community-organizing-creating-change/ |title=Launching My Campaign: Community Organizing & Creating Change |last=Hardy |first=Ruth |date=May 25, 2018 |website=Ruth For Vermont.com |publisher=Ruth Hardy for Vermont Senate |location=East Middlebury, VT |access-date=March 17, 2020 |ref={{sfnRef|"Launching My Campaign"}}}}
- {{cite web |url=https://legislature.vermont.gov/people/single/2020/30978 |title=Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy |date=2019 |website=2019-2020 Session |publisher=Vermont General Assembly |location=Montpelier, VT |access-date=March 17, 2020 |ref={{sfnRef|"Biography, Senator Ruth Hardy"}}}}
{{Vermont State Senators}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardy, Ruth}}
Category:21st-century American women politicians
Category:21st-century members of the Vermont General Assembly
Category:Oberlin College alumni
Category:Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs alumni
Category:Politicians from Middlebury, Vermont