Nan Alison Hayworth (née Sutter; born December 14, 1959) is an American
ophthalmologist
Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders.
An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a med ...
and former
Congresswoman for . A
Republican, she was elected in 2010.
In 2012, after redistricting, Hayworth ran for reelection in the new
18th district. She lost to Democrat and former Clinton White House staff secretary
Sean Patrick Maloney that year and again in a 2014 rematch.
Early life, education, and medical career
Nan Alison Sutter was born on December 14, 1959, in Chicago
and was raised in
Munster, Indiana, to parents who were both
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
veterans. Her mother Sarah Margaret Badley immigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
from
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
in 1948. A graduate of
Munster High School
Munster High School (MHS) is a public high school in Munster, Indiana. It is part of the School Town of Munster. Munster High School serves as the only high school for the Munster School District.
Demographics
The demographic breakdown of the 1,51 ...
,
she went on to graduate from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
with an A.B. in biology in 1981 after completing a 53-page long senior thesis titled "Studies of the Interphase Development of Dictyostelium Discoideum on Gradients of Cyclic 3':5' - Adenosine Monophosphate in Agar." She then studied at
Cornell University Medical College
The Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University is Cornell University's biomedical research unit and medical school located in Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York.
Weill Cornell Medicine is affiliated with NewY ...
, after which she trained in
ophthalmology
Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders.
An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a me ...
at
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is one of the oldest and largest teaching hospitals in the United States. It is located in East Harlem in the New York City borough of Manhattan, on the eastern border of Central Park stretching along Madi ...
. She first worked in a solo practice and in 1996 joined the
Mount Kisco
Mount Kisco is a village and town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The town of Mount Kisco is coterminous with the village. The population was 10,959 at the 2020 United States census over 10,877 at the 2010 census.
It serves as ...
Medical Group.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
;2010
On September 14, 2010, Hayworth defeated Neil DiCarlo in the Republican primary, with 69% of the vote. She defeated Democratic incumbent, John Hall, with 53% of the vote in the 2010 general election.
Hayworth was one of 41 Republican physicians who ran for Congress in 2010. During the campaign, she posted her medical diploma on her website. She was the only female physician in Congress. She was a member of the GOP Young Guns and the GOP's
Republican Main Street Partnership. She was a member of the
LGBT Equality Caucus.
District 19 (2002–2010) had a
Cook Partisan Voting Index
The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic or Republican Party, compared to the nation as a whole, based ...
of R+3. President
George W. Bush carried this district with 54% in 2004 and President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
carried it with 51% in 2008. The district lay north of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and was composed of parts of
Dutchess,
Orange,
Rockland,
Westchester and
Putnam Counties.
District 18 (2012–present) is composed of all of
Orange and
Putnam Counties, as well as parts of
Dutchess and
Westchester Counties.
;2012
As part of redistricting after the 2010 census, Hayworth's district was renumbered as the 18th District. In terms of voter population, the new district is composed of the old 18th District (1%); the old 19th (76%); the old 20th (2%); and the old 22nd (21%). She lost the election to Sean Patrick Maloney, former White House Staff Secretary to President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
, 52%–48%.
;2014
Hayworth filed papers with the
FEC to lay the groundwork for a 2014 campaign against Maloney and suggested in media reports that she was strongly considering running. The race was one of the most competitive in New York. Late in the campaign, Hayworth released a campaign advertisement featuring her gay son, who told voters that his mother was "not an extremist." The ad drew criticism from LGBT groups, who said that Hayworth did not do enough to support pro-LGBT legislation while in office. Maloney, who was on the ballots of the Democratic and Working Families parties, won the election by a plurality with a 47.66% to 45.88% split. Hayworth had won the primary nominations of the Republican, Conservative, and Independence parties.
Tenure
During her time in Congress, Hayworth focused on fiscal issues, while avoiding divisive stances on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. She endorsed
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...
in November 2011. She supported repeal of the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
, and generally opposed additional gun control measures.
Hurricane Irene
Following
Hurricane Irene in 2011, Hayworth made the following statement after touring her district: "I've written to the President to support Governor Cuomo's request for the farthest-reaching disaster declaration for the counties, to ensure that residents are eligible for individual assistance and municipalities are eligible for public assistance programs." She added that any additions to the disaster relief fund must be offset by federal budget cuts elsewhere.
Hayworth voted for
Paul Ryan
Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the vice presidential nominee i ...
's budget in 2011 and 2012. During an interview on ''
Early Start'' on
CNN, she reiterated her support for Ryan, calling him a "teacher and mentor" for the House Republicans when it comes to "a budget plan that actually will work for the United States." In 2011, she was one of several House Republicans who sent a letter to President Obama urging him to expedite the permitting process for safe offshore energy exploration.
The majority of Hayworth's votes were related to budget, spending and tax issues. Some bills that passed in the House that Hayworth voted for include the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the Cut, Cap and Balance Act of 2011. Hayworth voted against the motion to increase the
debt limit. On January 1, 2013, she voted in favor of the final bill preventing the
Fiscal Cliff.
Fundraising
Hayworth had a debt totaling half a million dollars following her campaign. The top industries that contributed to Hayworth's campaign included health professionals, securities and investment, and health services companies. Her top contributors were Mount Kisco Medical Group,
Vestar Capital Partners, and Elliott Management.
Committee assignments
*
Committee on Financial Services
**
Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
**
Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology
**
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Personal life
She met her husband, Scott Hayworth, at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
. He is the President and CEO of Mount Kisco Medical Group, Associate Dean at the
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City. It is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, which manages e ...
, and the former Chair of the Board of Directors for the
American Medical Group Association. They married in 1981 and have two sons. She is a member of the
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The L ...
, and is on the board of 501(c)4 political action committee
ConservAmerica.
On November 23, 2021, Hayworth announced on Twitter that her son John had died.
"Friends, please pray for us--my son, John (Jack), has died"
''NanHayworth'' November 23, 2021
See also
* Women in the United States House of Representatives
References
External links
Nan Hayworth for Congress
– official campaign site
*
*
Nan Hayworth Watch
– links to articles critical of Nan Hayworth compiled b
NYaltnews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayworth, Nan
1959 births
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
American ophthalmologists
American Lutherans
Living people
Princeton University alumni
Weill Cornell Medical College alumni
People from Mount Kisco, New York
People from Munster, Indiana
Women in New York (state) politics
Politicians from Chicago
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
People from Bedford Hills, New York
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American people of English descent
Christians from Illinois
Lutherans from New York (state)
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod people
Women ophthalmologists