DeeDee Ritchie (born September 22, 1953) is an American politician from

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

Personal life

Ritchie was born on September 22, 1953, in

Leesville, Louisiana Leesville is a city in, and the parish seat of, Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,649 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Fort Johnson South, Louisiana, Fort Johnson South micropolitan area and is additionally serv ...

. In 1975 she graduated from

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

, and in 1979 she graduated from the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

with a masters in education. During her time in college she was a member of the

Alpha Omicron Pi Alpha Omicron Pi (, AOII, Alpha O) is an international sorority founded on January 2, 1897, at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage "AO ...

sorority. She has a career in education and won Florida Teacher of the year award in 1990, and was inducted into the Florida Teaching hall of fame in 1998. DeeDee was married to congressman

Buzz Ritchie Walter Jaycox "Buzz" Ritchie, Jr. (born June 7, 1947, in Bay Shore, New York) is an American banker and politician. He previously served as a Representative in the House of Representatives of the U.S. state of Florida. Education Ritchie received ...

for 5 years, but they were separated and on the way to divorce when DeeDee ran for office.

Political career

Ritchie's political career started in 1998 when she ran to fill the seat left by her estranged husband

retiring. She ran in the primary with an endorsement from her ex-husband, and would beat John Wyche. In the general election she would beat Paul Young by almost 10%. In 2000 she would run for the 1st district of the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

. During the election she was called out by her opponent

Durell Peaden Durell Peaden Jr. (August 24, 1945 – June 23, 2015) was a Republican member of the Florida Senate, representing the 2nd District since November 5, 2002. He left office at the end of November 2, 2010 due to term limits. Previously he was a me ...

for running negative and misleading advertising. In the general election Ritchie ended up losing to Peaden by over 15%.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, DeeDee 1953 births Living people People from Leesville, Louisiana Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives 20th-century American women politicians Auburn University alumni University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni 20th-century members of the Florida Legislature