Elizabeth H. Mitchell (born Elizabeth Anne Harrill on June 22, 1940) is an American politician from

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

. Mitchell, a Democrat, represented part of

Kennebec County Kennebec County is a county located in the South-central portion of the U.S. state of Maine. At the 2020 census, the population was 123,642. Its county seat is Augusta, the state capital. The county was established on February 20, 1799, fr ...

in the

Maine Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, though the Maine Constituti ...

from 2004 to 2010. Mitchell was also the Democrats' 2010 candidate for the office of

Governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine ...

. She finished in third place behind

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

Paul LePage Paul Richard LePage (; born October 9, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 74th Governor of Maine from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, LePage served two terms as a city councilor in Waterville, Maine, before bein ...

and unenrolled attorney

Eliot Cutler Eliot Cutler (born July 29, 1946) is a former American lawyer who was an Independent candidate in Maine's 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial races. In 2010, he placed second in a multi-way race, receiving 208,270 votes, equaling 35.9%, narrowly losing ...

. She is the only woman in

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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

history to have been elected as both

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of her state house of representatives and president of her

state senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

Mallory Horne Mallory E. Horne (April 17, 1925 – April 30, 2009) was the speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and president of the Florida Senate, becoming the third person in state history to hold both positions, after Ion Farris and Philip D ...

of Florida and

John Hainkel John Joseph Hainkel Jr. (March 24, 1938 – April 15, 2005), was a legislator from New Orleans, Louisiana, who died in office after thirty-seven years of service. He was the first person in his state and the second in United States history t ...

of Louisiana were the first and second people, respectively, to do such
ncsl.typepad.com
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Career

Mitchell represented the 24th State Senate District from 2004 to 2010. She was also the

Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives The Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives is the speaker and presiding officer of the Maine House of Representatives, the lower house of the Maine Legislature. List of speakers {{Years in Maine * Maine Maine () is a U.S. s ...

and as

President of the Maine Senate The position of President of the Maine Senate was created when Maine separated from Massachusetts and achieved statehood in 1820. The Maine Legislature had one year terms until 1880, when an amendment to the Maine Constitution took effect to prov ...

(2008–2010), becoming the first woman in the United States to have held both positions, and the third person ever to do so. Mitchell was a member of the Maine House of Representatives from 1974 through 1984. She ran for the U.S. Senate in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

, earning 24% of the vote against incumbent

William Cohen William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (197 ...

. From 1986 to 1990, Mitchell served as director of the

Maine State Housing Authority Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. She also ran for the U.S. Congress in the 1990 Democratic Primary, finishing third with 17% of the vote. She was again elected to the Maine State Legislature in 1990 and served through 1998. She was Speaker of the House from 1997 through 1998. In 2004, she was elected to serve Maine's 24th district in the senate, and on December 3, 2008, she was unanimously elected as Maine’s 113th Senate President.

Campaign for governor

On August 11, 2009, it was announced in the ''

Portland Press Herald The ''Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram'' is a morning daily newspaper with a website that serves southern Maine and is focused on the greater metropolitan area around Portland, Maine, in the United States. Founded in 1862, its roots e ...

'' that Mitchell had filed the paperwork to run for

in 2010. In the Maine Democratic primary election on June 8, 2010, Mitchell was selected as the Democratic nominee. She faced Republican

, and

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

candidates Eliot Cutler,

Shawn Moody The 2018 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next Governor of Maine. It occurred along with elections for the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Pau ...

, and Kevin Scott. Mitchell conceded in the gubernatorial race at 10:00 PM EST on the evening of the election. Mitchell remarked, "I will be supportive of the next governor, whoever that is" — alluding that it was still uncertain at that hour whether Cutler or LePage would win the race. With 94% of precincts reporting on the day after the election, the ''

Bangor Daily News The ''Bangor Daily News'' is an American newspaper covering a large portion of central and eastern Maine, published six days per week in Bangor, Maine. The ''Bangor Daily News'' was founded on June 18, 1889; it merged with the ''Bangor Whig and ...

'' declared LePage the winner, carrying 38.1% of the votes. Cutler was in second place with 36.7% of the votes (less than 7,500 votes behind LePage), while Mitchell was a distant third with 19%. Moody and Scott had 5% and 1%, respectively.

2010 endorsements

On June 22, 2010, Mitchell was endorsed by the Maine AFL-CIO. On June 25, 2010, Mitchell was endorsed by the Maine Education Association, which is the state's teachers' union."Mitchell endorsed by state teachers union", ''Portland Press Herald'', June 25, 2010
/ref>

References

External links

Maine Senate President Libby Mitchell
official Maine Senate site
Libby Mitchell for Governor
official campaign site * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Libby 1940 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Furman University alumni Living people Majority leaders of the Maine House of Representatives People from Kennebec County, Maine Presidents of the Maine Senate Democratic Party Maine state senators Speakers of the Maine House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Maine House of Representatives University of Maine School of Law alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Women state legislators in Maine

Career

Campaign for governor

2010 endorsements

See also

References

External links