Patricia A. McCoy (born January 26, 1955) is an American politician who serves as the Minority Leader in the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives a ...

and from the Rutland district as a member of the Republican Party. She has served as the

town clerk A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...

and treasurer in

Poultney, Vermont Poultney is a town in Rutland County in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. New York state is on its western border. Castleton, Vermont, is on its northern border. Poultney was home to Green Mountain College, a private liberal ar ...

since 1991.

Early life and education

Patricia A. McCoy was born in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

, on January 26, 1955. She graduated from Stratford High School, and the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in environmental resource management. She married Matthew McCoy, with whom she had three children, and has lived in

since 1979.

Career

Local politics

McCoy initially supported the Democratic Party after moving to Vermont. She was first elected to serve as Poultney's

and treasurer in 1991, to succeed Josephine Williams, who had retired after having served since 1982. McCoy became the treasurer for the Poultney school district following the resignation of the business manager of the Rutland Southwest Supervisory Union and served in that role until she appointed Steve Parker as assistant school treasurer. She was selected to serve as the treasurer of the Vermont Municipal Clerks and Treasurers Association in 2000, and the organization gave her the Clerk of the Year Award alongside Gary Snider.

Vermont House of Representatives

Andy Donaghy, a Republican member of the

, retired during the 2014 election. She won the Republican nomination without opposition and faced no opposition in the 2014, 2016, and 2018 elections. She defeated

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate Tyler-Joseph Ballard in the 2020 election. During her tenure in the state house she has served on the Human Services, Commerce and Economic Development, Transportation, Rules, Legislative Council committees. She was selected to serve as assistant minority leader alongside Representative Brian K. Savage in 2016, and was selected to replace Donald H. Turner as Minority Leader when he ran for lieutenant governor in 2018.

Political opinions

In the

2024 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. The Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's Ticket (election), ticket—Donald Trump, who was the 45th president of ...

, she was a Republican who opposed the

Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign Donald Trump, the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) ran a successful campaign for the 2024 United States presidential election, 2024 U.S. presidential election. He formally announced ...

.https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/30/nikki-haley-trump-supporters-00181772 McCoy endorsed the Nikki Haley campaign.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCoy, Patricia 21st-century American women politicians 1955 births Living people Republican Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Vermont General Assembly Politicians from Bridgeport, Connecticut University of Connecticut alumni Women state legislators in Vermont