Ruth Dwyer (born April 25, 1958) is an American political figure who was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Life and career

Ruth Dwyer was born Ruth E. Cook in

Painesville, Ohio Painesville is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Grand River (Ohio), Grand River, it is a northeast suburb of Cleveland. Its population was 20,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Pa ...

on April 25, 1958. She attended schools in

Glens Falls, New York Glens Falls is a City (New York), city in Warren County, New York, Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls, New York metropolitan area, Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,83 ...

and Shelburne, Vermont. Her family became residents of Thetford in 1971, and she graduated from Thetford Academy in 1976, afterwards attending the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

. With her then-husband Dr. John Dwyer she operated the

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...

Veterinary Clinic, raised cattle and sheep, and was a horse trainer and riding instructor. Dwyer served on the Thetford School Board from 1992 to 1994. In 1994 she was elected to 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 ...

as a Republican. She served two terms, 1995 to 1999. In 1998 Dwyer was the Republican nominee for Governor. She defeated ski store owner Bernie Rome in the Republican primary. In the general election, she opposed

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, consultant, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 20 ...

as he sought election to a fourth full term. Dean defeated Dwyer, 55.6% to 41.1%. Dwyer ran again in 2000. Vermont had enacted the country's first

Civil Unions A civil union (also known as a Civil partnership in the United Kingdom, civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples. Civi ...

law in 2000, which sparked a conservative counter-movement called Take Back Vermont. Dwyer associated herself with this movement, and defeated William Meub in the Republican primary. In the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, Dean won a fifth full term with 50.4% to Dwyer's 37.9% and 9.5% for Progressive nominee

Anthony Pollina Anthony Pollina (born February 17, 1952) is an American politician who has served as Chair of the Vermont Progressive Party since 2017, and was a member of the Vermont Senate from 2011 to 2023. Biography Anthony Pollina was born in Ridgewood, N ...

. After her second race, Dwyer briefly became a television journalist for

WVNY WVNY (channel 22) is a television station licensed to Burlington, Vermont, United States, serving the Burlington, Vermont–Plattsburgh, New York market as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a shared servic ...

in Burlington. In 2001 she was divorced from Dr. Dwyer, and in 2002 she married

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

businessman Tom Kent and became known as Ruth Dwyer Kent. She continues to reside in Thetford, where she raises horses and operates a riding school. She remains active in the community, including holding the local office of pound keeper.Town of Thetford
Citizen’s Guide to Thetford, Vermont
accessed February 7, 2013

Sources

External resources

You Tube video, No Hands at Ruth D.'s
Ruth Dwyer giving riding lesson, uploaded by Alexandra Wilson, July 7, 2009
C-Span video
Vermont Gubernatorial debate, September 24, 2000 (Includes links to videos of other Vermont Governor's election debates from 1998 and 2000.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dwyer, Ruth 1958 births Living people Republican Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives People from Painesville, Ohio People from Thetford, Vermont Women state legislators in Vermont Candidates in the 1998 United States elections Candidates in the 2000 United States elections 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women politicians Thetford Academy, Vermont alumni 20th-century members of the Vermont General Assembly