Susan Westrom

Last updated

Susan Westrom
Susan Westrom at KY capitol (2018-03-21, cropped).jpg
Westrom in 2018
Born (1952-05-15) May 15, 1952 (age 71)
Iowa, United States
Other namesSusan Westrom-Becknell [1]
Education BSW & MSW, U. of Kentucky
Occupations
Political party Democratic
Member of the KentuckyHouseofRepresentatives
from the 79th district
In office
1999–2022
Preceded by Larry Brandstetter
Succeeded by Chad Aull
Signature
Mid-1994 signature of Susan Westrom.png

Susan Westrom (born May 15, 1952) is an American real estate agent, social worker, and politician who served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1999 to 2022.

Contents

Personal life

Born in Iowa on May 15, 1952, [2] by the mid-1980s Susan Westrom was a single parent of two children. After attending Lexington Community College at age 32, [3] Westrom received a bachelor's (1993) and master's degree (1995) in social work from the University of Kentucky. [2]

Career

Before entering politics, Westrom was the director of advocacy and marketing for the Buckhorn Children's Home as well as a real estate agent with Keller Williams Bluegrass. [2] By the mid-1990s, Westrom was a social worker and led the Lexington, Kentucky chapter of the Association for Children for the Enforcement of Support; on May 20, 1994, she led a rally and candlelight vigil on the local courthouse steps. [1] By November 1998, she was working as a child advocate for the Buckhorn Foundation. [4]

Politics

In the 1998 election, Westrom was first elected to represent District 79 [2] in the Kentucky House of Representatives, defeating Republican incumbent Larry Brandstetter. [4] In the 2016 Kentucky House of Representatives election for District 79, Westrom defeated Ken Kearns with 59.4% of the 20,064 votes cast (11,909 to 8,155). [5] She won the 2020 Kentucky House of Representatives election for her district, defeating Jon Larson, who conceded the race in-person at Westrom's [6] Lexington home. In June 2021, the Democratic representative was on ten legislative committees. [2]

In the Kentucky legislature, Westrom worked towards removing juveniles from adult prisons, promoting the equine industry in Kentucky, facilitating families' access to Kentucky Housing Corporation benefits, and improving electric utility accountability. [7]

After no Republicans filed to run against her, and being comfortable with her likely successor, [8] Westrom announced her withdrawal from the 2022 election on February 10, 2022. She planned to serve the rest of her term through the end of the year. [7] Chad Aull won his primary election in a "landslide", and being unopposed in the general, was elected to Westrom's seat. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lexington, Kentucky</span> City in Kentucky, United States

Lexington is the second-most-populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and the 60th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Fayette County. By land area, it is the country's 30th-largest city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky General Assembly</span> Legislative branch of the state government of Kentucky

The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ichthus Festival</span> Christian music festival in Kentucky

The Ichthus Festival is a Christian music festival in Wilmore, Kentucky. Held 44 times from 1970 to 2015, the event was originally a Christian-music answer to Woodstock but developed into both the longest-running Christian music festival and a Christian ministry serving tens of thousands of attendees annually. With financial difficulties in the 2010s, the festival left Wilmore after 2012 and put on one last event in 2015 at the Kentucky Horse Park in nearby Lexington, Kentucky. In 2021, the festival was revived in Wilmore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lafayette High School (Kentucky)</span> Public high school in Lexington, Kentucky

Lafayette High School is a public high school in Lexington, Kentucky that has been open for 85 years, seen the beginning of racially-desegregated education in the city, and been overseen by eight principals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Barr (American politician)</span> American politician (born 1973)

Garland Hale "Andy" Barr IV is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Kentucky's 6th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the administration of Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher.

Sannie Louise Overly is an American lawyer, engineer, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Overly served in the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing the 72nd district. She was the Democratic caucus chair from 2013 to 2017, and is the first woman to serve in a leadership role in the Kentucky House. She was the Democratic Party nominee for lieutenant governor of Kentucky in 2015, and was elected chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party in 2016.

Elisabeth Jensen is an education advocate and the Democratic Party nominee for Kentucky's 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky, 2014.

Kelly Flood is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives representing District 75 from 2009 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Harmon (politician)</span> American politician

Mike Harmon is an American politician who served as the Kentucky auditor of public accounts from 2016 to 2024. He was previously a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives for the 54th district. He was a 2011 candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, but lost in the primary.

Mary Lou Marzian is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives representing District 34 from 1994 to 2023. Marzian was first elected in a January 1994 special election following the resignation of incumbent Mike Ward. She retired from the house in 2022 after being redistricted into the 41st district with Josie Raymond. She is running again for the house in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Raque Adams</span> American politician

Julie Raque Adams is an American businesswoman, politician and a Republican member of the Kentucky Senate representing District 36 since January 1, 2015. She is a former member of the Kentucky House of Representatives and the Louisville Metro Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky</span> House of Representative election

The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the state of Kentucky, one from each of the state's six congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2016 presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on May 17.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Johnson (Kentucky politician)</span> American religious leader and politician (1960–2017)

Danny Ray Johnson was an American religious leader and politician whose many extravagant biographical claims were refuted in an exposé released two days before his suicide. Married twice with five children, Johnson was originally from Louisiana, but had settled in Kentucky's Louisville metropolitan area by the 1980s. Throughout his life, Johnson claimed to have been involved with many prominent Americans and in many important US events; however, evidence would later come to light disputing most of these claims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqueline Coleman</span> 58th lieutenant governor of Kentucky

Jacqueline Layne Coleman is an American educator and politician serving as the 58th lieutenant governor of Kentucky since 2019. She has worked as a high school administrator, teacher, and basketball coach. Coleman is also the founder and president of Lead Kentucky, a nonprofit organization focused on education policy reform. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Booker (American politician)</span> American politician

Charles Booker is an American politician from the commonwealth of Kentucky. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing the 43rd district from 2019 to 2021. During his term, he was Kentucky's youngest Black state lawmaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nima Kulkarni</span> American politician

Nima Kulkarni is an American immigration attorney and a Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives representing District 40 since January 2019. In 2018, Kulkarni defeated incumbent Dennis Horlander in the Democratic Primary. She went on to win the general election. Kulkarni is the first Indian-American elected as a state representative in Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky</span>

The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky were held on November 8, 2022, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the state of Kentucky, one from each of the state's six congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election</span>

The 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2023, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky. Incumbent Democratic governor Andy Beshear won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican state Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Kentucky House of Representatives election</span>

The 2022 Kentucky House of Representatives election was held on November 8, 2022. The Republican and Democratic primary elections were held on May 17. All 100 seats of the house were up for election. Republicans increased their majority in the chamber, gaining five seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 Kentucky House of Representatives election</span>

The 2024 Kentucky House of Representatives election will be held on November 5, 2024. The Republican and Democratic primary elections will be held on May 21. Following the 2022 election, Republicans and Democrats held 80 and 20 seats, respectively. The deadline for candidates to file was January 5, 2024.

References

  1. 1 2 Reid, Jacque (May 20, 1994). "Forgotten Kids". Lexington, Kentucky: WKYT-TV.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Susan Westrom's Biography". Vote Smart. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Rep. Susan Westrom". Bluegrass Community and Technical College. October 4, 2017. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  4. 1 2 Brammer, Jack (November 5, 1998). Luecke, Pam; Eblen, Tom (eds.). "Senate balance unchanged after hard-fought races". Lexington Herald-Leader . Vol. 16, no. 307. Frankfort, Kentucky. pp. B1, B4. ISSN   0745-4260. Democrats gain some ground, lose some to retain 2-seat lead
  5. ↑ "Kentucky 79th District State House Results: Susan Westrom Wins". The New York Times . August 1, 2017. ISSN   1553-8095. OCLC   1645522. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  6. ↑ Valverde, Alex (November 11, 2020). "Moment of 'congratulations' shows unity between two political parties". Lexington, Kentucky: WLEX-TV. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  7. 1 2 Rogers, Steve (February 10, 2022). "State Rep. Westrom withdrawing from race, won't seek re-election". Frankfort, Kentucky: WTVQ-DT. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022. Two Democrats will remain in the May 17 primary
  8. ↑ Horn, Austin (February 11, 2022). "Longtime Lexington state rep withdraws re-election bid" . Lexington Herald-Leader . ISSN   0745-4260. Archived from the original on February 12, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  9. ↑ Brooks, Bode (May 20, 2022). "Meet Lexington's new state representatives: Chad Aull, Lindsey Burke". Lexington, Kentucky: WDKY-TV. Archived from the original on November 5, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.