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 72)
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]

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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.
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