Ruth Ann Minner (17 January 1935-4 November 2021) was the Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Delaware from 19 January 1993 to 3 January 2001 (succeeding Dale E. Wolf and preceding John Carney) and Governor from 3 January 2001 to 20 January 2009 (succeeding Tom Carper and preceding Jack Markell).
Biography[]
Ruth Ann Coverdale was born in Cedar Creek Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware in 1935, and she co-owned a towing business with her husband before serving as a clerk in the State House. In 1974, she was among the "Watergate class" elected to the state legislature on a "good government" mission, becoming Delaware's most powerful female politician and serving as House Majority Whip. In 1982, she was elected to the State Senate, serving until 1992. That year, she was elected Lieutenant Governor of Delaware, and she was elected Governor in 2000. She supported fiscal conservatism and social progressivism, working to decrease cancer rates in the state, opposed school vouchers, and opposed new gun control laws. She died in Milford in 2021 at the age of 86.