Susan Westrom
A white woman with blonde hair is wearing a brown turtleneck and a large white necklace; she is looking and smiling into the camera.
Westrom at the KY Capitol (March 2018)
Born (1952-05-15) May 15, 1952
Iowa, United States
Other namesSusan Westrom-Becknell[1]
EducationBSW & MSW, U. of Kentucky
OccupationSocial worker
Political partyDemocratic
Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
from the 79th district
In office
1999 – December 31, 2022
Governor
Succeeded byChad Aull

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

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]

Politics

Westrom was first elected to represent District 79 in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1998.[2] 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).[4] She won the 2020 Kentucky House of Representatives election for her district, defeating Jon Larson, who conceded the race in-person at Westrom's[5] 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.[6]

After no Republicans filed to run against her, and being comfortable with her likely successor,[7] 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.[6] Chad Aull won his primary election in a "landslide", and being unopposed in the general, was elected to Westrom's seat.[8]

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. ↑ "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.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. 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
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ 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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