Jane Swift
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jane Maria Swift | |
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| In office April 10, 2001 – January 2, 2003 |
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| Preceded by | Paul Cellucci (resigned) |
| Succeeded by | Mitt Romney (elected) |
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| In office 1999 – 2003 |
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| Governor | Paul Cellucci |
| Preceded by | Paul Cellucci (1997) |
| Succeeded by | Kerry Healey (2003) |
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| Born | February 24 1965 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Chuck Hunt |
| Residence | North Adams, Massachusetts |
| Profession | Politician |
Jane Maria Swift (born February 24, 1965) is an American politician from North Adams, Massachusetts. A Republican, she served as Acting Governor of Massachusetts from 2001 to 2003.
Descended from an Irish-Italian political family in Berkshire County, Massachusetts in the city of North Adams, she learned politics from her father who was active in the Republican party in town, county, and state government. She graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut in 1987, where she was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
[edit] Massachusetts politics
Swift served as a state senator, an executive with the Massachusetts Port Authority, and as the commonwealth's consumer affairs secretary before being elected lieutenant governor.
She was elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1998 and became Acting Governor in 2001 when Governor Argeo Paul Cellucci became the United States Ambassador to Canada, the first governor from western Massachusetts for a century.
During her term, Swift became pregnant, becoming the first sitting Governor in United States history to give birth. She continued to exercise executive authority during her maternity leave, including chairing a meeting of the Massachusetts Governor's Council by teleconference from her hospital bed.
By the end of her term, Swift was extremely unpopular with voters in the state (at one point having the dubious honor of a single-digit approval rating). This unpopularity was due in part to a perceived lack of effectiveness and in part to apparent abuses of her gubernatorial privileges, including: her use of a Massachusetts State Police helicopter to commute cross-state, from Boston to her home in North Adams; and, the use of State House aides to babysit her children.
Massachusetts does not have a Governor's Mansion. However, during the Swift Administration, it was given serious consideration. For security reasons after 9/11, Swift was driven daily to the state capital, spending up to six hours commuting as profiled on CBS's 60 Minutes. She rode in a van which had been converted into a mobile office.
In 2001, her poll numbers sinking during a political campaign, she vetoed a unanimous ruling by the Board of Appeals for the commutation of the sentence of Gerald Amirault, who was serving a 30 to 40 year sentence for molesting children at a pre-school based on suspicious evidence (recovered memories) from young children. As a result, Mr. Amirault spent three more years in prison (18 years in all). Regarding Acting Gov. Swift's refusal to allow Amirault's release, on February 21, 2002, the Wall Street Journal, in its lead editorial wrote, "[Acting Governor Swift] joins the long line of the ambitious and the self-seeking, prosecutors and politicians, who chose expediency over justice."
She withdrew from the 2002 gubernatorial primary to make way for Mitt Romney, who went on to win the Republican nomination and the election.
Since leaving office, Swift has moved back to Western Massachusetts, but has continued to commute to the Boston area for a fellowship at Harvard University in the Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Politics. Among her co-fellows were former New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen and Martin Mackin of Ireland.
Her official portrait was unveiled in the Massachusetts State House in 2005.
[edit] Electoral history
- 1996 Race for United States House of Representatives, Massachusetts District 1
- John Olver (D, incumbent), 53%
- Jane Swift (R), 47%
- 1998 Race for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
- Paul Cellucci (incumbent)/Jane Swift (R), 51%
- Scott Harshbarger/Warren Tolman (D), 47%
[edit] External links
- "Justice, Not So Swift" -- Article by Katha Pollitt on Swift's refusal to commute Gerald Amirault's sentence
- Boston Herald article on release of Gerald Amirault, 4/30/2004.
- Official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Paul Cellucci |
Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts January 7, 1999 – January 2, 2003 |
Succeeded by Kerry Healey |
| Acting Governor of Massachusetts April 10, 2001 — January 2, 2003 |
Succeeded by Mitt Romney |
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