Voting Station

Harriet Woods

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Politician

The Resume

    (June 2, 1927-February 8, 2007)
    Born in Cleveland, Ohio
    Birth name was Ruth Harriett Friedman
    Lieutenant governor for Missouri (January 14, 1985–January 9, 1989)
    Member of the Missouri State Senate (1976-85)
    Ran for the U.S. Senate in 1982 and 1986
    President of the National Women's Political Caucus (1991-95)
    Democrat

Why she might be annoying:

    She was elected Lieutenant Governor the same year John Ashcroft was elected Governor of the state.
    Her first Senate campaign slogan was ‘Give em hell, Harriett!’
    She lost St. Louis County in her first Senate race despite being a suburb resident and local broadcaster in the area.
    In her second bid - this time to fill the Senate seat vacated by Thomas Eagleton - she engaged in heated mud-slinging against Kit Bond.
    When Bond attacked her for accepting a $2,000 donation from Jane Fonda and labeled her ‘Hanoi Harriet,’ she attempted to save face by returning the donation and publicly disavowing Fonda.
    The move only served to alienate her from liberal Missouri voters who were already wary of supporting her and saw the act as political cowardice.
    She sparked controversy after airing a television ad showing a farmer crying because he lost his dairy farm in a bank foreclosure (the ad backfired and she fired her political consultant).

Why she might not be annoying:

    She was the first woman elected to statewide office in Missouri.
    She was Senior Editor of the Michigan Daily at the University of Michigan and was the first female student to hold the position.
    As a local talk show host, she covered child abuse, women's issues, civil rights, and the Vietnam War.
    She lost her first Senate campaign to John Danforth by a slim margin of only two percent (making it the closest election of the year 1982).
    It was argued that her stance on abortion turned off conservative rural voters, but she was shown to have carried those voters in exit polling.
    Her Senate loss due to lack of funds led to the creation of EMILY's List in 1985.
    She was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame (1999).
    She joined fellow Missouri Democrats in opposing John Ashcroft's appointment to United States Attorney General in 2001.

Credit: BoyWithTheGreenHair


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Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying