Governor of Delaware
Minner was elected Governor of Delaware in 2000. She had secured the Democratic nomination after her long years in the General Assembly, as Lieutenant Governor and her demonstrated ability to run a campaign by her large statewide victory margins in 1992 and 1996. Her opponent in 2000 was Republican John M. Burris, who had barely survived a bitter September primary contest with retired judge William Swain Lee. Minner won easily. As the incumbent Lieutenant Governor Minner took office upon the resignation of Governor Thomas R. Carper on January 3, 2001. She served as the first female President of the Council of State Governments in 2005.
Minner was Delaware’s fourth consecutive two term governor and largely continued the business oriented policies and bipartisan, consensus style begun by her Republican predecessor, Pierre S. du Pont, IV. She was usually described as a "middle-of-the-road politician, with conservative fiscal views but progressive social policies." As governor, she worked to decrease cancer rates in Delaware, saying she "...was determined to reduce Delaware's high cancer rates. A task force...has created a road map of specific steps necessary... and I am implementing that plan. result has been... the Clean Indoor Air Act, which has reduced cancerous pollutants in Delaware's restaurants, bars and casinos by more than 90 percent."
Regarding education, she said, "While it might be popular, it is not demanding to set standards that all students can meet right away.... Once high standards have been set, the key is to give our students, educators and parents the tools to continuously improve." She supported "giving local schools control of new education dollars... expanding after-school and weekend class programs... and supports reading and math specialists." She opposed vouchers. “In 2005, she signed legislation creating the Student Excellence Equals Degree (SEED) Scholarship program, which enables students who keep their grades up and stay out of trouble to go to college for free in the state of Delaware. She also expanded her education specialist program, which has placed reading specialists in every elementary school, to also include a plan to place math specialists in every Delaware middle school.”
On other issues she was "a firm supporter of a measure that would simply add sexual orientation to the list of characteristics in the Delaware code... that are not allowed to be used as basis for discrimination." She opposed "new gun control legislation," but supported "legislation requiring mandatory trigger locks and gun safety courses in schools." And she said "I do not support additional sites or kinds of gambling... the state should not become any more reliant on this form of revenue."
In her second inaugural address in January 2005, Minner concluded with this description of her philosophy: "for Ruth Ann Minner, farmer, gardener and daughter of a sharecropper, it is simply this: Work hard. Do the right thing. And leave things better than you found them."
| Delaware General Assembly |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Assembly | Senate Majority | President |
House Majority | Speaker | ||||||
| 2001–2002 | 141st | Democratic | Thomas B. Sharp | Republican | Terry R. Spence | ||||||
| 2003–2004 | 142nd | Democratic | Thurman Adams | Republican | Terry R. Spence | ||||||
| 2005–2006 | 143rd | Democratic | Thurman Adams | Republican | Terry R. Spence | ||||||
| 2007–2008 | 144th | Democratic | Thurman Adams | Republican | Terry R. Spence | ||||||
Read more about this topic: Ruth Ann Minner
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