Jane E. Norton
Encyclopedia
Jane E. Norton was the 46th Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor of Colorado
The lieutenant governor of Colorado is the second-highest-ranking member of the executive department of the Colorado state government, below only the Governor of Colorado. The lieutenant governor, who acts as governor in his absence and succeeds to the governorship in case of vacancy, is elected on...

 for the State of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 and an unsuccessful Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 candidate for a party nomination to compete for a U.S. Senate seat to challenge Senator Michael Bennet
Michael Bennet
Michael Farrand Bennet is an American businessman, lawyer, and politician. He is currently the junior United States Senator from Colorado, and a member of the Democratic Party...

 in the 2010 election. She lost the nomination to current Weld County District Attorney and Tea Party
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...

 favorite Ken Buck
Ken Buck
Kenneth R. "Ken" Buck is the District Attorney for Weld County, Colorado, and was the unsuccessful Republican challenger to Michael Bennet in the 2010 U.S. Senate race in Colorado.-Early life and education:...

. Norton the first executive director for the Denver Police Foundation on February 1, 2007, an organization created to enhance public safety and law enforcement in the Denver community.

Early life and education

Norton is the daughter of Elinor Pitman Bergman, a retired Grand Junction
Grand Junction, Colorado
The City of Grand Junction is the largest city in western Colorado. It is a city with a council–manager government form that is the county seat and the most populous city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction is situated west-southwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. As...

 teacher and native of Pueblo
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....

, and Walter F. "Bus" Bergman, a native of Denver and retired Mesa State College
Mesa State College
Colorado Mesa University is a public comprehensive university in Grand Junction, Colorado. The university has its primary campus in central Grand Junction. The university also has other campuses as well; Bishop Campus, which houses Western Colorado Community College in northwestern Grand Junction...

 coach. Born and raised in Grand Junction, Norton began teaching middle school in Fort Lupton after graduating from Colorado State University
Colorado State University
Colorado State University is a public research university located in Fort Collins, Colorado. The university is the state's land grant university, and the flagship university of the Colorado State University System.The enrollment is approximately 29,932 students, including resident and...

 in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science with distinction in health sciences. She also has a Master's of Science in Management degree from Regis University, Denver.

Political career

Before joining the Owens Administration, Norton worked as a regional director in the US Department of Health and Human Services during the Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 and George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...

 administrations. She has also served in the Colorado House of Representatives, filling the remainder of an unexpired term from mid-1986 to January 1987.

Prior to her election as Colorado's Lieutenant Governor, Norton was appointed Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) by Governor Bill Owens, serving in that capacity from 1999–2002. As such, she had regulatory and programmatic responsibilities including bioterrorism
Bioterrorism
Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form. For the use of this method in warfare, see biological warfare.-Definition:According to the...

 preparedness; disease prevention and epidemiology
Epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study of health-event, health-characteristic, or health-determinant patterns in a population. It is the cornerstone method of public health research, and helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive...

; health facilities; family and community health services; emergency medical services
Emergency medical services
Emergency medical services are a type of emergency service dedicated to providing out-of-hospital acute medical care and/or transport to definitive care, to patients with illnesses and injuries which the patient, or the medical practitioner, believes constitutes a medical emergency...

; air and water quality protection; hazardous waste and solid waste management; and consumer protection
Consumer protection
Consumer protection laws designed to ensure fair trade competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors and may provide additional...

. She also created the Office of Suicide Prevention, with an emphasis on teen suicide prevention.

Additionally, Norton served in an array of ancillary capacities: Secretary, State Board of Health; Chair, Governor's Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee; Commissioned Officer, Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...

; Board of Directors, Regional Air Quality Council; Leadership Council of the Multi-Agency Wildfire Restoration and Rehabilitation Team; Colorado Natural Resource Damages Trustee; Colorado Strategic Planning Group on Health Care Coverage; member of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers; National Governors' Association's Oral Health Policy Academy Colorado Team; and on the Governor's Disaster Emergency Council.

Colorado Lieutenant Governor

Norton was sworn in as Colorado's 46th Lieutenant Governor January 13, 2003, and served in that position throughout Governor Owens' second term, until 2007 . She was the third woman and first Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 woman to serve as Lt. Governor of Colorado. She served as chair of the Colorado Commission of Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 Affairs; liaison for the Owens Administration on health insurance reform; oversaw the state's volunteerism, mentoring
Mentoring
Mentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person....

, and adoption
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...

 initiatives; and served as Colorado's delegate to the Aerospace States Association.

In November, 2003, Norton launched and chaired the Lieutenant Governor's Committee to Promote Adoption
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...

. She was the honorary chair of the Colorado March of Dimes
March of Dimes
The March of Dimes Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies.-Organization:...

 Prematurity Campaign, Western Region chair for the National Lieutenant Governors Association, served on the Board of Directors of the American Council of Young Political Leaders, and was a member of the Women's Forum of Colorado.

In October 2003, Persons Living with HIV Action Network of Colorado honored her with the Legislator of the Year award for her leadership on legislative issues affecting the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS. Norton was also chosen by Colorado State University
Colorado State University
Colorado State University is a public research university located in Fort Collins, Colorado. The university is the state's land grant university, and the flagship university of the Colorado State University System.The enrollment is approximately 29,932 students, including resident and...

 to serve as a Monfort Professor in Residence. In 1999, she received Regis University
Regis University
Regis University is a private, co-educational Roman Catholic, Jesuit university in the United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1877, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...

's David M. Clarke, S.J. Innovative Leadership Award and was the 2001 recipient of Colorado State University's College of Applied Human Sciences Honor Alumna Award. Norton has received the US Public Health Service Assistant Secretary's Award for Outstanding Accomplishment for increasing childhood immunization rates. She also received the US Administration on Aging
Administration on Aging
The Administration on Aging is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. AoA awards annual grants to State government agencies on aging and Native American tribal organizations to support programs mandated by the Congress in the Older Americans Act...

's Outstanding Service to Seniors Award.

She has also served on the Children's Basic Health Plan Policy Board; Governor's Task Force on Victim Support for the Columbine High School
Columbine High School
Columbine High School or CHS is a high school in unincorporated Jefferson County, Colorado, United States.- History :Columbine High School opened in the fall of 1973. There was no senior class in its first year. The school's first graduating class was the class of 1975...

 Tragedy; Co-Chair of the Colorado Commission on Children's Dental Health; Task Force on Small Group and Rural Access Issues; the Governor's Task Force for Persons with Disabilities; and the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel on Workforce Issues in Long Term Care.

In October, 2006, she was invited to speak at the White House Conference on School Safety, where she shared lessons learned from the Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...

, citing the importance of interoperable communications, emergency planning, inter-agency training, community participation, and moral literacy.

2010 U.S. Senate campaign

On September 15, 2009, Norton held town-hall meetings in Denver, Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...

, and Grand Junction to announce her bid for the Republican nomination to run for U.S. Senate against incumbent Senator Michael Bennet
Michael Bennet
Michael Farrand Bennet is an American businessman, lawyer, and politician. He is currently the junior United States Senator from Colorado, and a member of the Democratic Party...

 in 2010. She joined a broad field of Republican primary candidates, including Weld County
Weld County, Colorado
As of the census of 2000, there were 180,936 people, 63,247 households, and 45,221 families residing in the county. The population density was 45 people per square mile . There were 66,194 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile...

 District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...

 Ken Buck
Ken Buck
Kenneth R. "Ken" Buck is the District Attorney for Weld County, Colorado, and was the unsuccessful Republican challenger to Michael Bennet in the 2010 U.S. Senate race in Colorado.-Early life and education:...

, former State Senator Tom Wiens, and businessman Cleve Tidwell.

In the March 16, 2010 Colorado Caucus preference poll, Norton finished a close second (37.51%) to Ken Buck
Ken Buck
Kenneth R. "Ken" Buck is the District Attorney for Weld County, Colorado, and was the unsuccessful Republican challenger to Michael Bennet in the 2010 U.S. Senate race in Colorado.-Early life and education:...

 (38.15%), with Tom Wiens in third place (16.48%).

Rather than going to the convention to seek the nomination, Norton got on the ballot by petition. Buck won the convention to get on the ballot, and Wiens subsequently dropped out and endorsed Buck. On August 10, primary election day, Buck defeated Norton by a narrow 51% to 49% margin. Buck faced Michael Bennet, who had defeated Andrew Romanoff in the Democratic primary. Buck was defeated by Senator Bennet in the November general election.

Economy

  • Opposes President Obama's stimulus package
  • Opposes earmarks
  • Supports government that includes lower taxes, a balanced budget, reduced national debt and regulatory reform

Health care

  • Opposes a single payer system and Democratic federal health care reform
  • Supports tort reform
    Tort reform
    Tort reform refers to proposed changes in common law civil justice systems that would reduce tort litigation or damages. Tort actions are civil common law claims first created in the English commonwealth system as a non-legislative means for compensating wrongs and harm done by one party to...


Social issues

  • Supports U.S. Supreme Court justice nominees who are strict constructionists
    Strict constructionism
    In the United States, Strict constructionism refers to a particular legal philosophy of judicial interpretation that limits or restricts judicial interpretation. The phrase is also commonly used more loosely as a generic term for conservatism among the judiciary.- Strict sense of the term :Strict...

  • Supports pro-life
    Pro-life
    Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...

     causes
  • Against same sex marriage
  • Against gun control
    Gun control
    Gun control is any law, policy, practice, or proposal designed to restrict or limit the possession, production, importation, shipment, sale, and/or use of guns or other firearms by private citizens...

  • Against amnesty for illegal immigrants

Personal life

Norton's husband Mike is a former U.S. Attorney of Colorado, who currently works in private practice. She has two grown children, and is an avid hiker and skier.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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