Ruth Ann Minner, Delaware’s first woman governor, dies

Ruth Ann Minner, the first woman to be elected as Delaware’s governor, died Nov. 4.

Minner was first elected governor in 2000 and served two terms. She served as lieutenant governor, another first for Delaware, under former governor and now U.S. Sen. Tom Carper. Carper remembered her as indefatigable and someone who always sought to do the right thing.

“I think the remarkable thing about Ruth Ann was her path to public service – first starting as an aide in the state Legislature, and later running and serving in the House,” Carper said in a statement. “When there was an opening in the state Senate, she seized the day, ran for office, and won. In the Legislature, Ruth Ann succeeded in taking on various leadership positions because she was admired by both Democrats and Republicans for her common-sense approach to governing and her ability to build consensus on difficult issues. 

“Her decision to run for lieutenant governor and to serve with me in our administration afforded her the opportunity to demonstrate to an even broader electorate who she was as a person, her values, and how she could get things done. And right after serving alongside each other, Ruth Ann stepped up and sought the nomination for governor. After winning the election, she went on to lead and serve our state for eight more years.” 

Gov. John Carney served alongside Minner as her lieutenant governor from 2001-09. 

“She was a leader who had a real common touch. Gov. Minner focused on raising up the working families of our state, because she knew what it meant to struggle. Having grown up poor in Slaughter Beach, she brought that perspective to her job every day, and she never lost her attachment to those roots,” Carney said.

Senate Democrats noted that Minner left school as a teenager to help out on her family farm. She became a single mother when her first husband passed away suddenly, and yet still managed to earn her GED while working two jobs. Minner built a successful business with her second husband, only to be widowed again when he died of cancer. Through sheer perseverance of will, the Democrats’ statement said, she went from being a receptionist in the governor’s office to Delaware’s first female governor, a journey she began by winning a seat in the Delaware House specifically to change a banking law that had prevented her from getting a loan without the permission of her husband.

As governor, she worked to reduce Delaware’s high cancer rates, helped to pass the then-controversial Clean Indoor Air Act to ban smoking in restaurants and bars, helped more than 13,000 Delawareans – and counting – earn college degrees by signing the Student Excellence Equals Degree scholarship into law, placed reading specialists in every elementary school and math specialists in every middle school, signed full-day kindergarten into law, and fought for common-sense gun safety. 

“While her story was extraordinary at the time, her leadership would influence a generation of young women in Delaware, an inspiration that helped lead directly to women making up half of the Senate Democratic Caucus today,” Democrats said. “Ruth Ann Minner is a vital figure in the history of the First State and will always hold a special place in our hearts. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.” 

Current Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long said Minner was a trailblazer who worked tirelessly in a bipartisan manner to uplift families up and down the state.

“From her grassroots, down-to-earth upbringing, she put in place policies that continue to affect our families today. It was a pleasure and one of my greatest honors to work with her as a legislator and now as lieutenant governor,” Hall-Long said. “We all have her family in our thoughts and prayers.”

U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester said her heart is heavy over the loss of her mentor and role model.

“Gov. Minner lived by a simple code that she so often articulated, ‘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.’ Ruth Ann Minner worked hard, did the right things, and left things better than she found them. I, and our entire state, are grateful for her life of service,” Blunt Rochester said. 

Attorney General Kathleen Jennings called Minner one of the most remarkable women Delaware has ever known.

“By the time Ruth Ann Minner broke her second glass ceiling as governor – she was also our first female lieutenant governor – she had already recorded decades of public service. From the House of Representatives to Woodburn, Ruth Ann witnessed, and in many cases championed, some of our state’s most significant policy advancements. Landmark policies that we take for granted today – including one of the nation’s first indoor smoking bans, full-day kindergarten, and the SEED Scholarship, which has helped more than 13,000 Delaware students access a college education – are there because of her work,” Jennings said. “Ruth Ann’s work impacted all of our lives for the better, but above all else I will remember this incredible woman for her strength and her dogged perseverance. It’s difficult for anyone to get by – let alone to get ahead – without independent wealth, an extensive family support network or an elite education. Ruth Ann succeeded even though she lacked those privileges. She was the daughter of a sharecropper. She left high school at 16 to help support the family farm. At 32, she became a widowed mother of three children; by the time she turned 40, she had earned her GED, become a small business owner, and gone from a receptionist’s desk to a seat in the House of Representatives. The fact that Ruth Ann not only overcame these challenges, but excelled and made history is a testament to her willpower and her defiance in the face of adversity. Each of us should find inspiration in her story, and I’ll forever be grateful for everything she did for our state. Her family, her former team, and her community are all in my heart.”

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons said Minner worked tirelessly to make Delaware a better place for everyone.

"From her early days in the General Assembly to her election as our only female governor, Ruth Ann doggedly climbed the proverbial ladder, paving the way for every woman to be elected to public office in Delaware,” he said. “"Annie and I fondly remember attending her annual picnics at her home down in Milford, where nothing would light up her face more than talking about her family, particularly her grandchildren. She was a devoted matriarch to not just her own family but to our entire state. Ruth Ann Minner was tough as nails, kept her word, and cared deeply about the people of Delaware. She will be sorely missed."