Ralph Northam Biography
Ralph Northam is an American politician and physician serving as the 73rd Governor of Virginia as from January 13, 2018. Northam was an officer in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He served there from 1984-1992.
Ralph Northam served as the 40th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia as from 2014 to 2018 prior to winning the governorship against Republican nominee Ed Gillespie in the 2017 election.
Ralph Northam Age
Ralph Northam was born on September 13th, 1959. He is 59 years old as of 2018.
Ralph Northam Family
Ralph Shearer Northam was born in Nassawadox, Virginia to Nancy B. Shearer (mother, passed-away in 2009) who originally hailed from Washington D.C. and was a part-time nurse at Northampton-Accomack Memorial Hospital, and her father was a surgeon. Wescott B. Northam (father) who was a lawyer and veteran of World War II.
Wescott B. ventured into politics in the 1960s, served for 3 terms as Commonwealth’s Attorney for Accomack County, Virginia, but lost the election to a 4th term, and was appointed as a Circuit Court judge for Accomack and Northampton counties. Thomas Long Northam had served as a judge in the same court as Wescott B.
Ralph Shearer had an older brother of two years, Thomas, and they were raised on a water-side farm, just outside Onancock, Virginia. The family practiced agriculture on their 75-acre property. During his childhood, Northam worked on a ferry to Tangier Island and as a deckhand on fishing charters. He has also worked on a neighbor’s farm and as a “stock boy” at Meatland grocery store.
Thomas Long Northam passed away when Wescott Northam was 14, a few years later, the family farm in Modest Town, Virginia, where Wescott had been born, was sold. The farm came into the family via Ralph Northam’s great-great-grandfather, James, who together with his son, Levi Jacob, owned slaves – one of whom, Raymond Northam, was freed to enlist in the 9th Regiment of Colored Troops.
Were it not for Ralph Northam’s father, who did a research about the family’s slave-owning history into the ancestry during the time of Northam’s gubernatorial campaign, Ralph Northam would remain unaware of it.
Ralph Northam Education
He and Thomas schooled together in desegregated public schools. Northam graduated from Onancock High School, where his class was predominately African American. When Northam was in high school, he was voted “Most Likely to Succeed” and graduated as salutatorian.
Speaking of sports, Northam was an active member of the school’s basketball and baseball teams.
He served as president of VMI’s honor court in Virginia Military Institute in 1981 and graduated to receive a bachelor’s degree in biology. He then went to Eastern Virginia Medical School and earned the M.D. degree in 1984.
Ralph Northam Wife
Ralph and Pam Northam have been married since 1987.
Children
The couple has two children, Wes Northam, and Aubrey Northam.
Ralph Northam Death penalty
Ralph Northam opposes the death penalty (also known as Capital punishment, which is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Virginia).
Ralph NorthamRalph Northam Career
Before venturing into politics, Northam voted for Republican George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, a fact that opponents raised in later Democratic primaries. He 1st ran for office in 2007 in the Virginia 6th Senate district, which includes the Eastern Shore of Virginia; Mathews County, on the Middle Peninsula; and parts of the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach. On the 6th day of November 2007, he competed with Nick Rerras and defeated him, with a two-term Republican incumbent, 17,307 votes to 14,499.
Northam then defeated Ben Loyola Jr. in November 2011, a defense contractor, 16,606 votes to 12,622, and was re-elected.
One of Northam’s very 1st activities as a state legislator was to lead an effort to pass a ban on smoking in restaurants in Virginia, but eventually, the bill failed the first time and passed the next year. Governor Tim Kaine signed it into law.
Northam went for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in the 2013 election, competed against U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra for the Democratic nomination and on June 11th the same year, Northam won the Democratic primary over Chopra with 54% of the vote to Chopra’s who had 46%. Five months later, i.e On November 5, 2013, Northam was elected as Virginia’s 40th Lieutenant Governor over Republican E. W. Jackson by a 10% margin, receiving 55% of the vote to Jackson’s 45%. For this, Northam is said to be the 1st Democrat since Tim Kaine in 2001 to be elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.
Northam confirmed his interest in running for Governor of Virginia in 2017 and his intentions were made official on November 17, 2015, via an email to supporters.
In October 2017, his campaign released a small number of flyers eliminating Northam’s running-mate for Lieutenant Governor, Justin Fairfax. The Laborers’ International Union of North America requested for this release, which had endorsed Northam and his running mate for Attorney General, Mark Herring (was also included on the flyer) but not Fairfax.
On January 13, 2018, Northam was sworn in as Governor of Virginia at noon, at the State Capitol. He also became the second Eastern Shore native to serve as Governor of Virginia, after Henry A. Wise (was elected in 1855) and the second alumnus of Virginia Military Institute to serve as governor, after Westmoreland Davis (was elected in 1917)
On February 1st last year, images of Northam’s medical school yearbook surfaced showing an image of an unidentified person in blackface and an unidentified person in a Ku Klux Klan hood on Northam’s page in the yearbook. A spokesman for Eastern Virginia Medical School confirmed that the image appeared in its 1984 yearbook. Not long before, after the news cropped up, Northam confirmed he appeared in the photo.
Ralph Northam Photos | Ralph Northam Images | Ralph Northam Pictures
Ralph Northam
5 Facts you need to know about the governor of Virginia, Ralf Northam | Ralph Northam Gun Laws
1. Northam Called the AHCA ‘Most Spineless, Unprincipled Cruelty’
Northam is a Democrat. He is no fan of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) as passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in May. Northam called on the Senate to kill the bill, in a statement issued after it was passed. He referred the bill as “the most spineless, unprincipled cruelty that I have ever seen come from a legislative body.”
He said,
“As a physician, I remember personally what that time was like. I spent so much time on the phone with insurance companies before the Affordable Care Act’s passage that I decided to do something about it. That’s why I first ran for public office. Today, I am thinking about my patients, a lot of whom are on Medicaid, a lot of whom have preexisting conditions and live with disabilities, and my heart breaks for them. House Republicans today told them that they do not have the right to quality and affordable healthcare, and what’s more, they could literally pay for it with their lives.”
Northam also took Republican candidate Ed Gillespie to task for appearing to support the AHCA waiver system.
Northam said, “If Ed Gillespie has anything to say but ‘no’ when it comes to waiving protections for Virginians with pre-existing conditions, I say as a neurologist that he needs to have his head examined,”
In May, Perriello’s campaign sent out a video of Northam during a 2011 debate when he stated that he thought health care was a “privilege.” A Northam spokesman later told the Huffington Post that Northam now thinks health care is a “right.”
2. Northam Has Opposed Charter School Expansion in Virginia
Virginia is among the states with the fewest public charter schools. According to PublicCharters.org, there are just nine public charter schools in the entire state. Northan and Perriello have both opposed creating more public charter schools in the state, even though they have succeeded in other states.
In an email debate with the Washington Post, Northam explained that he wants to see public schools receive proper funding first. He said funding public charter schools would take funds away from K-12 public schools.
“We’d be better off revising Standards of Quality formulas to better eliminate disparities among different regions across the commonwealth and so that every child in Virginia has the same opportunity to quality education regardless of where they live,” Northam told the Post. “Finally, I am proud that we secured federal dollars to fund 13,000 pre-K slots for low-income children. With the goal of universal access to pre-K, tax dollars can be better spent expanding access to all Virginia children.”
On his website, Northam makes it clear that he wants to see more investment in public schools. In fact, the word “charter” doesn’t even appear on his “Education” page. He also wants to increase teacher wages.
“Teacher pay in Virginia is now well below the national average, and we’re losing good teachers because of it. This is contributing to inequality in our education system, as rural and less affluent school districts cannot afford to supplement state funding,” a statement on Northam’s site reads. “Ralph will work with Democrats and Republicans alike to attack inequality in education by raising pay for teacher—a bipartisan priority in Richmond.”
3. Northam Is Supports Abortion Rights & Earned NARAL’s Endorsement
Northam is pro-choice and was endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice America Virginia (National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws). In 2013, the group also endorsed McAuliffe.
“We’ve seen the incredible difference it makes to have a true champion for reproductive rights and health care access in the governor’s mansion, especially as the General Assembly continues to be dominated by zealously anti-choice politicians,” the group said in a statement. “That’s why the 2017 election for Governor McAuliffe’s successor is so critical. It will determine whether Virginia continues to move forward on ensuring reproductive health care access for all, or slides backward to renewed attacks on our basic rights.”
The group chose Northam over Perriello because of his actions during his one term in Congress. In 2009, he voted for the Stupak amendment, which would have barred companies participating in the Affordable Care Act exchanges from covering abortion. Perriello later apologized for voting for that amendment, but NARAL still held it against him.
According to a statement on his website, Northam vows to “fight for women so they can decide when to start a family, and he is an advocate for expanding access to long-acting reversible contraceptives like IUDs, as well as protecting a woman’s right to safe, legal abortion.”
4. Northam Says He Supports ‘Common Sense Gun Safety Laws’
Northam claims on his website that he used to hunt during his childhood and he is an Army veteran, so he has first-hand experience with guns. “That’s why he’s been a staunch advocate for commonsense gun safety laws since his time in the state senate,” his site reads.
Northam notes that as Lt. Governor, he broke a tie to vote against a bill to allow Virginians to carry concealed weapons without permits. He also wants to make mental healthcare more easily accessible and keep guns out of the “hands of those who are severely mentally ill.” He’s also calling for universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons.
As the Richmond Times-Dispatch notes, Northam focused on guns in his first TV ad in the race. The ad included a gun control advocate saying Northam “stood up to the NRA” after the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings when 32 people were killed.
5. Northam Voted for President George W. Bush Twice & Called the Decision ‘Wrong’
Northam admitted in a New York Times interview that he voted for President George W. Bush twice. He said he was “apolitical” at the time and has admitted that he was “wrong” to vote for Bush.
Northam is no fan of the current Republican President, Donald Trump. As Mediate notes, Northam released a campaign ad in May, in which he calls the president a “narcissistic maniac.”
“Now, I’m listening carefully to Donald Trump. And I think he’s a narcissistic maniac,” Northam says in the commercial. “Whatever you call him, we’re not letting him bring his hate into Virginia.”
Politico reports that Northam has repeatedly used the phrase on the campaign and ramped up the anti-Trump rhetoric only after Perriello joined the race. He’s trying to cater to the die-hard Democrats who vote in the primaries.
Adopted from: heavy.com
Ralph Northam Quotes
- I believe now and then that I am not either of the people in this photo.
- I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt, that decision caused then and now.
- Because the message is that we live in a very diverse society. That means that we need to be inclusive.
- The business community — they have a lot of say and power all over the country, whether it’s on religion or ethnicity or LGBT issues when you’re running a business, you have to have the doors open and welcome diversity.
- I stand by what I said, I believe our president is a dangerous man. I think he lacks empathy. And he also has difficulty telling the truth, and it happens again and again. The Republican candidate, former RNC chairman The Republican candidate, who is roughly tied with Ralph Northam at 44 percent support in the polls, countered that the Democrat’s attack would make it more difficult to work with Donald Trump on behalf of Virginia
- Ralph Northam Latest News | Ralph Northam News
Adopted from: www.quotes.net
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Ralph Northam Instagram
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