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Governor Christine Whitman Christine Todd Whitman was elected the 50th Governor of New Jersey on Nov. 2, 1993, becoming the first woman in the state's history to win its highest elective office.
Ms. Whitman was raised in Oldwick, Hunterdon County. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in government from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., in 1968.
After graduation, she worked for the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity and the Republican National Committee, where she developed the "Listening Program," which reached out to groups not traditionally associated with the Republican Party. As part of that program she met with minorities, senior citizens, students and gang members in the East Ward of Chicago.
In 1982, Ms. Whitman was elected to the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders. She was re-elected in 1985 as the top-vote-getter on the ticket. She served on the board for five years including terms as director and deputy director, overseeing the administration of various departments of the county government. She was instrumental in the opening of the county's first homeless shelter and first halfway house for alcoholic male teenagers, as well as the creation of the county's open space program. She also oversaw construction of Somerset County's long-needed modern courthouse, which was completed on time and under budget.
In 1988, Gov. Tom Kean appointed Ms. Whitman to serve as president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. During her two years administering that board, she fought to keep utility rates low and won high marks for instituting an ethics code for the board.
Ms. Whitman resigned from the BPU in 1990 to run for the U S. Senate, challenging Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J. She received 49 percent of the vote. Following her narrow defeat, Ms. Whitman remained active in public affairs, writing a newspaper column and hosting a radio talk-show. She also formed the Committee for an Affordable New Jersey to support legislative candidates and speak out on issues.
During her years in public life, she served on a variety of boards, commissions and other volunteer bodies. Among them are the Community Foundation of New Jersey, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, the New Jersey Advisory Council on Corrections, the Somerset County Board of Social Services, the Somerset County College Board of Trustees, the North Jersey Transportation Coordinating Council, the Somerset County Youth Services Coordinating Commission and the Somerset County Planning Board. She and her husband, John R. Whitman, also taught English as a second language when they lived in New York in the early 1970s.
Ms. Whitman carries on a long tradition of public service. Her parents, the late Eleanor and Webster Todd, served the Republican Party and their state and county in numerous positions. They ranged from state GOP chairman (Webster) to vice chairman of the Republican National Committee and the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education (Eleanor). Her two brothers, John (deceased) and Webster Jr., and her sister, Kate Beach, have also served in various elected and appointed offices at the local, state and federal government levels.
In addition to her public service, Ms. Whitman has devoted much of her life to raising a family. Her husband, John, is a financial consultant with political roots of his own -- his grandfather was governor of New York and his father was a circuit court judge. The Whitmans have two children, Kate, 16, and Taylor, 15. After living in Somerset County for much of her adult life, Ms. Whitman and her family moved back to her childhood home in Oldwick, Hunterdon County, in 1992.
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