Ralph Northam Bio, Career, Education, Age, Wife, Kids, Height, and Net Worth.

Who is Ralph Northam?

Ralph Northam is an American politician currently, serving as the 73rd Governor of Virginia since January 13, 2018. In addition, he is also a physician and served in the Army as a pediatric neurologist between 1984 and 1992.

He is a member of the Democratic Party, and he served as the 40th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia for four years from 2014 to 2018.

Career

Military Career

Ralph joined US Army in 1984, where he was serving as a medical officer. While there he managed to complete a Pediatric residency at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio Texas. After that, he completed a child neurology fellowship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC.

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He was discharged from the Army in 1992 at the rank of major after he had completed eight years of service. Since he was discharged in 1992, he has been a pediatric neurologist at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughter in Norfolk, Virginia.

Early Political Career

Northam voted for Republican George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections before joining politics. However, this fact was used against him by his opponents later Democratic primaries. Northam claims to have been apolitical at the time and regrets his votes, adding, “Politically, there was no doubt, I was underinformed.”

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How Old Is Ralph Northam?

He was born on September 13, 1959 (age 61 as of 2021)

Ralph Northam Family

Who are His Parents?

He was born in Nassawadox on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, and together with his siblings, they grew up on a waterside farm outside Onancock, Virginia. He is the son of Nancy Sheerer and Wescott B Northam. In addition, his mother worked as a part-time nurse while his father was a veteran world war II lawyer.

Does He Have Siblings?

He has an elder brother by the name of Thomas with whom they grew up together

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Ralph Northam Education

He attended Onancock High School, where he graduated as a salutatorian. After that, he joined Virginia Military Institute where he graduated in 1981. He then joined Eastern Virginia Medical School and graduated with an M.D degree in 1984.

Ralph Northam Wife

He is happily married to his lovely wife Pam, though much is not known about their marriage life.

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Ralph Northam Kids

The Couple has been blessed with two kids.

Senate of Virginia

Ralph decided to run for office in 2007, in the 6th Senate District which included the Eastern Shore of Virginia. He run unopposed during the Democratic nomination. After that, he faced Nick Rerras, a Republican nominee who had served for two terms already. He went on and defeated Nick in the November 6th general election.

Northam was then re-elected in November 2011. He defeated defense contractor Ben Loyola Jr. by 16,606 votes to 12,622. One of Northam’s first big initiatives as a state senator was to spearhead an attempt to enact a smoking ban in Virginia eateries. However, his proposal was defeated the first time it was introduced. But it was reintroduced the following year and signed into law by Governor Tim Kaine.

Northam, a self-described “conservative on economic matters and liberal on social ones”, was the target of a state Senate Republican campaign to persuade him to switch parties in 2009. Republicans would have gained control of the State Senate as a result of this decision, but when word of the impending switch spread on Twitter, Democrats convened a closed-door conference in which Northam reaffirmed that he was not leaning.

Lieutenant Governor

In 2013, he took his chances and decided to run for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in the 2013 election. During the Democratic nomination, he faced Aneesh Chopra, a U.S Chief Technology Officer. He won the nomination on June 11, 2014, with 54% to 46% of the vote cast.

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After proceeding in the general election, Northam was elected as Virginia’s 40th Lieutenant Governor on November 5, 2013. He defeated Republican E. W. Jackson with 55% to 45%. Northam was the first Democrat to be elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia since Tim Kaine in 2001.

Gubernatorial Election

2017 Election

Northam declared his bid to run for governor of Virginia 2017 in February 2015, a little over a year into his time as lieutenant governor. On November 17, 2015, he made his plans known to supporters in an email. Northam challenged Tom Perriello in the Democratic primary, who had previously served as a Virginia congressman and as a diplomat in the Obama administration.

Moreover, the primary campaign was seen as a proxy battle between Bernie Sanders/ Elizabeth Warren’s wing of the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s wing. In addition, The Washington Post backed Northam on the basis of his experience and Temperament.

He defeated Perriello in the Democratic nomination on June 13, 2017. He received 56% of the vote cast while his competitor received 44% of the vote cast. After that, he went on and faced Ed Gillespie, a former Counselor to President George W Bush.

By the end of the primary season, Northam’s campaign funding had been drained significantly. He was left with around $1.75 million, which was nearly half of Gillespie’s remaining funds. Northam, on the other hand, swiftly got the upper hand — by the end of the summer, his available money had grown to be twice as large as Gillespie’s, with two months left in the campaign.

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During the final touches of the campaign, he held campaign rallies with former President Barack Obama and his former Vice President Joe Biden. Northam went ahead and defeated Gillespie’s on the November 7th, 2017, general election. He defeated him with a margin of nine-point which was not expected.

Governor of Virginia

After winning the election, he was sworn in as

the 73rd governor of Virginia at noon on January 13, 2018, at the State Capitol. His election made him the second Eastern Shore native to serve as the Governor of Virginia. In addition, he is also the second alumnus of Virginia Military Institute to serve as Governor.

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The majority of Northam’s cabinet-level officials are women, which is a first in Virginia history. Moreover, residents from every county in Virginia attended Northam’s inauguration (which allegedly established yet another first for the state), and twenty-six groups marched in the inaugural procession, which has been described as the largest and most diverse in state history.

Furthermore, he stated that he was going to create a new cabinet-level position, Chief Workforce Advisor, which would be coordinating the state’s workforce development programs.

Megan Healy, who previously served as associate vice chancellor for academic services and employer relations at the Virginia Community College System and as the director of STEM-H under the McAuliffe administration, was appointed to fill the post. Northam’s transition team included Healy’s spouse.