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Betheda Edmonds is a Democratic Party State Senator in Maine representing District 10, which includes the towns of Brunswick, Freeport, Harpswell and Pownal. After winning re-election in 2004, Edmonds became President of the Maine State Senate, making her next in the line of succession for the governorship after current Governor John Baldacci. She was re-elected with 67% of votes cast in 2006.

Contents 1 Pre-Political career 2 Political career 3 Achievements as State Senator 4 Endorsements for the 2006 election 5 External links

Edmonds is from a small town in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. She attended Clark University beginning in 1967, eventually graduating in 1972. She married her husband, Dan Nickerson, and moved to Freeport, Maine, where she has lived ever since. Since moving to Maine, Edmonds has been actively involved in the National Organization of Women (NOW) and worked as an activist on the Equal Rights Amendment. She was and continues to be the Director of the Freeport Community Library.

She has been a member of the State Senate since winning a seat in 2000. In 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006, Edmonds won elections to the State Senate. In December 2003, Edmonds became President of the Maine State Senate, making her next in the line of succession for the governorship after current Governor John Baldacci. She is only the second female Senate President in Maine history and the first to serve a second term as president.

Edmonds is strongly considered a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Maine's 1st congressional district, should Tom Allen decide to run for the U.S. Senate.

While a member of the State Senate, Edmonds was instrumental in raising the state minimum wage, as well as resolving a longstanding conflict on the Workers' Compensation Board. She has supported eco-friendly measures such as the electronic waste recycling initiative. She also helped to establish the Baxter School for the Deaf Compensation Fund.

Many different groups have endorsed Edmonds for re-election, including conservation-minded organizations like the Sierra Club and the Maine League of Conservation Voters. Gay rights groups, like the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance and Equality Maine, have similarly endorsed Edmonds. Likewise, labor and education groups like the Maine AFL-CIO COPE (Committee on Political Education), the Maine State Employees Association, National Association of Social Workers, and many others supported Edmonds' re-election. She was re-elected with 67% of the vote.

• Official Web-Site
• Maine Senate Biography
• Clark University testimonial

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