Kiah Morris | |
State House: | Vermont |
District: | Bennington 2-2 |
Term Start: | January 7, 2015 |
Term End: | September 25, 2018 |
Predecessor: | Anne Lamy Mook |
Successor: | Jim Carroll |
Birth Name: | Ruqaiyah Khadijah Morris |
Birth Date: | 14 March 1976 |
Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Spouse: | James Lawton |
Party: | Democratic |
Alma Mater: | University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (BA) |
Residence: | Bennington, Vermont |
Ruqaiyah Khadijah "Kiah" Morris (born March 14, 1976) is an American politician who formerly served as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives for the Democratic Party.
Born in Chicago, Morris earned a B.A. in Gender Studies from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and a graduate degree from Roosevelt University.[1]
Morris was first elected in 2014 alongside longtime Republican representative Mary A. Morrissey.[2] The two were reelected in 2016 after running unopposed.[3] The only African American woman in the state legislature, Morris announced in August 2018 that she would not seek reelection to a third term following a campaign of racist threats against her and her family.[4] She resigned the following month,[5] [6] citing as an additional factor the desire to focus on her husband's recovery from open-heart surgery.[7] [8]
Morris has also served as director of the Alliance for Community Transformations, based in Bennington.[9]
Date | Election | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vermont House of Representatives, Bennington 2-2 district | ||||||
Nov 4, 2014[10] | General | Mary A. Morrissey | Republican | 1,241 | 42.49 | |
Kiah Morris | Democratic | 873 | 29.89 | |||
Joann Erenhouse | Democratic | 797 | 27.29 | |||
Write-Ins | 10 | 0.33 | ||||
Anne Lamy Mook did not seek reelection; seat stayed Democratic | ||||||
Nov 8, 2016[11] | General | Mary A. Morrissey | Republican | 2,143 | 54.61 | |
Kiah Morris | Democratic | 1,757 | 44.78 | |||
Write-Ins | 24 | 0.61 | ||||
Morris is married to James Lawton.[5] They have a son.[1]