| Paul Ralston | |
| State House: | Vermont |
| District: | Addison 1 |
| Term Start: | January 5, 2011 |
| Term End: | January 5, 2015 |
| Predecessor: | Steven Maier |
| Education: | Trinity College (BS) |
| Party: | Democratic |
Paul D. Ralston is a former Democratic member of the Vermont House of Representatives, representing Vermont House of Representatives Addison—1 District from 2010 to 2015. Ralston did not seek re-election in 2014.
Ralston studied agricultural engineering at the University of Vermont and earned a B.S. in business administration from Trinity College.[1]
He is a small business owner, and has owned Vermont Coffee Company since 2001. The company's organic, fair-trade coffee beans are sold to accounts ranging from small, highly regarded New York City coffee shops to Costco. Ralston, who is the sole owner, has not publicized sales figures but Vermont Coffee Company projects 20 percent growth in 2014.[2]
He is also the founder and CEO of Vermont Sweet Maple.
He previously worked as a Marketing General Manager for the Body Shop in England, and the Marketing Manager and President of Autumn Harp.
He has served on the boards of Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG), Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR, President), Vermont Family Forests, Addison County Democrats (Treasurer), and Addison County Chamber of Commerce. He also runs a Vermont-based economic develop PAC, Vision to Action Vermont (V2AVT).[3]
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Ralston served on the following committees:
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Ralston did not serve on any committees.
Ralston won re-election in the 2012 election for Vermont House of Representatives—Addison 1. Ralston was unopposed in the August 28 Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[4]
Ralston won election to the Vermont House of Representatives—Addison 1 in 2010. Incumbent Steven Maier ran in the Democratic primary on August 24, 2010, but later withdrew from the race. Ralston was selected to replace him on the ticket. He was unopposed in the November 2, 2010 general election.[4]
| Election results[5] | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Election | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | |||||||||||
| 2012 | Vermont House of Representatives | Paul Raulston | Democratic | 2,378 | 47.76% | Betty Nuovo | Democratic | 2,601 | 52.24% | |||||||||||
| 2010 | Vermont House of Representatives | Paul Raulston | Democratic | 1,903 | 47.84% | Betty Nuovo | Democratic | 2,075 | 52.16% |
Ralston has received endorsements from numerous political, environmental, and development groups, including the Vermont Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, Vermont League of Conservation Voters, and the Vermont State Employees' Association.[6]
The Ethan Allen Institute, a Vermont-based free-market public policy research and education organization, released its biennial publication, the Vermont Voters' Report Card, for the years 2011-2012. The report showed how Vermont legislators in the state House and state Senate voted on key issues important to the Institute. Here's how Ralston voted on the selected bills:
Ralston is married. He is also the CEO and Co-founder of the Vermont Coffee Company.[7]