American politician and community organizer
Rosemary Ketchum (born c. 1993) is an American politician and community organizer serving as a city councillor for Ward 3 of Wheeling, West Virginia From 2020 to 2024. She is the first transgender person elected to political office in West Virginia. In 2024 she unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Wheeling.
Life.
Ketchum was born c. 1993 and raised in East Liverpool, Ohio. Her mother worked as a waitress and bartender and her father worked at a porcelain factory. As a child, Ketchum's family was homeless after their home burned down. She moved to West Virginia with her parents. She earned degrees in psychology from West Virginia Northern Community College and Wheeling Jesuit University in 2019.
Ketchum worked was a community organizer, serving as the associate director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Greater Wheeling in Wheeling, West Virginia. She is a member of the Wheeling human rights commission and served on the board of the West Virginia American Civil Liberties Union.
On July 12, 2019, Ketchum announced that she would seek election to the Wheeling city council from Ward 3. On June 9, 2020, she won the non-partisan municipal election against Peggy Niebergall, Jerome Henry, and Erick Marple, becoming the first transgender person elected to political office in West Virginia. Following her victory she was praised by Annise Parker, the former Mayor of Houston, Texas, and congratulated by GLAAD. Ketchum is the subject of the 2020 West Virginia Public Broadcasting documentary "Rosemary". She was a candidate for mayor of Wheeling in the 2024 election, coming in second against Denny Magruder.
Electoral history.
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 17em" | Candidate
! scope="col" | Votes
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! colspan="2" style="text-align:right;" | Total votes
References.
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