Patty Ritchie

Ritchie is a lifelong resident of Upstate New York. The daughter of Rita A. and Kenneth H. Hilborne, she was born and raised in DePeyster, New York.^[1][2] At 15, she moved with her parents and brother to town of Oswegatchie, New York.^[1] She graduated from Heuvelton Central High School^[2] in 1980.^[1]

She received an associates degree in social work from Mater Dei College of Ogdensburg, New York, in 1985.^[1] She briefly attended SUNY Plattsburgh, then transferred to SUNY Potsdam. She was married in 1982 and continued her education part-time while raising her family and working. Ritchie earned her bachelor's degree in psychology in 1991.^[1]

Ritchie worked for the Department of Motor Vehicles from 1986 to 1999.^[1] She was then elected as the St. Lawrence County Clerk, a position she held from 2000 through 2010.^[1] In 2002, she was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for New York State Assembly district 116, losing to Democrat Darrel Aubertine.^[3] In November 2010 she defeated Aubertine, this time for his seat in the State Senate. She was handily reelected in 2012, defeating a little known county legislator from Oswego County. She has run unopposed for reelection three times, in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

In 2011, Ritchie was named Chair of the Senate's Agriculture Committee, where she has been recognized as an outstanding champion of the state's 35,000 farm families and sponsored such initiatives as the Young Farmers Grant and loan forgiveness program.^[4] In 2016, Ritchie was named co-chair of the bi-cameral Legislative Commission on Rural Resources, and in 2017, was named Deputy Vice Chair of the important Health Committee, in recognition of her work to improve public health, especially in rural counties, like those she represents.^[5]

She and her husband Tom live in Oswegatchie. They have three grown children.^[2]