Markey, Betsy, 1956-

<p>Elizabeth Helen Markey (born April 27, 1956) is a former American politician who served as a U.S. Representative for Colorado's 4th congressional district, from 2009 to 2011 and the former Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs in the United States Department of Homeland Security. She is a member of the Democratic Party.</p>

<p>The district included most of the eastern portion of the state outside the Denver and Colorado Springs metropolitan areas.</p>

<p>Betsy Markey was born in Cresskill, New Jersey, as the sixth of seven children. Markey attended college at the University of Florida from 1974 through 1978. Her last semester was completed abroad at a university in Poznań, Poland. After completing a degree in political science, Markey worked for a short period of time on the staff of U.S. Senator John A. Durkin (D-NH). She later went on to work for U.S. Congressman Herbert Harris (D-VA) as a caseworker/legislative assistant on one of the Congressman’s subcommittees. Markey was hired as a staff assistant to the vice president for development and planning at American University in 1981. Markey completed a Masters of Public Administration in 1983 from American University.</p>

<p>In 2008 Betsy Markey won election to the United States House of Representatives, having defeated a three-term incumbent in a traditionally Republican region. With her background as a successful entrepreneur and business owner, she advocated for a new approach to federal spending, including pay-as-you-go budget rules and earmark reform. “We have to start turning this country in a new direction with regard to our economy, our energy policy, and we need people with a fresh perspective to do it. People are tired of the same old politics of the past,” Markey stated.</p>

<p>Betsy Markey was born in Cresskill, Bergen County, New Jersey, on April 27, 1956—one of seven children—to Thomas and Catherine Markey. Raised by a Democratic father and a Republican mother, politics was a part of her life from an early age. After high school, she earned a BS in political science at the University of Florida in 1978 and began working for Virginia Representative Herbert Eugene Harris II as a legislative assistant for the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee. She simultaneously earned a master of public administration from American University in Washington, DC, in 1983. She and her husband, Jim Kelley, raised three children: Katie, Erin, and Al.</p>

<p>After receiving her degree, Markey completed a fellowship in the Treasury Department before joining the newly-formed Office of Information Systems Security in the State Department to develop computer security policies. After leaving the State Department, Markey and her husband founded a successful IT consulting business. In 1995 she moved to Colorado, where she became active in local politics and founded the Northern Colorado Democratic Business Coalition. From 2002 to 2005, Markey served as chair of the Larimer County Democratic Party. She became the regional director of northern and eastern Colorado for United States Senator Kenneth Lee Salazar, an area encompassing a large portion of the district she would later represent.</p>