- Jerry Northington
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Jerry Northington (born November 30, 1946) sought the Democratic Party nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008. The race was an effort to unseat long-term Republican incumbent Michael Castle from the US House of Representatives. The Primary election went to his opponent, Karen Hartly-Nagle.
Northington is a life-long Democrat and is seeking that party’s nomination in the September, 2008 primary. The district encompasses the entire state of Delaware. A veterinarian and small businessman by profession, Northington describes himself as “a veteran for peace, education and healthcare.”
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Early life
Dr. Jerry Northington was born in 1946 in Mayfield, KY, and lived in the same town until leaving for college in 1964. His father was a mixed practice veterinarian based in Mayfield. The practice encompassed several surrounding counties. His mother, a stay-at-home mom, raised three boys.
Dr. Northington received a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1975.
Northington is also a lifelong musician. He plays the dulcimer and banjo and sings the traditional old-time music of Appalachia.
Military service
Jerry Northington entered military service in March, 1967, and served in Vietnam until March, 1970. After Basic Training at Fort Benning, GA, Northington trained at Fort Campbell, KY as a tank driver and was assigned to a tank battalion in the 3rd Armored Division stationed in Gelnhausen, Germany. During a 17-month assignment in Germany he was sent to school for additional training as a communications technician and then as communications chief.
Promotions during the time in Germany led to a final grade of sergeant E-5 (Buck sergeant) and an accumulated three stripes on the sleeve. In August 1969 he was sent to Vietnam and assigned to a combat infantry company. Details of how Dr. Northington’s experiences have colored his political views are provided on his campaign website.[1]
Career
After earning a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, Jerry Northington completed a one-year rotating internship and one year of medical residency at the Oklahoma State University School of Veterinary Medicine. After a further two year Residency in Neurology Dr. Northington taught neurology as an instructor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine from 1979 to 1983. He eventually helped to establish Metropolitan Veterinary Associates in Valley Forge, PA, and continues his practice as a veterinarian with a practice limited to neurology.
Establishing and running a veterinary practice has helped Dr. Northington to understand the challenges of small business ownership. Dr. Northington believes that economic policy should focus on the betterment of all society, and that programs need to be put in place to provide increased job opportunities for all Americans. Dr. Northington believes that the economy should be redirected toward improved environmental health as well as alternative energy sources and away from the current military based industrial complex.
Political views
Jerry Northington is a lifelong Democrat and a regular blogger for the Daily Kos and several other political blog-sites, including Never In Our Names, Truth and Progress, Be-Think.Org, and EENRblog.com. He writes under the name "possum." Not content to advocate peace without actively doing something about it, he also is an active member of Delaware Pacem in Terris and participates in weekly vigils against the war. His letters to the editor have been published frequently in the Wilmington-based News Journal.
Dr. Northington believes that current U.S. policy is pursuing a course “that will bankrupt our nation, despoil our environment, and bring death and despair to many around the globe. Thousands of American and Iraqi lives have been lost in the pursuit of fossil fuels, instead of developing a sustainable economy based on renewable resources here at home.”
Dr. Northington is committed to ending the Iraq War; guaranteeing a living wage through increased numbers of available jobs; providing a secure pension system, an appropriate and affordable education system, and health care that meets the needs of everyone at every stage of their lives.
Articles published
Northington, JW, Brown, MJ. Acute Canine Idiopathic Polyneuropathy. A Guillain-Barre-like syndrome in dogs. Journal of Neurologic Science 56: 259-273, 1982.
Northington, J., Brown, M., Farnbach, G., et al.: Acute Idiopathic Polyneuropathy in the Dog. Journal of the American Veterinary Association, 179:375-379, 1981
References
External links
Categories:- Delaware politicians
- American bloggers
- People from Wilmington, Delaware
- Living people
- 1946 births
- Auburn University alumni
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