Ed Flanagan

Edward S. Flanagan, commonly known as Ed Flanagan, is an American politician from Vermont. Since January 2005, he has served as a Vermont State Senator.

Flanagan graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in history/political science in 1973, and earned a J.D. from Harvard University in 1976. Beginning in 1977, Flanagan served in the Carter Administration as a policy analyst under Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph Califano, before returning to the private practice of law in Vermont.

Flanagan served as Vermont's State Auditor from 1993 through 2001, becoming the first openly gay, statewide-elected official in the United States. Flanagan was the Democratic nominee in the U.S. Senate contest in 2000, becoming the first openly gay individual to be nominated by a major party as a candidate for the U.S. Senate. In that election, Flanagan was defeated by incumbent U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords. His U.S. Senate campaign, like many of his campaigns before and since, won the backing of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.

In 2004, Flanagan was elected to the Vermont State Senate, representing the Chittenden senate district. He is a resident of Burlington, Vermont.

In November 2005, he was seriously injured in a car accident during a period of particularly bad weather. Having spent six months in hospital, he returned to the statehouse in early May 2006 and expressed his desire to get back to work. On July 8, 2006, Flanagan announced his candidacy for a second term in the Vermont Senate. Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean attended his announcement. Ed Flanagan was subsequently reelected.

On December 4, 2006 Flanagan had a second car accident when his car went off the road as he was turning onto Interstate 89 in South Burlington, Vermont.

Ed Flanagan lives with his long-term partner Isaac Lustgarten. He now serves as one of five openly gay members of the Vermont Legislature, alongside representatives Bill Lippert (D-Hinesburg, Vermont), Robert Dostis (D-Waterbury, Vermont), Steve Howard (D-Rutland, Vermont), and Jason Lorber (D-Burlington, Vermont).