Eloise A. Vitelli (born 1949) is an American politician from Maine, who served as the majority leader of the Maine Senate from 2021 to 2024. Vitelli was first elected to the Maine Senate in a 2013 special election, but lost her re-election bid in 2014. She was re-elected in 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022. Vitelli began working as an entrepreneurship trainer in the early 1980s and was the director of program and policy for New Ventures Maine for 38 years. She became the Assistant Senate Majority Leader in December 2020, and Majority Leader in February 2021.
Early life and education
Vitelli was born in 1949 in Trenton, New Jersey, the third of five children. Her father was a college professor and her mother was an art teacher. Vitelli grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania.[1][2][3] but the family also lived in Italy (where she met one of her loves, the singer Francesco Guccini) and India when Vitelli was a child.[4]
In the early 1970s, both Vitelli and her parents moved to midcoast Maine to be near friends who lived in Damariscotta. Vitelli lived in Newcastle and Phippsburg before settling in Arrowsic with her husband in 1978.[4][3] She worked as an early childhood Head Start teacher in Waldoboro, Nobleboro, and Brunswick.[1][3]
Vitelli began working in entrepreneurship training in 1983, focusing on projects and organizations that developed women entrepreneurs. In 2018, she retired after 38 years as the director of program and policy for Maine Centers for Women, Work and Community, now called New Ventures Maine.[4][7]
Maine Senate
Vitelli was first elected to the Maine Senate in an August 2013 special election after Senate Majority Leader Seth Goodall resigned to accept a presidential appointment overseeing the New England region of the Small Business Administration.[8][9] Vitelli won the three-way race with 50.5% of the vote.[10]
In 2014, Vitelli ran for re-election but was defeated by Republican Linda Baker.[11]
In November 2016, Vitelli ran for the Senate again and beat Republican Guy Lebida with 52.9% of the vote.[12][13] She defeated Republican Richard Donaldson in 2018 and Republican Holly Kopp in 2020.[13] Vitelli was selected to be the Assistant Senate Majority Leader in December 2020, and in February 2021, when majority leader Nate Libby stepped down from the leadership position, Vitelli was named majority leader.[14][1] She was re-elected Senate Majority Leader following the November 2022 elections.[15]
Personal life
Vitelli and her husband, journalist Bob Kalish, have two adult sons, Sam and Will.[16][3] Vitelli enjoys gardening, reading, camping and hiking, and has climbed Mount Katahdin 10 times.[17][2]
The Italian singer-songwriter Francesco Guccini dedicated a song to her, "100 Pennsylvania avenue", in memory of the relationship they had when she was studying in Bologna.
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Awards & honors
1986 co-recipient, Women's Business Advocate of the Year award, Maine Small Business Administration
