Representative Nan A. S. Hayworth

Nan Alison Hayworth (née Sutter; born December 14, 1959) is an American ophthalmologist and former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. She served one term in Congress, representing New York’s 19th congressional district from January 3, 2011, to January 3, 2013, after being elected in 2010. A member of the Republican Party, she contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American history, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of her constituents in the House of Representatives.

Hayworth was born on December 14, 1959, in Chicago, Illinois, and was raised in Munster, Indiana. Both of her parents were World War II veterans. Her mother, Sarah Margaret Badley, immigrated to the United States from England in 1948. Hayworth attended Munster High School in Munster, Indiana, and, upon graduation, enrolled at Princeton University. At Princeton she pursued studies in biology, earning an A.B. degree in 1981. Her senior thesis, completed that year, was titled “Studies of the Interphase Development of Dictyostelium Discoideum on Gradients of Cyclic 3’:5’ - Adenosine Monophosphate in Agar,” reflecting an early interest in scientific research and cellular biology.

Following her undergraduate education, Hayworth studied medicine at Cornell University Medical College in New York City. After receiving her medical degree, she completed residency training in ophthalmology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. She initially established and worked in a solo ophthalmology practice, building a career as a clinician. In 1996 she joined the Mount Kisco Medical Group in New York’s Hudson Valley, further consolidating her professional ties to the region she would later represent in Congress. Her medical background and experience in private practice and group practice later became central elements of her political identity and campaign messaging.

Hayworth entered electoral politics in the 2010 election cycle. On September 14, 2010, she defeated Neil DiCarlo in the Republican primary for New York’s 19th congressional district, winning 69 percent of the vote. In the general election that November, she unseated Democratic incumbent John Hall with 53 percent of the vote. New York’s 19th district at that time had a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+3 and lay north of New York City, encompassing parts of Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, Westchester, and Putnam Counties. President George W. Bush had carried the district with 54 percent of the vote in 2004, while President Barack Obama carried it with 51 percent in 2008. Hayworth was one of 41 Republican physicians who ran for Congress in 2010, and during the campaign she highlighted her medical credentials, even posting her medical diploma on her campaign website. Upon taking office, she was the only female physician serving in Congress. She was associated with the GOP Young Guns program and was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, as well as the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.

During her term in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013, Hayworth focused heavily on fiscal and economic issues, generally avoiding highly divisive positions on social questions such as abortion and same-sex marriage. She served on the House Committee on Financial Services, with assignments on the Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Her voting record centered on budget, spending, and tax matters. She voted for Representative Paul Ryan’s budget proposals in 2011 and 2012 and publicly described Ryan as a “teacher and mentor” to House Republicans on developing a budget plan “that actually will work for the United States.” She supported repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and generally opposed additional federal gun control measures. Among major fiscal measures, she voted for the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the Cut, Cap and Balance Act of 2011, opposed an increase in the federal debt limit, and on January 1, 2013, voted in favor of the final legislation that averted the so‑called “fiscal cliff.” In November 2011 she endorsed Mitt Romney for president.

Hayworth’s tenure also included engagement with disaster relief and energy policy. Following Hurricane Irene in 2011, after touring affected areas in her district, she publicly stated that she had written to President Barack Obama in support of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s request for the broadest possible federal disaster declaration for the impacted counties, to ensure that residents would be eligible for individual assistance and that municipalities could access public assistance programs. At the same time, she maintained that any additions to the federal disaster relief fund should be offset by cuts elsewhere in the federal budget. In 2011 she joined several House Republicans in sending a letter to President Obama urging expedited permitting for what they described as safe offshore energy exploration. Her campaign financing reflected her professional background and policy interests; she accumulated approximately half a million dollars in debt following her campaigns, and her top contributing industries included health professionals, securities and investment, and health services companies. Major contributors included Mount Kisco Medical Group, Vestar Capital Partners, and Elliott Management.

After the 2010 census, New York underwent congressional redistricting, and Hayworth’s district was renumbered as the 18th district for the 2012 elections. The new 18th district was composed of all of Orange and Putnam Counties and parts of Dutchess and Westchester Counties. In terms of voter population, it drew approximately 1 percent from the old 18th district, 76 percent from the old 19th, 2 percent from the old 20th, and 21 percent from the old 22nd. Hayworth ran for reelection in this newly configured 18th district in 2012. She faced Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney, a former White House staff secretary to President Bill Clinton. In the November 2012 general election, she lost to Maloney by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent, ending her congressional service on January 3, 2013.

Hayworth remained active in politics following her defeat. She filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to lay the groundwork for a 2014 rematch against Maloney and indicated in media interviews that she was strongly considering another run. The 2014 contest in New York’s 18th district became one of the most competitive House races in the state. Hayworth secured the nominations of the Republican, Conservative, and Independence parties, while Maloney appeared on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines. Late in the campaign, Hayworth released a television advertisement featuring her gay son, who told viewers that his mother was “not an extremist.” The advertisement drew criticism from some LGBT advocacy groups, which argued that Hayworth had not done enough to support pro-LGBT legislation during her time in Congress. In the November 2014 election, Maloney won reelection by a plurality, receiving 47.66 percent of the vote to Hayworth’s 45.88 percent, and she did not return to Congress.

In her personal life, Hayworth met her husband, physician Scott Hayworth, while both were students at Princeton University. They married in 1981. Scott Hayworth became president and chief executive officer of the Mount Kisco Medical Group, served as an associate dean at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and chaired the board of directors of the American Medical Group Association. The couple had two sons. Nan Hayworth is a member of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and has served on the board of ConservAmerica, a 501(c)(4) political action committee that promotes conservation-oriented policies within a center-right framework. On November 23, 2021, Hayworth announced on Twitter that her son John had died, a loss she shared publicly after her congressional career had concluded.