Martha Rainville

Rainville was the Republican nominee against Democrat Peter Welch for the seat Bernie Sanders was leaving to run for the U.S. Senate. She signed a Clean Campaign Pledge in which she vowed to not attack her opponent, and condemned negative TV ads by outside parties. Rainville’s campaign, though a positive one, made some gaffes including an incident in which one of her staffers was found to have plagiarized portions of issue position statements posted to Rainville's campaign website, which resulted in a drop for Rainville in pre-election public opinion polls.

In 2007, Rainville was appointed counselor to the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator and deputy administrator for Continuity Programs. Rainville was responsible for ensuring that FEMA performed its role as Lead Agent for Federal Executive Branch Continuity Programs and served until 2009.

In 2005, Rainville began consulting with members of the Republican and Democratic parties regarding a possible run for the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. She was courted by members of both parties and announced in the spring of 2006 that she would run for Vermont's U.S. House seat as a Republican, intending to base her campaign on government reform and ethics, homeland security, and a strong national defense. She won the Republican nomination with 71 percent of the primary vote, to 28 for Mark Shepard, a member of the Vermont Senate.

Rainville is the daughter of the late Nick and Lucille Trim of Port Gibson, Mississippi. She was married to Norman Rainville, whom she met while both served in the Air Force; they had three children and divorced in 2003. In 2009 she married Paul McHale, a former Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania and former Assistant Secretary of Defense.

In February 1997, Rainville won the Vermont General Assembly's election for adjutant general of the State of Vermont. In most states the adjutant general is appointed by the governor; in Vermont the state legislature chooses. The election for a two-year term is held in February of each odd-numbered year, and the term starts in March. Rainville became the first woman in U.S. history to serve as head of a state's National Guard, and commanded the 3,800 members of the Vermont Army and Air National Guard until her retirement in 2006.

Following graduation, she entered the United States Air Force, and was a 1979 Distinguished Graduate of the United States Air Force Officer Basic Military Training Program at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. She served on active duty from 1978 to 1984, then transferred to the New York Air National Guard. She also served in the Air Force Reserve before transferring to the Vermont Air National Guard. Rainville specialized in the planning and management of aircraft maintenance and advanced through the ranks to lieutenant colonel and commander of Vermont's 158th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.

Rainville was born in New London, Connecticut while her father was serving in the United States Navy, and she was raised in Mississippi after her father's retirement. She graduated from Chamberlain-Hunt Academy in 1975, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of Mississippi (1979).

Martha Rainville (née Trim, born April 9, 1958) is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who attained the rank of major general. She is most notable for her service as the adjutant general of the Vermont National Guard, and was the first woman in U.S. history to become a state adjutant general. In 2006 she ran as the Republican candidate for Vermont's at-large congressional district and was defeated by Democratic candidate Peter Welch. Rainville was later appointed to senior executive roles at FEMA, and then became Chief Operating Officer of Civil Support International LLC, a disaster preparedness and crisis response consulting firm.