Jonathan Palmer Scott is a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 politician and was the Party's nominee against Patrick J Kennedy in Rhode Island's 1st congressional district

Rhode Island's 1st congressional district

Rhode Island's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in northern and eastern Rhode Island. The district is currently represented by David Cicilline, who has represented the district since January 2011....

, in both 2006 and 2008.

Background

Scott was born in 1966 in Providence, Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

 to Mary Lou Gilbert, a single mother and former Ice Capades

Ice Capades

The Ice Capades was a traveling entertainment show featuring theatrical performances involving ice skating. Shows often featured former Olympicand National Champion figure skaters who had retired from amateur competition....

 skater and instructor. He described his mother, during a radio interview on Rhode Island’s WPRO

WPRO (AM)

WPRO is a radio station located in Providence, Rhode Island. The station is owned by Cumulus Media, and airs a talk format. WPRO's studio and transmitter are located in East Providence, at the Salty Brine Broadcast Center, named after WPRO's longtime morning host...

, as “amazingly industrious”. According to his account, she had dropped out of Hope High School

Hope High School (Rhode Island)

Hope High School is a public high school in the East Side of Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A. operated by Providence Public School District. It was founded in 1898 and since 2003, Hope High School has been partitioned into three semi-independent "communities" -- Hope High School Arts Community,...

 (Providence, RI) in order to pursue her skating career and received her GED

GED

General Educational Development tests are a group of five subject tests which, when passed, certify that the taker has American or Canadian high school-level academic skills...

. She later “worked her way through Salve Regina

Salve Regina

The "Salve Regina", also known as the Hail Holy Queen, is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at Compline in the time from the Saturday before Trinity...

 nursing school

Nursing school

A nursing school is a type of educational institution, or part thereof, providing education and training to become a fully qualified nurse. The nature of nursing education and nursing qualifications varies considerably across the world.-United Kingdom:...

 as a lab tech, through anesthesia

Anesthesia

Anesthesia, or anaesthesia , traditionally meant the condition of having sensation blocked or temporarily taken away...

 school as a pediatrics

Pediatrics

Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...

 nurse and, when she got a bit bored, decided to get her law degree

Law degree

A Law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers; but while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not themselves confer a license...

, as well”.

In 1975, his mother married Perry Scott. He has never made reference to his biological father.

Scott attended the Moses Brown School

Moses Brown School

Moses Brown School is a Quaker school located in Providence, Rhode Island, founded by Moses Brown, a Quaker abolitionist, in 1784. It is one of the oldest preparatory schools in the country.-Founder:...

; a prestigious private Quaker school on Providence’s East Side which boasts Christopher Hill

Christopher Hill

Christopher Hill may refer to:*Christopher Hill , English bishop*Christopher J. Hill, International Relations scholar, Professor and Director of the Cambridge Centre of International Studies*Christopher R. Hill, U.S. Ambassador in Iraq...

, Will MacKenzie

Will MacKenzie

William Ruggles MacKenzie is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour.MacKenzie was born and raised in Greenville, North Carolina. He was a golfing prodigy growing up but burned out on golf at age 14 and completely quit the game after high school...

, Tom Chappell

Tom Chappell

Thomas Matthew "Tom" Chappell is an American businessman and manufacturer and co-founder of Tom's of Maine in 1970.Chappell graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut with a B.A. in English in 1966. Chappell and his wife, cofounder Kate Chappell, moved to Kennebunk, Maine in 1968 to...

, and Vincent Cianci

Vincent Cianci

Vincent Albert "Buddy" Cianci, Jr. served as the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, from 1975 to 1984 and again from 1991 to 2002...

 among its alumni. He was at the school from elementary school through high school graduation. He later attended the University of Rhode Island

University of Rhode Island

The University of Rhode Island is the principal public research university in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Its main campus is located in Kingston. Additional campuses include the Feinstein Campus in Providence, the Narragansett Bay Campus in Narragansett, and the W. Alton Jones Campus in West...

, where he chaired the Student Senate. Scott also attended Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 Contnuing Education division known as the Harvard Extension.

He has never married but has a son, who is adopted. Chris is 24 and lives with his father in Providence.

Sailing career

Scott was a professional captain on racing sailboats after a college career at the University of Rhode Island in which he crewed on two Kennedy Cup winning teams – collegiate sailing’s equivalent of the national championship. He later sailed as a paid professional on a variety of boats around the world. He has sailed with a number of famous sailors including ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 commentator Gary Jobson

Gary Jobson

Gary Jobson is a decorated sailor, television commentator, sailing lecturer, and author based in Annapolis, Maryland. He has recorded many achievements in his sailing career, having won multiple championships in one-design classes, the America's Cup with Ted Turner in 1977, the Fastnet Race, and...

.

In 2006, just prior to his announcement for the Congressional race, he completed his 10th Newport to Bermuda race.

Coaching career

Scott is nationally recognized as a coach and coaching educator. He coached sailing, football, wrestling and lacrosse from youth to elite levels for 18 years.

He was, at age 19, assumed to be the youngest varsity high school lacrosse head coach in the nation at the Portsmouth Abbey School

Portsmouth Abbey School

Portsmouth Abbey School is a private, coeducational boarding and day school for grades 9 through 12, located in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Founded by the Benedictine monks of Portsmouth Abbey in 1926 as Portsmouth Priory School, the school offered a classical education to boys...

, where he coached for almost ten years. He also coached wrestling at the school.

He coached wrestling for Bridgewater State College

Bridgewater State College

Bridgewater State University is a public liberal-arts college in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is the largest college in the Massachusetts state university system outside of the University of Massachusetts system. The school's mascot is the bear.-History:BSU was founded by...

 and was certified as a Freestyle

Freestyle wrestling

Freestyle wrestling is a style of amateur wrestling that is practised throughout the world. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic games. It is, along with track and field, one of the oldest organized sports in history...

 Coach for USA Wrestling

USA Wrestling

USA Wrestling is the organization that currently governs freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States...

. He coached at the organization’s Junior Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 Developmental Camps and was a coaching instructor for them.

Professional career

Scott was a Counselor and Group Home Manager in Providence, prior to embarking on his political career. He worked with an adolescent male population and also served as a liaison to Family court

Family court

A family court is a court convened to decide matters and make orders in relation to family law, such as custody of children. In common-law jurisdictions "family courts" are statutory creations primarily dealing with equitable matters devolved from a court of inherent jurisdiction, such as a...

 and as an Educational Advocate for special education

Special education

Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...

 students.

Political career

Scott lost in November 2006 and November 2008 to incumbent Patrick Kennedy

Patrick J. Kennedy

Patrick Joseph Kennedy II is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1995 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes all of Bristol County and Newport County, and parts of Providence County. Kennedy did not seek re-election in 2010.A member of the Kennedy...

 (D). Scott was never able to achieve the fund raising necessary to be competitive with Kennedy.

Scott counts among his supporters Former United States Secretary of the Navy

United States Secretary of the Navy

The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...

, J. William Middendorf

J. William Middendorf

John William Middendorf II was a Republican United States diplomat.-Biography:Middendorf received a Bachelor of Naval Science from College of the Holy Cross in 1945. He served in the Navy just at the end of World War II as engineer officer and navigator of USS LCS 53, being mustered out in 1946...

 and Grover Norquist

Grover Norquist

Grover Glenn Norquist is an American lobbyist, conservative activist, and founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform...

 (President of Americans for Tax Reform

Americans for Tax Reform

Americans for Tax Reform is an advocacy group and taxpayer group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today. The government's power to control one's life derives from its power to tax...

]. Scott was the RI Coordinator for Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich

Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....

’s “American Solutions Day” project in 2007.

Scott has always run a transparent campaign and admitted, upfront, to having endured a bankruptcy when he first adopted his son.

Scott is now running as an Independent for Mayor in Providence. He will face the winner of a 4 way Democrat primary in November.