Before joining the Owens Administration, Norton worked as a regional director in the
US Department of Health and Human Services during the
Ronald Reagan and
George H. W. Bush administrations. She has also served in the
Colorado House of Representatives, filling the remainder of an unexpired term from mid-1986 to January 1987. Prior to her election as Colorado's Lieutenant Governor, Norton was appointed executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) by Governor
Bill Owens, serving in that capacity from 1999 to 2002. As such, she had regulatory and programmatic responsibilities including
bioterrorism preparedness;
disease prevention and
epidemiology; health facilities; family and community health services;
emergency medical services; air and water quality protection; hazardous waste and solid waste management; and
consumer protection. She also created the Office of Suicide Prevention, with an emphasis on
teen suicide prevention. Additionally, Norton served in an array of ancillary capacities: Secretary, State Board of Health; chair, Governor's Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee; Commissioned Officer,
Food and Drug Administration; Board of Directors, Regional Air Quality Council; Leadership Council of the Multi-Agency Wildfire Restoration and Rehabilitation Team; Colorado Natural Resource Damages Trustee; Colorado Strategic Planning Group on Health Care Coverage; member of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; National Governors' Association's Oral Health Policy Academy Colorado Team; and on the Governor's Disaster Emergency Council.
Colorado Lieutenant Governor Norton was sworn in as Colorado's 46th Lieutenant Governor on January 13, 2003, and served in that position throughout Governor Owens' second term, until 2007. She was the third woman and first
Republican woman to serve as Lieutenant Governor of Colorado. She served as chair of the Colorado Commission of
Indian Affairs; liaison for the Owens Administration on
health insurance reform; oversaw the state's
volunteerism,
mentoring, and
adoption initiatives; and served as Colorado's delegate to the Aerospace States Association. In November, 2003, Norton launched and chaired the Lieutenant Governor's Committee to Promote
Adoption. She was the honorary chair of the Colorado
March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign, Western Region chair for the National Lieutenant Governors Association, served on the board of directors of the American Council of Young Political Leaders, and was a member of the Women's Forum of Colorado. In October 2003, Persons Living with HIV Action Network of Colorado honored her with the Legislator of the Year award for her leadership on legislative issues affecting the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS. Norton was also chosen by
Colorado State University to serve as a Monfort Professor in Residence. In 1999, she received
Regis University's David M. Clarke, S.J. Innovative Leadership Award and was the 2001 recipient of Colorado State University's College of Applied Human Sciences Honor Alumna Award. Norton has received the
US Public Health Service Assistant Secretary's Award for Outstanding Accomplishment for increasing childhood immunization rates. She also received the US
Administration on Aging's Outstanding Service to Seniors Award. Norton lead the successful a 2006 campaign to outlaw
gay marriage in Colorado. She co-authored
Colorado Amendment 43 together with her husband,
Michael J. Norton. This amendment made same-sex marriage unconstitutional in Colorado. She also opposed legal domestic partnerships via her opposition to
Colorado Referendum I. She stated that "If we lose the uniqueness of marriage, we lose a fundamental building block of society."
2010 U.S. Senate campaign On September 15, 2009, Norton held town-hall meetings in Denver,
Colorado Springs, and
Grand Junction to announce her bid for the Republican nomination to oppose incumbent U.S. Senator
Michael Bennet in 2010. She joined a broad field of Republican primary candidates, including
Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, former State Senator
Tom Wiens, and businessman
Cleve Tidwell. In the March 16, 2010
Colorado Caucus preference poll, Norton finished a close second (37.51%) to
Ken Buck (38.15%), with
Tom Wiens in third place (16.48%). Rather than going to the convention to seek the nomination, Norton got on the ballot by petition. Buck won the convention to get on the ballot, and Wiens subsequently dropped out and endorsed Buck. On August 10, primary election day, Buck defeated Norton by a narrow 51% to 49% margin. Buck faced
Michael Bennet, who had defeated
Andrew Romanoff in the Democratic primary. Buck was narrowly defeated by Senator Bennet in the November general election. ==Personal life==