1.
115th United States Congress
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It is scheduled to meet in Washington, D. C. from January 3,2017, to January 3,2019, during the final weeks of the Obama presidency and the first two years of the Trump presidency. The elections of November 2016 maintained Republican control of both the House and Senate, January 5,2017, House of Representatives condemned United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334. The final vote was 51 to 48 to approve a resolution to allow broad swaths of the Affordable Care Act to be repealed through a process known as budget reconciliation. January 20,2017, Inauguration of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, february 7,2017, The Vice President cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. This was the first time in United States history that a cabinet confirmation was tied in the Senate, february 28,2017, Presidents speech to a Joint Session Resignations and new members are discussed in the Changes in membership section, below. All 435 seats were filled by election on November 8,2016, listed alphabetically by chamber, including Chairman and Ranking Member
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United States Capitol
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The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol Building or Capitol Hill, is the home of the United States Congress, and the seat of the legislative branch of the U. S. federal government. It sits atop Capitol Hill at the end of the National Mall in Washington. Though not at the center of the Federal District, the Capitol forms the origin point for the Districts street-numbering system. The original building was completed in 1800 and was subsequently expanded, like the principal buildings of the executive and judicial branches, the Capitol is built in a distinctive neoclassical style and has a white exterior. Both its east and west elevations are referred to as fronts, though only the east front was intended for the reception of visitors. In 2014, scaffolding was erected around the dome for a project scheduled to be completed by early 2017. All exterior scaffolding was removed by the end of summer 2016, prior to establishing the nations capital in Washington, D. C. the United States Congress and its predecessors had met in Philadelphia, New York City, and a number of other locations. In September 1774, the First Continental Congress brought together delegates from the colonies in Philadelphia, followed by the Second Continental Congress, Congress requested that John Dickinson, the Governor of Pennsylvania, call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia. As a result, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey, on June 21,1783, and met in Annapolis, Maryland, the United States Congress was established upon ratification of the United States Constitution and formally began on March 4,1789. New York City remained home to Congress until July 1790, when the Residence Act was passed to pave the way for a permanent capital. As part of the legislation, Philadelphia was chosen as a capital for ten years, until the nations capital in Washington. Pierre Charles LEnfant was given the task of creating the city plan for the new capital city, in reviewing LEnfants plan, Thomas Jefferson insisted the legislative building be called the Capitol rather than Congress House. The word Capitol comes from Latin and is associated with the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Capitoline Hill, the connection between the two is not, however, crystal clear. In spring 1792, United States Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson proposed a competition to solicit designs for the Capitol and the Presidents House. The prize for the competition was $500 and a lot in the Federal City, the most promising of the submissions was by Stephen Hallet, a trained French architect. However, Hallets designs were overly fancy, with too much French influence, a late entry by amateur architect William Thornton was submitted on January 31,1793, to much praise for its Grandeur, Simplicity, and Beauty by Washington, along with praise from Thomas Jefferson. Thornton was inspired by the east front of the Louvre, as well as the Paris Pantheon for the portion of the design
3.
Vice President of the United States
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The executive power of both the vice president and the president is granted under Article Two, Section One of the Constitution. The vice president is elected, together with the president. The Office of the Vice President of the United States assists, as the president of the United States Senate, the vice president votes only when it is necessary to break a tie. Additionally, pursuant to the Twelfth Amendment, the president presides over the joint session of Congress when it convenes to count the vote of the Electoral College. Currently, the president is usually seen as an integral part of a presidents administration. The Constitution does not expressly assign the office to any one branch, causing a dispute among scholars whether it belongs to the executive branch, the legislative branch, or both. The modern view of the president as a member of the executive branch is due in part to the assignment of executive duties to the vice president by either the president or Congress. Mike Pence of Indiana is the 48th and current vice president and he assumed office on January 20,2017. The formation of the office of vice president resulted directly from the compromise reached at the Philadelphia Convention which created the Electoral College, the delegates at Philadelphia agreed that each state would receive a number of presidential electors equal to the sum of that states allocation of Representatives and Senators. The delegates assumed that electors would typically choose to favor any candidate from their state over candidates from other states, under a plurality election process, this would tend to result in electing candidates solely from the largest states. Consequently, the delegates agreed that presidents must be elected by a majority of the number of electors. To guard against such stratagems, the Philadelphia delegates specified that the first runner-up presidential candidate would become vice president, the process for selecting the vice president was later modified in the Twelfth Amendment. Each elector still receives two votes, but now one of those votes is for president, while the other is for vice president. The requirement that one of those votes be cast for a candidate not from the electors own state remains in effect. S, other statutorily granted roles include membership of both the National Security Council and the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. As President of the Senate, the president has two primary duties, to cast a vote in the event of a Senate deadlock and to preside over. For example, in the first half of 2001, the Senators were divided 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats and Dick Cheneys tie-breaking vote gave the Republicans the Senate majority, as President of the Senate, the vice president oversees procedural matters and may cast a tie-breaking vote. As President of the Senate, John Adams cast 29 tie-breaking votes that was surpassed by John C. Calhoun with 31. Adamss votes protected the presidents sole authority over the removal of appointees, influenced the location of the national capital, on at least one occasion Adams persuaded senators to vote against legislation he opposed, and he frequently addressed the Senate on procedural and policy matters
4.
Mike Pence
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Michael Richard Mike Pence is an American politician, lawyer, and the 48th Vice President of the United States. He previously served as the 50th Governor of Indiana from 2013 to 2017, born and raised in Columbus, Indiana, Pence graduated from Hanover College and earned a law degree from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law before entering private practice. After losing two bids for a U. S. congressional seat in 1988 and 1990, he became a conservative radio and he served as the chairman of the House Republican Conference from 2009 to 2011. Pence positioned himself as an ideologue and supporter of the Tea Party movement, noting he was a Christian, a conservative. Pence signed bills intended to restrict abortions, including one that prohibited abortions if the reason for the procedure was the race, gender. He later signed an additional bill acting as an amendment intended to protect LGBT people. Michael Richard Mike Pence was born June 7,1959, in Columbus, Indiana, one of six children of Nancy Jane and Edward J. Pence and his family were Irish Catholic Democrats. He was named after his grandfather, Richard Michael Cawley, who emigrated from County Sligo, Ireland, to the United States through Ellis Island and became a bus driver in Chicago and his maternal grandmothers parents were from Doonbeg, County Clare. Pence graduated from Columbus North High School in 1977 and he earned a BA degree in history from Hanover College in 1981, and a JD degree from the Indiana Universitys Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis in 1986. While at Hanover, Pence joined the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, after graduating from Hanover, Pence was an admissions counselor at the college from 1981 to 1983. In his childhood and early adulthood, Pence was a Roman Catholic, kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. While in college, Pence became an evangelical, born-again Christian, after graduating from law school in 1986, Pence was an attorney in private practice. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in 1988 and in 1990. He became the president of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, a self-described free-market think tank in 1991, Pence left the Indiana Policy Review Foundation in 1993, a year after beginning to host The Mike Pence Show, a talk radio program based in WRCR-FM in Rushville, Indiana. Pence called himself Rush Limbaugh on decaf since he considered himself politically conservative while not as outspoken as Limbaugh, the show was syndicated by Network Indiana and aired weekdays 9 a. m. to noon on 18 stations throughout the state, including WIBC in Indianapolis. From 1995 to 1999, Pence also hosted a political talk show from Indianapolis. In 1988, Pence ran for Congress against Democratic incumbent Phil Sharp and he ran against Sharp again in 1990, quitting his job in order to work full-time in the campaign, but once again was unsuccessful. During the race, Pence used political donations to pay the mortgage on his house, his credit card bill, groceries, golf tournament fees
5.
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
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The president pro tempore of the United States Senate, also president pro tem, is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate. Unlike the vice president, the president pro tempore is a member of the Senate. Selected by the Senate at large, the president pro tempore has enjoyed many privileges, during the vice presidents absence, the president pro tempore is empowered to preside over Senate sessions. Since 1890, the most senior senator in the majority party has generally chosen to be president pro tempore. This tradition has been observed without interruption since 1949, the current President pro tempore of the Senate is Utah Republican Orrin Hatch. Elected on January 6,2015, he is the 90th person to serve in this office, although the position is in some ways analogous to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the powers of the president pro tempore are far more limited. The president pro tempore is third in the line of succession, following the vice president. Additional duties include appointment of various officers, certain commissions, advisory boards. The officeholder is an ex member of various boards and commissions. With the secretary and sergeant at arms, the president pro tempore maintains order in Senate portions of the Capitol, the office of president pro tempore was established by the Constitution of the United States in 1789. The first president pro tempore, John Langdon, was elected on April 6 the same year, originally, the president pro tempore was appointed on an intermittent basis when the vice president was not present to preside over the Senate. Until the 1960s, it was practice for the vice president to preside over daily Senate sessions. Until 1891, the president pro tempore only served until the return of the president to the chair or the adjournment of a session of Congress. Between 1792 and 1886, the president pro tempore was second in the line of succession following the vice president. When President Andrew Johnson, who had no president, was impeached and tried in 1868. Wades radicalism is thought by historians to be a major reason why the Senate. The President pro tempore and the Speaker of the House were removed from the line of succession in 1886. Both were restored to it in 1947, though this time with the president pro tempore following the speaker, William P. Frye served as President pro tempore from 1896 to 1911 (54th–62nd Congress, a tenure longer than anyone else
6.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
7.
United States Senate
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The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. S. From 1789 until 1913, Senators were appointed by the legislatures of the states represented, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The Senate chamber is located in the wing of the Capitol, in Washington. It further has the responsibility of conducting trials of those impeached by the House, in the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers. This idea of having one chamber represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut Compromise, there was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a Peoples House directly elected by the people, the other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not designed to serve the people of the United States equally, the Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation. First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate, the name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders. James Madison made the comment about the Senate, In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people. An agrarian law would take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation, landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority, the senate, therefore, ought to be this body, and to answer these purposes, the people ought to have permanency and stability. The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that states consent, the District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two senators, but they are officials of the D. C. city government. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. In 1787, Virginia had roughly ten times the population of Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming and this means some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state, before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures
8.
United States House of Representatives
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The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the Senate, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the House are established by Article One of the United States Constitution, since its inception in 1789, all representatives are elected popularly. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435, the House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the President for consideration. The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the members thereof and is traditionally the leader of the controlling party. He or she and other leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conferences. The House meets in the wing of the United States Capitol. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was a body in which each state was equally represented. All states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates, the issue of how to structure Congress was one of the most divisive among the founders during the Convention. The House is referred to as the house, with the Senate being the upper house. Both houses approval is necessary for the passage of legislation, the Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, the Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states in 1788, but its implementation was set for March 4,1789. The House began work on April 1,1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time, during the first half of the 19th century, the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over regionally divisive issues, including slavery. The North was much more populous than the South, and therefore dominated the House of Representatives, However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed. Regional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery, One example of a provision repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during the Mexican–American War. Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War, the war culminated in the Souths defeat and in the abolition of slavery. Because all southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, the years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the Unions victory in the Civil War and the ending of slavery. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877, the ensuing era, the Democratic and the Republican Party held majorities in the House at various times. The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw an increase in the power of the Speaker of the House
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Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
10.
United States elections, 2018
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The 2018 United States elections will mostly be held on Tuesday, November 6,2018. These midterm elections will take place in the middle of Republican President Donald Trumps term, all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate will be contested. 39 state and territorial governorships and numerous state and local elections will also be contested. All 33 seats in Senate Class I will be up for election, additionally, special elections may be held to fill vacancies in the other two Senate Classes. Alabama Class II, Incumbent Senator Jeff Sessions was confirmed by the Senate to serve as United States Attorney General on February 8,2017, and subsequently resigned from the Senate. Governor Robert J. Bentley chose Luther Strange, the Attorney General of Alabama, to succeed Sessions, although he had the power to schedule an election in 2017, Bentley decided to align it with the 2018 general election. All 435 voting seats in the United States House of Representatives will be up for election, elections will be held for the governorships of 36 U. S. states and three U. S. territories. Special elections may be held for vacancies in the states and territories. Most states will hold state elections, although Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey. Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, and South Carolina will only hold elections for the lower house, in states that use staggered terms, some state senators will not be up for election. This table shows the results of Congressional, gubernatorial, presidential. Nor the territories elect members of the United States Senate, washington, D. C. and the five inhabited territories each elect one non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives. Nebraskas unicameral legislature and the governorship and legislature of American Samoa are officially non-partisan, New Jersey and Virginia will hold gubernatorial and legislative elections in 2017
11.
Democratic Party (United States)
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The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The Democrats dominant worldview was once socially conservative and fiscally classical liberalism, while, especially in the rural South, since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social-liberal platform, supporting social justice. Today, the House Democratic caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists, the partys philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state. It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy, the party has united with smaller left-wing regional parties throughout the country, such as the Farmer–Labor Party in Minnesota and the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota. Well into the 20th century, the party had conservative pro-business, the New Deal Coalition of 1932–1964 attracted strong support from voters of recent European extraction—many of whom were Catholics based in the cities. After Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal of the 1930s, the pro-business wing withered outside the South, after the racial turmoil of the 1960s, most southern whites and many northern Catholics moved into the Republican Party at the presidential level. The once-powerful labor union element became smaller and less supportive after the 1970s, white Evangelicals and Southerners became heavily Republican at the state and local level in the 1990s. However, African Americans became a major Democratic element after 1964, after 2000, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBT community, single women and professional women moved towards the party as well. The Northeast and the West Coast became Democratic strongholds by 1990 after the Republicans stopped appealing to socially liberal voters there, overall, the Democratic Party has retained a membership lead over its major rival the Republican Party. The most recent was the 44th president Barack Obama, who held the office from 2009 to 2017, in the 115th Congress, following the 2016 elections, Democrats are the opposition party, holding a minority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a minority of governorships, and state legislatures, though they do control the mayoralty of cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D. C. The Democratic Party traces its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and that party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party truly arose in the 1830s, since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues. They have been liberal on civil rights issues since 1948. On foreign policy both parties changed position several times and that party, the Democratic-Republican Party, came to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812 the Federalists virtually disappeared and the national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republican party still had its own factions, however. As Norton explains the transformation in 1828, Jacksonians believed the peoples will had finally prevailed, through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president
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Republican Party (United States)
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The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival, the Democratic Party. The party is named after republicanism, the dominant value during the American Revolution and it was founded by anti-slavery activists, modernists, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers in 1854. The Republicans dominated politics nationally and in the majority of northern States for most of the period between 1860 and 1932, there have been 19 Republican presidents, the most from any one party. The Republican Partys current ideology is American conservatism, which contrasts with the Democrats more progressive platform, further, its platform involves support for free market capitalism, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, a strong national defense, deregulation, and restrictions on labor unions. In addition to advocating for economic policies, the Republican Party is socially conservative. As of 2017, the GOP is documented as being at its strongest position politically since 1928, in addition to holding the Presidency, the Republicans control the 115th United States Congress, having majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a majority of governorships and state legislatures, the main cause was opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise by which slavery was kept out of Kansas. The Northern Republicans saw the expansion of slavery as a great evil, the first public meeting of the general anti-Nebraska movement where the name Republican was suggested for a new anti-slavery party was held on March 20,1854, in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin. The name was chosen to pay homage to Thomas Jeffersons Republican Party. The first official party convention was held on July 6,1854, in Jackson and it oversaw the preserving of the union, the end of slavery, and the provision of equal rights to all men in the American Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877. The Republicans initial base was in the Northeast and the upper Midwest, with the realignment of parties and voters in the Third Party System, the strong run of John C. Fremont in the 1856 United States presidential election demonstrated it dominated most northern states, early Republican ideology was reflected in the 1856 slogan free labor, free land, free men, which had been coined by Salmon P. Chase, a Senator from Ohio. Free labor referred to the Republican opposition to labor and belief in independent artisans. Free land referred to Republican opposition to the system whereby slaveowners could buy up all the good farm land. The Party strove to contain the expansion of slavery, which would cause the collapse of the slave power, Lincoln, representing the fast-growing western states, won the Republican nomination in 1860 and subsequently won the presidency. The party took on the mission of preserving the Union, and destroying slavery during the American Civil War, in the election of 1864, it united with War Democrats to nominate Lincoln on the National Union Party ticket. The partys success created factionalism within the party in the 1870s and those who felt that Reconstruction had been accomplished and was continued mostly to promote the large-scale corruption tolerated by President Ulysses S. Grant ran Horace Greeley for the presidency. The Stalwarts defended Grant and the system, the Half-Breeds led by Chester A. Arthur pushed for reform of the civil service in 1883
13.
United States Senate elections, 2018
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Currently, Democrats are expected to have 23 seats up for election along with 2 independents who caucus with them. Republicans are expected to have 9 seats up for election, the seats up for election in 2018 were last up for election in 2012, although some seats may have special elections if incumbents die or resign. Democrats gained a net 2 seats in the 2016 Senate elections, the United States House of Representatives elections,39 gubernatorial elections, and many other state and local elections will also be held on this date. Among the 34 Senators up for election in 2018 are 33 Class I Senators up for election and 1 Class II Senator up for special election. These consist of 23 Democrats,2 independents who caucus with the Senate Democrats, if a Senate vacancy occurs between 2016 and 2018, there may be special elections before or during the 2018 election, depending on state law. Democrats are expected to target the Senate seats in Nevada and Arizona, Republicans could also target seats in Minnesota, Virginia, Maine, and New Jersey. Other races may become competitive. In this election, the winner will be seated during 2018 or in 2019 before January 3, in these general elections, the winners will be elected for the term beginning January 2019. All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats, ordered by state, thirty-three seats are up for election in 2018, Eighteen Democrats are running for re-election. Two independents are running for re-election, five Republicans are running for re-election. With the appointment of Jeff Sessions as U. S. Attorney General and he had declared his candidacy for the seat before the election. He will be 65 years old in 2018, one-term Republican Senator Jeff Flake was elected with 49% of the vote in 2012. He will be 55 years old in 2018, former state senator Kelli Ward is running as a Republican. Four-term Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein won an election in 1992 and was elected to full terms in 1994,2000,2006. She won re-election in 2012 with 63% of the vote, taking the record for the most popular votes in any U. S. Senate election in history, Feinstein is the Ranking Member of the Select Committee on Intelligence. She will be 85 years old in 2018, Independent candidate biologist Michael Eisen is running. One-term Democratic Senator Chris Murphy was elected with 55% of the vote in 2012 and he will be 45 years old in 2018. Three-term Democratic Senator Tom Carper won re-election with 66% of the vote in 2012 and he will be 71 years old in 2018
14.
Party leaders of the United States Senate
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The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders are two United States Senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They are elected to their positions in the Senate by their party caucuses, the Senate Democratic Caucus. By rule, the Presiding Officer gives the Majority Leader priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate, the Assistant Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate are the second-ranking members of each partys leadership. The main function of the Majority and Minority Whips is to gather votes on major issues, because they are the second ranking member of the Senate, if there is no floor leader present, the whip may become acting floor leader. Before 1969, the titles were Majority Whip and Minority Whip. The Senate is currently composed of 52 Republicans,46 Democrats, the current leaders are Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. The current Assistant Majority Leader is Republican John Cornyn of Texas, the current Assistant Minority Leader/Whip is Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois. The Democrats began the practice of electing floor leaders in 1920 while they were in the minority, John W. Kern was a Democratic Senator from Indiana. While the title was not official, he is considered to be the first Senate party leader from 1913 through 1917, the Constitution designates the Vice President of the United States as President of the United States Senate. The Constitution also calls for a President pro tempore to serve as the leader of the body when the President of the Senate is absent, for these reasons, it is the Majority Leader who, in practice, manages the Senate. This is in contrast to the House of Representatives where the elected Speaker of the House has a deal of discretionary power. The Democratic Party first selected a leader in 1920, the Republican Party first formally designated a leader in 1925. gov Republican Majority Democratic Minority
15.
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
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The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States Senate. It is the only organization solely dedicated to electing Democrats to the United States Senate, the DSCCs current Chairman is Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who succeeded Senator Jon Tester following the United States Senate elections,2016. The DSCCs current Executive Director is Tom Lopach, who is assisted by Deputy Executive Director Preston Elliott, patty Murray was the first female chair of the DSCC. Her tenure was a mixed bag and her team raised more than $143 million, beating the previous record by $40 million, but Democrats lost two seats. For the first time since 1914 a presidents party had control of the Senate in a midterm election. Most observers, though, attributed the outcome to George W. Bushs post-9/11 popularity and the death of Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, chuck Schumer chaired the DSCC for the first of two consecutive cycles. Prior to the election, the Republican Party controlled 55 of the 100 Senate seats, incumbent Democrat Joe Lieberman lost the Democratic primary, but won re-election as an independent. Democrats kept their two seats in Minnesota and Maryland, and Republicans held onto their lone open seat in Tennessee. In Vermont, Bernie Sanders, an independent, was elected to the left open by independent Senator Jim Jeffords. In the 2006 election, two new female Senators were elected to seats held by men. This brought the number of female senators to an all-time high of 16. Following the elections, no party held a majority of seats for the first time since 1954, however, the party balance for the Senate stood at 51–49 in favor of the Democrats, because independents Bernie Sanders and Joe Lieberman caucused with the Democrats. The Democrats needed 51 seats to control the Senate because Vice President Dick Cheney would have broken any 50–50 tie in favor of the Republicans, chuck Schumer chaired the DSCC for the second of two consecutive cycles. Going into the 2008 election, the Senate consisted of 49 Democrats,49 Republicans, of the seats up for election in 2008,23 were held by Republicans and 12 by Democrats. The Republicans, who openly conceded early on that they wouldnt be able to regain the majority in 2008 and this election was the second cycle in a row in which no seats switched from Democratic to Republican. In addition, this was the largest Democratic Senate gain since 1986, Democrats also picked up open seats in Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia. When the new Senate was first sworn in, the balance was 58–41 in favor of the Democrats, the defection of Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania in April 2009 and the swearing-in of Al Franken of Minnesota in July 2009 brought the balance to 60–40. In 2012,23 Democratic Senate seats were available, as opposed to 10 Republican seats, an increase of four seats would have given the GOP a Senate majority
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Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruit candidates, raise funds, and organize races in districts that are expected to yield politically notable or close elections. The structure of the consists, essentially, of the Chairperson, their staff. The Chairperson of the DCCC is the ranking position among House Democrats, after the Minority Leader, the Minority Whip. The DCCC originated in 1866 as the Democratic National Congressional Committee, the other organization, which makes independent expenditures in congressional districts on behalf of the campaigns, is not allowed to coordinate activities with the campaigns. In recent elections, the DCCC has played a role in supporting Democratic candidates with independently produced television ads. Rahm Emanuel assumed the position of DCCC committee chair after the death of the chair, Bob Matsui. Emanuel led the Democratic Partys effort to capture the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2006 elections, after Emanuels election as chairman of the Democratic Caucus, Chris Van Hollen became committee chair for the 110th Congress, and thus for the 2008 elections. He continued through the 2010 elections, for the 2014 election cycle, Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi appointed congressman Ben Ray Luján to serve as the committees chair. The press releases were repeating allegations from one of Adelsons former employees who filed a lawsuit, the DCCC repeated the charges in press releases that attacked Republicans Jim Renacci, Scott DesJarlais, and Jim Gerlach. The statements were untrue and unfair and we retract them, the DCCC extends its sincere apology to Mr. Adelson and his family for any injury we have caused. In July 2016, the DCCC said they were hacked, subsequently, a person described as a hacker and known as Guccifer 2.0 reportedly released documents and information that were obtained from the cyberattack on the DCCC. Of the four congressional committees, the DCCC, with a staff of 25, has the largest in-house research department. Discoveries go into hundred-page research books on their targets that are used as bait to recruit candidates, leaked to reporters or cited in campaign advertisements, the DCCCs support for the Occupy Wall Street movement attracted attention and caused some controversy. Politico reported in October 2011 that the DCCCs position on Occupy Wall Street was making Democratic contributors in the banking, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee National Republican Congressional Committee National Republican Senatorial Committee Official website
17.
Classes of United States Senators
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The three classes of United States Senators are made up of 33 or 34 Senate seats each. The purpose of the classes is to determine which Senate seats will be up for election in a given year, the three groups are staggered so that one of them is up for election every two years, rather than having all 100 seats up for election at once. For example, the 33 Senate seats of Class 1 were elected in 2012, the 33 seats of Class 2 were up for election in 2014, the three classes were established by Article I, Section 3, Clause 2 of the U. S. Constitution. The actual division was performed by the Senate in May 1789 by lot. A senators description as junior or senior senator is not related to his or her class, rather, a states senior senator is the one with the greater seniority in the Senate. This is mostly based on length of service, when the Founding Fathers agreed to give six-year terms to Senators, they also decided to stagger the elections, so that a third of the Senate was up for election every two years. At the same time, they wanted more frequent elections, as opposed to waiting every six years and this was achieved in May 1789, several weeks after the first Senate assembled. To decide on how to implement this, on May 11 the Senate appointed a committee consisting of Senators Ellsworth, Carroll, in accordance with their recommendation, on May 14 the Senate divided the members into three classes, Thursday, May 14,1789. That three papers of a size, numbered 1,2, and 3, be, by the Secretary, rolled up and put into a box, and drawn by Mr. Langdon, Mr. Wingate. On the following day, May 15, the expiration of each class was determined by drawing lots. Upon the expiration of a term of any length, someone starts a new six-year term as senator. Because each state is represented by two Senators, regardless of population, each Senate class collectively represents a different number of people than each other Senate class. When a new state is admitted to the Union, its two senators have terms that correspond to those of two different classes, among the three classes defined below, a coin toss determines which new senator enters which of the classes selected to be expanded. This means at least one of any new states first pair of senators has a term of less than six years, when the last state, Hawaii, was admitted in 1959, candidates for the Senate ran either for seat A or seat B. The new Senators, in a process managed by the Secretary of the Senate, should a 51st state be admitted, it would receive senators in Classes 1 and 2, at which point all three Classes would have 34 senators. US Senate class page Current Class 1, Current Class 2, Current Class 3, A2013 analysis of the partisan leanings of each class
18.
Richard Shelby
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Richard Craig Dick Shelby is the senior United States Senator from Alabama. First elected to the Senate in 1986, he is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and he also serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the U. S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Shelby received his law degree from the Birmingham School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama, after law school in 1963, he went on to serve as city prosecutor. During this period he worked as a U. S, magistrate for the Northern District of Alabama and Special Assistant Attorney General of Alabama. He won a seat in the Alabama Senate in 1970, in 1978, he was elected from the 7th District to the United States House of Representatives, where he was among a group of Conservative Democrats known as the boll weevils. In 1986, Shelby won a race as a Democrat for the U. S. Senate. Shelby was re-elected by a margin in 1998 and has faced no significant electoral opposition since. He is currently the dean of the Alabama delegation, Shelby was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the son of Alice L. and Ozie Houston Shelby. He attended the University of Alabama, receiving a degree in 1957. He attended the Birmingham School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor in 1961 and he was admitted to the Alabama State Bar on August 29,1961. He received an LL. B. from The University of Alabama in 1963, Shelby was a city prosecutor in Tuscaloosa, Alabama from 1963 to 1971. From 1966 to 1970, he was a U. S, magistrate for the Northern District of Alabama, from 1969 to 1971, Shelby was a Special Assistant State Attorney General. Shelby was elected to the Alabama Senate in 1970 and served until 1978 and that year he ran for and was elected to the House of Representatives from the Tuscaloosa-based 7th District. He won a close race as the Democrats regained control of the Senate. He was easily re-elected in 1992 even as Bill Clinton lost Alabamas electoral votes and he won his first full term as a Republican in 1998 by a large margin. He has since faced no significant opposition in 2004 or 2010 and he was re-elected to a sixth term in 2016. A September 2009 poll showed Shelby had a 58% approval rating, the Wall Street Journal criticized Shelby for hoarding campaign and PAC contributions and not sharing them with other colleagues. However, in 1991, Shelby supported Pres, George Bushs equally conservative Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas
19.
Dan Sullivan (American senator)
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Daniel Scott Dan Sullivan is an American politician, lawyer and member of the Republican Party who has served as the junior United States Senator from Alaska since January 2015. Born in Ohio, Sullivan earned degrees from Harvard University and Georgetown University, after graduating in 1993, he joined the United States Marine Corps, leaving active duty in 1997. He has since served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and was recalled to duty from 2004 to 2006. Between 1997 and 1999, he clerked for judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Alaska Supreme Court. Sullivan then returned to Alaska, serving first as Alaska Attorney General from 2009 to 2010 and he resigned from office in September of that year to run for the United States Senate seat held by Democrat Mark Begich in the 2014 election. In August 2014, Sullivan won the Republican primary, defeating Alaska Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell and 2010 Senate nominee Joe Miller. After a close race, he defeated Begich in the election by 47. 96% to 45. 83%. Sullivan was born and raised in Fairview Park, Ohio, the son of Sandra, Sullivan, currently the President and CEO of RPM International, a holding company founded by his own father, Frank C. He attended Culver Military Academy in Indiana and graduated in 1983, in 1987, Sullivan graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelors degree in economics. In 1993, he earned a J. D. -M. S. F. S, joint degree from Georgetown University, graduating cum laude. He was a member of the Georgetown Law Journal and interned for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Sullivan has served in the United States Marine Corps since 1993, both on active duty and in the reserves. He was recommended for promotion in 2011 to Lt. Colonel by then-retired General John Abizaid, Sullivan is a recipient of the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. Sullivan served as a law clerk for Judge Andrew Kleinfeld of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Fairbanks from 1997 to 1998. He then clerked for Chief Justice Warren Matthews of the Alaska Supreme Court in Anchorage from 1998–99, in 2000, Sullivan joined the Anchorage office of the Perkins Coie law firm, focusing on commercial law and corporate law. He had joined the Alaska bar that same year, Sullivan advised the President of the United States – then George W. Bush – along with the National Security Advisor and NEC chairman. Sullivan left the White House in 2004, in 2006, Sullivan was appointed by President Bush to the post of United States Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs. The United States Senate unanimously confirmed Sullivan in May of that year, Sullivan served in this capacity until January 2009. Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg resigned in February 2009 over the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal scandal, Governor Sarah Palin nominated Wayne Anthony Ross for the public safety post, but the Alaska Legislature rejected the appointment
20.
Lisa Murkowski
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Lisa Ann Murkowski /mɜːrˈkaʊskiː/ is the senior United States Senator from Alaska and a member of the Republican Party. She has served in the Senate since 2002, Murkowski became the states senior senator on January 3,2009, when Democrat Mark Begich, who had defeated Alaskas senior senator Ted Stevens in November 2008, took office. She is the daughter of former U. S, Senator and Governor of Alaska Frank Murkowski. Before her appointment to the Senate, she served in the Alaska House of Representatives and was elected majority leader. Murkowski was appointed to the U. S. Senate by her father, Frank Murkowski and she completed her fathers unexpired term, which ended in January 2005. She ran for and won a term in 2004. She ran for a term in 2010. She lost the Republican Party nomination to Tea Party candidate Joe Miller. Although Sen. Murkowski has won three terms to the Senate, she has never won a majority of the vote winning pluralities each time,48. 5% in 2004,39. 5% in 2010. Murkowski was born in Ketchikan, Alaska, the daughter of Nancy Rena and her paternal great-grandfather was of Polish descent, and her mothers ancestry is Irish and French Canadian. As a child, she and her family moved around the state with her fathers job as a banker and she earned a B. A. degree in Economics from Georgetown University in 1980, the same year her father was elected to the U. S. Senate. She is a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and represented the state of Alaska as the 1980 Cherry Blossom Princess and she received her J. D. degree in 1985 from Willamette University College of Law. She was employed as an attorney in the Anchorage District Court Clerks office, from 1989 to 1998, she was an attorney in private practice in Anchorage, Alaska. She also served, from 1990 to 1991, on the Mayors Task Force for the Homeless, in 1998, Murkowski was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives and reelected in 2000 and 2002. She was named as House Majority Leader for the 2003–2004 legislative session, Murkowski sat on the Alaska Commission on Post Secondary Education and chaired both the Labor and Commerce and the Military and Veterans Affairs Committees. In 1999, she introduced legislation establishing a Joint Armed Services Committee, the appointment caused a controversy in the state. Many voters disapproved of apparent nepotism in the appointment of Murkowski to the Senate, and eventually resulted in a referendum that stripped the governor of his power to directly appoint replacement Senators. Murkowski was elected to a full term against former Democratic Governor Tony Knowles in the 2004 election
21.
John McCain
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John Sidney McCain III is an American politician who currently serves as the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for the 2008 U. S. presidential election, McCain followed his father and grandfather, both four-star admirals, into the United States Navy, graduating from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1958. He became an aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers. During the Vietnam War, he was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire, in October 1967, while on a bombing mission over Hanoi, he was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973, McCain experienced episodes of torture, and refused an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer. His war wounds have left him with physical limitations. He retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1982, McCain served two terms. He was first elected to the U. S. Senate in 1986, winning re-election easily five times, while generally adhering to conservative principles, McCain at times has had a media reputation as a maverick for his willingness to disagree with his party on certain issues. He is also known for his work in the 1990s to restore relations with Vietnam. McCain ran for the Republican nomination in 2000 but lost a primary season contest to George W. Bush of Texas. He subsequently adopted more orthodox conservative stances and attitudes and largely opposed actions of the Obama administration, by 2013, however, he had become a key figure in the Senate for negotiating deals on certain issues in an otherwise partisan environment. In 2015, McCain became chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain was born on August 29,1936, at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone, to naval officer John S. McCain Jr. and Roberta McCain. He has a brother named Joe and an elder sister named Sandy. At that time, the Panama Canal was under U. S. control, McCains family tree includes Scots-Irish and English ancestors. Both his father and his grandfather, John S. McCain Sr. became four-star United States Navy admirals. The McCain family followed his father to various postings in the United States. Altogether, he attended about 20 schools, in 1951, the family settled in Northern Virginia, and McCain attended Episcopal High School, a private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria. He excelled at wrestling and graduated in 1954, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis
22.
Tom Cotton
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Thomas Bryant Tom Cotton is an American politician who is the junior United States Senator from Arkansas. A member of the Republican Party, Cotton has served in the Senate since January 3,2015, at age 39, he is currently the youngest U. S. Senator. Prior to the election of Cotton, Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut was the youngest incumbent U. S. Senator, Cotton was first elected to the Senate in 2014, defeating two-term Democratic incumbent Mark Pryor. He previously served one term in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 until 2015, Tom Cotton was born on May 13,1977 in Dardanelle, south of Russellville. He is the son of Thomas Leonard and Avis Cotton, and he graduated from Dardanelle High School in June 1995. He attended Harvard College, where he wrote for the Harvard Crimson, graduating in 1998, in summer 1997, Cotton attended the Publius Fellowship program of the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank. In 1998, he was accepted into a degree program at Claremont Graduate University. He left in 1999, saying that he found life too sedentary, enrolling at Harvard Law School. Immediately after finishing law school in 2002, he served for a year as a clerk for Judge Jerry Edwin Smith at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He then entered practice, working at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher for a few months. On January 11,2005, Cotton enlisted in the United States Army, in March 2005, he entered Officer Candidate School, and in June 2005 was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry. He was initially stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he entered a 14-week Officer’s Basic Course, after completing OBC in November 2005, Cotton attended the U. S. Army Airborne School as well as Ranger School and Air Assault School. In May 2006, Cotton deployed to Baghdad as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom as a leader with the 101st Airborne Division. In Iraq, he led a 41-man air assault infantry platoon in the 506th Infantry Regiment, the Times did not publish the letter, but it was published on Power Line, a conservative blog which had been copied on the email. In the letter, Cotton called for the responsible for the newspaper article to be imprisoned for espionage. He asserted that the newspaper had gravely endangered the lives of my soldiers and all other soldiers, the article was widely circulated online and reprinted in full in several newspapers. Cotton said in an interview that after meeting with his commander, he was nervous and worried all night long about losing his position and even worse. When he finally met the commander, he was simply told Well, here’s a piece of advice
23.
John Boozman
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John Nichols Boozman is the senior United States Senator for Arkansas, and a member of the Republican Party. He served as the United States Representative for Arkansass 3rd congressional district from 2001 to 2011, born in Shreveport, Louisiana, he is the brother of the late state Senator Fay Boozman. He attended the University of Arkansas, where he played football for the Arkansas Razorbacks and he co-founded a private optometry clinic in 1977 and worked as a volunteer optometrist for low-income families. He won an election in 2002 to the U. S. House of Representatives. He was an advocate for policy issues and chaired the Veteran Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee. Boozman became the senior Senator in 2015 when Mark Pryor left the Senate after his defeat and his elder brother, Fay Boozman, was also a politician. He did not graduate from the University of Arkansas, prior to his election to Congress, Boozman served two terms on the Rogers Public School Board, which governs one of the largest school districts in Arkansas. Boozman was elected to Congress in an election after his predecessor, Asa Hutchinson. He was unopposed for reelection in 2008, in October 2002, Boozman voted in favor of the Iraq Resolution which led to the Iraq War. In 2011, after 4,500 Americans and hundreds of thousands of civilians had died, Boozman was also named to the Speakers Task Force for a Drug-Free America in 2003. The task force advised House Speaker Dennis Hastert on major policy issues and helped author legislation regarding recreational drugs. Boozman was praised by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, in 2006, Congress passed a Boozman-authored provision promoting an expanded role for drug courts in efforts to reduce drug abuse and recidivism. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Boozman endorsed former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee for President, in the 109th Congress, Boozman served as Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, which focuses on ensuring veterans have a smooth transition to civilian life. He has since served continuously as the Ranking Member on this Subcommittee, in May 2004, Boozman was appointed to the House Policy Committee, a committee of Republicans who vet issues and formulate legislation to address them. Congress. orgs power rankings rate Boozmans power rating at 7, according to the Post, none of the Democrats in Arkansas congressional delegation were told that Cummins was to be one of eight U. S. Attorneys to be fired. Although Boozman did not represent any counties in the Eastern District, Boozman told the Post and the Associated Press that White House officials had promised him that Griffin would be subject to Senate confirmation. Instead, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appointed Griffin as interim U. S. Attorney, Boozman also said that he did not think Cummins should have been fired because he was very well respected and has served the president well. In 2010, Boozman decided to give up his House seat to run for the election for the seat held by incumbent two-term Democrat Blanche Lincoln and he won the May 2010 Republican primary and then defeated Lincoln in the general election while winning nearly 58% of the vote
24.
Kamala Harris
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Kamala Devi Harris is an American attorney and politician who is the junior United States Senator from California. She is a member of the Democratic Party and served as the 32nd Attorney General of California, Harris graduated from Howard University and University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She worked as a Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County, California, in 2003, she was elected District Attorney of San Francisco, defeating incumbent Terence Hallinan. She was re-elected in 2007 and served from 2004 to 2011, Harris was elected Californias Attorney General in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. Harris was the first woman, the first Jamaican American, the first Asian American, Harris was born in Oakland, California. She has one sister, Maya, a lawyer and public policy advocate, who later married Tony West. The family moved to Berkeley, California where both of Kamalas parents attended graduate school and they also introduced their daughter to civil rights protests, which were common during that time in Berkeley. Kamalas parents divorced when she was young, Shyamala continued to raise her daughters in Berkeley, where the family lived in a black neighborhood and the girls sang in a Baptist choir. Her mother eventually moved the family to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, after graduating from Montreals Westmount High School in Quebec, Harris attended Howard University in Washington, D. C. where she majored in political science and economics. At Howard, Harris was elected to the liberal arts student council as freshman class representative, a member of the debate team, Harris then returned to California, earning her Juris Doctor from University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1989. Harris failed the California bar exam her first time, later observing and she was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1990. Harris served as a Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County, California, Harris says she sought a career in law enforcement because she wanted to be at the table where decisions are made. After 1998, she became Managing Attorney of the Career Criminal Unit in the San Francisco District Attorneys Office. In 2000, San Francisco City Attorney Louise Renne recruited Harris to join her office, where she was Chief of the Community and Neighborhood Division, which oversees civil code enforcement matters. After the Fajitagate scandal, Harris defeated two-term incumbent Terence Hallinan in the 2003 election to become District Attorney of the City and County of San Francisco, in April 2004, San Francisco Police Department Officer Isaac Espinoza was shot and killed in the line of duty. Three days later D. A. Harris announced she would not seek the death penalty, during Officer Espinozas funeral at St. Marys Cathedral U. S. Harris still refused. Officer Espinozas killer was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison, as D. A. Harris started a program that gives first-time drug dealers the chance to earn a high-school diploma and find employment. Over eight years the program has produced fewer than 300 graduates and she was re-elected when she ran unopposed, in 2007
25.
Cory Gardner
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Cory Scott Gardner is an American politician who is the junior United States Senator from Colorado. He is a Republican and was previously the U. S, representative for Colorados 4th congressional district. Prior to that, he was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives, Gardner announced his candidacy for the U. S. Senate in March 2014, quickly clearing the Republican primary field, and defeated Democratic incumbent Mark Udall in the November 2014 race. Gardner was born on August 22,1974 in Yuma, Colorado and he is of Irish, German, Austrian, and English descent. He graduated summa cum laude from Colorado State University with a B. A. in political science in 1997, in college, Gardner switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party and interned at the Colorado State Capitol. He went to law school at the University of Colorado to earn his Juris Doctor in 2001, Gardner served as General Counsel and Legislative Director for former U. S. Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado from 2002-05, Gardner was appointed to the Colorado House of Representatives in 2005 and elected to a full term in 2006. He represented District 63 in the Colorado House of Representatives from 2005 through 2011, Gardner proposed legislation in 2006 that would set aside money in a rainy-day fund that would help protect the state from future economic downturns. His proposal relied on Referendum C money for future budget emergencies and he staunchly opposed any tax increases. In June 2006, he called on Republican Governor Bill Owens to call a special session addressing the issue of illegal immigration, in 2007, Gardner voted against a bill requiring hospitals to inform survivors of a sexual assault of the availability of emergency contraception. The Denver Post hailed Gardner as “the GOP Idea Man” and he was named one of the Top 40 young Republican lawmakers by the magazine Rising Tide. He became House Minority Whip in January 2007, also running were American Constitution Party nominee Doug Aden and Independent Ken Wasko Waszkiewicz. In an early September poll, Gardner was up 50% to 39% over Markey, Gardner was named one of the GOP Young Guns. He was endorsed by former U. S, on November 2,2010, Gardner defeated Markey, 52%–41%. 2012 Gardner ran unopposed in the Republican primary before going on to defeat Democratic nominee Brandon Shaffer 59%–37% in the general election, the House passed Gardners bill by a vote of 253 to 166 on June 22,2011. The bill would change the frequency of reports from the United States Environmental Protection Agency about solid waste regulations, rather than automatically reviewing the regulations every three years, the EPA would be able to review them on an as needed basis. It would also grant precedence to state requirements for waste disposal when creating new federal requirements. Gardner has stated that he believes climate change is occurring, Gardner supports construction of the Keystone Pipeline
26.
Michael Bennet
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Michael Farrand Bennet is an American businessman, lawyer, and Democratic politician. He is the senior United States Senator from Colorado and he became a senator when Ken Salazar was appointed Secretary of the Interior. Bennet previously worked as managing director for the Anschutz Investment Company, chief of staff to then-Denver mayor John Hickenlooper, Bennet is the son of Douglas J. Bennet, a former State Department official and president of Wesleyan University. Early in his career, Bennet worked for Ohio Governor Richard Celeste and he went on to receive his J. D. degree, after which he worked as a law clerk and later as Counsel to the U. S. Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton administration. Bennet became superintendent of the Denver public school system in July 2005, Bennet was speculated in late 2008 as a candidate for Obamas United States Secretary of Education. He was appointed by Governor Bill Ritter to fill the U. S. Senate seat vacated by Ken Salazar when Salazar became Secretary of the Interior in January 2009, Bennet was elected in the 2010 Senate election where he defeated Republican Ken Buck. Bennet served as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the 2014 elections and he was re-elected to a second term in 2016. He was born in New Delhi while his father, Douglas J. Bennet, was serving as an aide to Chester Bowles and his grandfather, Douglas Bennet, had been an economic adviser in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration. His grandmother, Phoebe Bennet, was a descendant of Edward Fuller. Bennets mother, Susanne Christine, immigrated to the United States with her family in 1950 and her parents were Polish Jews and survived imprisonment in the Warsaw Ghetto. Bennets mother is an elementary school librarian. Bennet grew up in Washington, D. C. as his father served as an aide to Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Bennet was held back in second grade because of his struggle with dyslexia. He was enrolled at St. Albans School, a preparatory school. In 1987, Bennet earned his B. A. in history from Wesleyan University, at Wesleyan, Bennet was a member of Beta Theta Pi. Bennet earned his law degree from Yale Law School, where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Law Journal, from 1988 until 1990, when he left to attend Yale, he served as an aide to Ohio Governor Richard Celeste. After law school he served as a law clerk for the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and he then served as Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General during Bill Clintons administration. Douglas Bennet worked in the Clinton White House as well, as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, following a stint as an assistant to the U. S. attorney in Connecticut, Bennet left the legal world and moved West. After briefly living in Montana, Bennet moved with his fiance to Colorado in 1997, while working for Anschutz, Bennet befriended fellow Wesleyan alumni John Hickenlooper, informally advising the latters successful campaign for Mayor of Denver
27.
Richard Blumenthal
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Richard Dick Blumenthal /ˈbluːmənˌθɑːl/ is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut, in office since 2011. Previously, he served as Attorney General of Connecticut from 1991 to 2011 and he is a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Blumenthal attended Riverdale Country School, Blumenthal is a graduate of Harvard College, where he was editorial chairman of The Harvard Crimson. He studied for a year at Trinity College, Cambridge in England before attending Yale Law School, while at Yale, he was a classmate of future President Bill Clinton and future Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. From 1970 to 1976, Blumenthal served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, after college, Blumenthal served as administrative assistant and law clerk for several Washington figures. From 1977 to 1981, he was United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, in the early 1980s he worked in private law practice, including serving as volunteer counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He served in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1984 to 1987 and he was elected state Attorney General in 1990, and served for twenty years. During this period he was speculated as a contender for Governor of Connecticut. Blumenthal announced his 2010 run for U. S. Senate after Democrat incumbent Chris Dodd announced his retirement and he faced professional wrestling magnate Linda McMahon in the general election, winning by a 12-point margin with 55 percent of the vote. On January 5,2011, he was sworn in and took seats on the Senate Armed Services, Judiciary, Aging and he became the senior senator after the retirement of Joe Lieberman. Blumenthal was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jane and Martin Blumenthal and his mother was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to a Jewish family that originated in Prussia and Baden. His grandfather, Fred Fritz Rosenstock, raised cattle on his farm, Blumenthals father was a German Jew who emigrated alone at age 17 from Frankfurt in 1935. Blumenthal attended Riverdale Country School in the Bronx before graduating from Harvard College with a A. B. magna cum laude as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, as an undergraduate, he was editorial chairman of The Harvard Crimson. Blumenthal was an intern reporter for The Washington Post in the London Bureau. Blumenthal was also selected for a Fiske Fellowship that allowed him to study at the University of Cambridge in England for one year after graduation from Harvard College. In 1973, Blumenthal received his J. D. from Yale Law School, while at Yale, he was classmates with future President Bill Clinton and future Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. One of his co-editors on the Yale Law Journal was future United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and his brother, David Blumenthal, is the President of the Commonwealth Fund. Blumenthal received several draft deferments during the Vietnam War before enlisting and he served in United States Marine Corps Reserve units in Washington, D. C. and Connecticut from 1970 to 1976
28.
Chris Coons
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Christopher Andrew Chris Coons is the junior United States Senator from Delaware and a member of the Democratic Party. He won an election in 2010 to succeed Ted Kaufman. Previously, Coons was the county executive of New Castle County, Coons is the 1983 Truman Scholar from Delaware, and the first recipient of the award to serve in the United States Senate. A native of Hockessin, Delaware, Coons graduated from Amherst College and received degrees from Yale Divinity School. He went to work as a relief worker in Kenya. He spent some time as a clerk in New York before returning to Delaware in 1996. In the interim he worked for nonprofit organizations. He worked on political campaigns in his early career, including Ronald Reagans 1980 presidential campaign. In college he switched from being a Republican to a Democrat and his political career began in earnest on the New Castle County Council in 2000, where he served as council president. He was elected county executive in 2004 and served for six years, there he balanced the county budget with a surplus in fiscal year 2010 by cutting spending and raising taxes, and the county maintained a AAA bond rating. Coons was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Sarah Louise Sally and his ancestry includes English and Irish. Coons grew up in Hockessin, Delaware and he graduated from the Tower Hill School and then Amherst College in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry and political science. While in college, he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, in 1983, Chris Coons was awarded the Truman Scholarship. During his junior year of college, Coons studied abroad at the University of Nairobi in Kenya and he earned a Master of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School and a J. D. from Yale Law School. After college, Coons worked in Washington, D. C. for the Investor Responsibility Research Center, where he wrote a book on South Africa and the U. S. divestment movement. He then worked as a volunteer for the South African Council of Churches and as a worker in Kenya. In 1992, he earned a J. D. degree from Yale Law School, Coons clerked for Judge Jane Richards Roth on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and then worked for the National I Have a Dream Foundation in New York. After returning to Delaware in 1996, Coons began his career as in-house counsel for W. L. Gore & Associates
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