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115th Congressional Directory Members of Congress Representing Publicly-Supported HBCUs

Thurgood Marshall College Fund SENATOR

Sen. Richard Shelby

Biography

Alabama senior Sen. Richard Shelby has held the top Republican slot on committees dealing with banking and spying, and in 2015 returned as chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. But the issue for which he remains best known at home is spending. Adept at securing federal money for his state, he has five buildings at Alabama’s public universities named for him. Shelby grew up in Birmingham, the son of a steelworker. After earning two degrees from the , he stayed in Tuscaloosa and practiced law with , who was later a conservative Democratic congressman. Shelby, a Democrat at that time, was elected to the state Senate in 1970 at age 36. When Flowers ran, unsuccessfully, for the U.S. Senate in 1978, Shelby ran for his House seat. In the House, Shelby had a conservative voting record, opposing the Voting Rights Act extension and the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. He ran for the Senate in 1986 and won the Democratic primary with 51% of the vote after then-Secretary of State (and later governor) Don Siegelman withdrew. On domestic issues, Shelby has compiled a conservative record. But he is not a free market purist. Despite his party switch, he has remained friendly with trial lawyers, who usually support Democrats in Alabama. He easily won reelection in 2010 against Democrat William Barnes, a Birmingham lawyer. Shelby easily won his primary in 2016 against his main opponent, Jonathan McConnell.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Strongly opposes amnesty for illegal Committee on Appropriations Senator, AL immigrants Elected: 1986 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee • Strongly favors expanding the military Committee on Rules and Administration Education: • Opposes expanding Obamacare U. Of AL, B.A., 1957, L.L.B., 1963 • Favors privatizing Social Security Religion: Presbyterian Election Results Contact: (202) 224-5744 2010 General 304 Russell Senate Office Building Richard Shelby (R) Votes: 968,181 Percent: 65.2% Washington, DC 20510 William Barnes (D) Votes: 515,619 Percent: 34.7%

Sources: Ballotpedia, 2016; National Journal Almanac 2016.

September 13, 2016 | Katharine Conlon SEN. PROFILE

Sen. Luther Strange

Biography

Luther Strange was appointed as senator by Alabama Governor Robert Bentley to replace Sen. following his confirmation as attorney general. Luther Strange graduated from with a bachelors' degree in political science in 1976 and a JD in 1979. After graduating from law school, Strange began working for Sonat Inc., a large Fortune 500 American energy company located in Birmingham. Later on, Strange was promoted to head their Washington, DC office. In 1998, he went on to join the law firm of Bradley, Arant, Rose & White, where he focused on economic development work. In 2010, Strange filed to run for attorney general of Alabama. Strange was easily able to defeat incumbent Troy King in the Republican primary with a vote of 60.1% to 39.9%. In the general election, he beat Democratic opponent James Anderson by a vote of 58.8% to 41.1%. Throughout his tenure as attorney general, he has filed many lawsuits regarding the and argued a successful First Amendment case before the US Supreme Court in Lane V. Franks.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Strongly opposes expanding Obamacare TBD Senator, AL • Strongly supports second amendment Appointed: 2017 rights Education: • Strongly opposes abortion as an Tulane U., B.S. 1976; unrestricted right Tulane U., J.D. 1979 Religion: Episcopalian Election Results Family: Married (Melissa), two sons 2018 General Votes: Percent: Contact: (334) 242-7300 Office of the Attorney Votes: Percent: General Montgomery, AL 36104

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

February 9, 2016 | Hunter Hamrick REP.

Rep. Mo Brooks

Biography

In 2010, Mo Brooks, the 5th District congressman, became the first Republican to be elected to the seat since 1868. Brooks was born in Charleston, SC, and moved to Huntsville, AL, when he was 9. Brooks studied economics and political science at , graduating in three years. He received his J.D. from the University of AL, and moved back to Huntsville for a circuit court clerkship. In 1982, he ran for the Alabama House. Brooks was reelected three times, and says he was most proud of his No. 1 ranking from the Alabama Taxpayers’ Defense Fund for his efforts fighting tax increases. He left the legislature when Gov. Guy Hunt appointed him Madison County district attorney in 1991. Brooks lost a bid to keep the D.A.’s job two years later. He returned to public office in 1996, when he was elected to the Madison County Commission. Brooks won his U.S. House seat following hard-fought primary and general election battles in 2010. Within four months of taking the seat, he landed in the headlines when multiple deadly tornadoes struck his district. He worked to obtain disaster funds as a member of the committees on Armed Services and Homeland Security, but drew more attention for his subsequent remarks on other issues. Notably, on a conservative radio talk show, Brooks claimed that the Republican Party was not alienating non-white voters, but that it was “a part of the war on whites that’s being launched by the Democratic Party. And the way they’re launching this war is by claiming that whites hate everybody else.” Democratic Alabama Rep. said his comments "do not represent the views of the state of Alabama.“ Brooks was unapologetic.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees

Currently: • Favors repealing Obamacare Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Representative, AL-5 • Favors an absolute right to gun ownership Elected: 2010 Committee on Foreign Affairs • Opposes government funding for Education: renewable energy development Committee on Armed Services Duke U., B.A., 1975; U. of AL, J.D., 1978 • Opposes federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions Religion: Christian • Favors the expansion of the military Election Results Family: Married, 4 children, 2016 General 3 grandchildren Mo Brooks (R) Votes: 205,647 Percent: 66.7% Contact: (202) 225-4801 LHOB Room 1230 Will Boyd (D) Votes: 102,234 Percent: 33.2% Washington, DC 20515

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017; Ballotpedia, 2017. January 17, 2017 | Emilia Varrone REP. TERRI SEWELL PROFILE

Rep. Terri Sewell

Biography

Democrat Terri A. Sewell is one of the first women elected to Congress from Alabama and the first black woman to serve her district. Congresswoman Sewell was freshman class president in the 112th Congress. She currently serves as Chief Deputy Whip. Before she was elected, Congresswoman Sewell was the first black woman partner at Maynard, Cooper & Gale’s Birmingham law office. Born and raised in the Deep South after the peak of the , Sewell came from modest background. Her mother was a librarian and her dad was a high school teacher. As Sewell continued on to graduate from Princeton, receive a scholarship to attend Oxford, attend Harvard Law, and eventually work at a high- profile firm in , she developed close friendships with influential young women. At Princeton, Sewell’s assigned mentor was Michelle Robinson, who would later become first lady. The two became friends and Sewell eventually followed Michelle to Harvard Law. Sewell is also close friends with former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, and Senator . Sewell is up for reelection this term, but faces no opposition.

Stance on Issues Committees • Strongly favors job creation, workforce House Ways and Means Committee Biography development, skills training, and workers rights Currently: Representative, AL-7 • Strongly favors preserving civil rights sites House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Elected: 2010 • Strongly favors voting rights protections Education: , B.A., 1986 Oxford University, M.A., 1988 Harvard Law School, J.D., 1992 Religion: Protestant Election Results Family: Divorced (Theodore Dixie 2016 General (div.)) Terri Sewell (D) Votes: 229,330 Percent: 98.4% Contact: (202) 225-2665 Write-in Votes: 3,698 Percent: 1.6% 2201 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515

Sources: Abby Livingston, “Six Degrees of Terri Sewell,” , December 22, 2014; Ballotpedia, 2017; National Journal Almanac, 2017.

April 6, 2017 | Libbie Wilcox REP. MIKE ROGERS PROFILE

Rep. Mike Rogers

Biography

Rogers is a fifth-generation resident of Calhoun County, the son of a textile worker and a fireman. At the age of 28 in 1986, he was the first Republican elected to the county commission. In 1994, he won a seat in the Alabama House, and in his second term, he became minority leader. In 2002, Rogers succeeded Republican as U.S. Congressman for Alabama’s 3rd district. During the election, Rogers touted his working-class values, support from the National Rifle Association, opposition to abortion rights and support for a constitutional amendment permitting prayer in the public schools. On the Armed Services Committee, Rogers became chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee in 2015. He seeks to protect Anniston Army Depot as well as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base and Fort Benning in nearby . Like other Alabama Republicans, he has supported having the power to spending bills to protect those and other state interests. He has been highly critical of the Transportation Security Administration, saying in May 2012 that the aviation security agency must become “smarter, leaner, and tougher.” In general, Rogers harbors a conservative’s distrust of federal agencies, saying in a 2011 radio interview, “Who says the federal government has to have an EPA?” He is occasionally centrist on economic issues, but he has been a reliable Republican vote since the GOP regained the majority in 2011.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports pro-life legislation House Homeland Security Committee Representative, AL-3 • Supports the federal regulation of Elected: 2002 House Agriculture Committee greenhouse gas emissions Education: • Supports gun-control legislation House Armed Services Committee Jacksonville St. U., B.A. 1981, M.P.A. 1984; • Supports same-sex marriage House Armed Services Committee Birmingham Schl. Of Law, • Opposes the repeal of the Affordable Care J.D. 1991 Act Election Results Religion: Baptist • Opposes increased American intervention 2016 General in Iraq and Syria beyond air support Family: Married (Beth), 3 Mike Rogers (R) Votes: 190,734 Percent: 67.1% children

Contact: (202) 225-3261 Jesse Smith (R) Votes: 93,567 Percent: 32.9% 2184 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; NY Times election results, 2016.

January 17, 2017 | Libbie Wilcox Arkansas SEN. PROFILE

Sen. Tom Cotton

Biography

Before running for Senate, Tom Cotton was a representative. In the House, Cotton was strongly conservative, especially on economic issues. He voted against an initial version of the 2014 farm bill, which he said had become a "food-stamp bill," but supported a later version that didn't contain food-stamp programs. He has been particularly hawkish in his criticisms of Obama. After the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, he blasted the administration for "failing in its mission to stop terrorism before it reaches its targets in the ." But Cotton didn't spare his party's anti-interventionist wing and just months later joined with another veteran, Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas, to write an op-ed in urging fellow Republicans to support Obama's call for military intervention in Syria. With his military background and conservative credentials, Cotton was immediately regarded as the party's best hope to unseat Senator Pryor. Republicans couldn't depict the centrist Pryor as a liberal Obama ally, but they did hammer him for backing the Affordable Care Act. Polls showed an extremely tight race for months, and some Republicans reportedly wondered in private whether Cotton's refusal to moderate his views was preventing him from pulling away. Cotton was also criticized for being too stiff on the campaign trail. But he won with ease, 57 percent to 40 percent.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Opposes abortion rights Senate Armed Forces Committee Senator, Arkansas • Supports withholding federal funding from Elected: 2014 ‘sanctuary cities’ for illegal immigrants Senate Intelligence Committee Education: • Opposes the Iran nuclear deal , B.A., Senate Banking Committee 1999; J.D., 2002 • Supports cutting spending to alleviate the debt Religion: Methodist • Supports repealing Obamacare Election Results Family: Married, 1 child 2010 General

Contact: (202) 224-2353 Tom Cotton (R) Votes: 478,819 Percent: 56.5% Russell Senate Office 124 Washington, DC 20510 Mark Pryor (D) Votes: 334,174 Percent: 39.5%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017; Ballotpedia, 2017.

January 5, 2017 | Owen Minott SEN. PROFILE

Sen. John Boozman

Biography

Republican John Boozman is Arkansas’ senior senator, having ousted two-term Democrat Blanche Lincoln in 2010 by one of the largest majorities of any Senate challenger over a defeated incumbent. An amiable conservative, he has continued the pattern he began in the House of working comfortably across the aisle. Boozman (BOZ-man) was born in Shreveport, La., but grew up in Fort Smith, Ark., the state’s second-largest city. His father was Air Force Master Sgt. Fay Boozman, Jr. Boozman played football at the University of Arkansas but left after completing his pre-optometry requirements. He went on to graduate from the Southern College of Optometry in 1977. He then opened the Boozman Eye Clinic in Rogers, Ark., with his brother, Fay Boozman, an ophthalmologist. The brothers merged with another eye clinic in 1981 to form the Boozman-Hof Regional Eye Clinic. Fay was an Arkansas State Senator before becoming Director of the State Health Department under Gov. Mike Huckabee. He died in 2005 in a barn collapse. In the Senate, Boozman’s voting record has been consistently conservative. One of the first bills he introduced in 2011 was a measure requiring parents be notified at least four days before their minor daughter could have an abortion.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Opposes unrestricted access to abortions Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Sen., Arkansas • Opposes gun control legislation Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Elected: 2010 • Opposes regulation of greenhouse gases Committee on the Environment & Public Works Education: U. of AR, 1969-72; • Supports efforts to “repeal and replace” Committee on Rules and Administration the Affordable Care Act Southern Col. of Committee on Appropriations Optometry, O.D. 1977 • Supports government funding for research Religion: Baptist into renewable energy resources Election Results Family: Married (Cathy 2016 General Marley) John Boozman (R) Votes: 661,984 Percent: 59.77% Contact: (479) 573-0189 Hart Senate 141 Conner Eldridge (D) Votes: 400,602 Percent: 36.17% Washington, DC 20510

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017. Ballotpedia 2017. Arkansas Secretary of State. Project VoteSmart 2017. January 5, 2017 | Daniel Stublen REP. PROFILE

Rep. Bruce Westerman

Biography

Republican Bruce Westerman, with strong social-conservative credentials and a pledge to reduce the size and scope of government, won the seat in Arkansas's 4th District in 2014 to succeed Rep. Tom Cotton—who ran for the Senate. Born in Hot Springs, Westerman earned his B.S. in biological and agricultural engineering at the University of Arkansas, where he played for the Arkansas Razorbacks football team. He completed his master's in forestry at Yale. His professional experience includes working as a plant engineer for Riceland Foods and as an engineer/forester for Mid-South Engineering. Westerman was elected to the Arkansas House in 2010 and reelected in 2012, the year the GOP took control of both chambers of the state Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. In the Arkansas House, Westerman had a solid record as a social and fiscal conservative, voting to override a gubernatorial veto of a voter ID law and for a law banning abortions after 20 weeks. He supported a wide array of legislation expanding gun rights; a measure setting dress codes in public schools; and a bill to require that tests for driver's licenses be offered only in English. He was an architect of the "SIMPLE Plan" to reduce taxes and cut government regulation, a GOP agenda that Westerman says helped win a Republican majority in the 2012 elections. He opposes the so-called Private Option, Arkansas's expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports pro-life policies without House Budget Committee Representative, AR-4 exceptions for incest or rape Elected: 2014 • Supports moving the US embassy to House Natural Resources Committee Education: Jerusalem University of Arkansas, B.S., • Supports cross-state standard for House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee 1990; , M.F., concealed carry gun laws 2001 • Opposes a public option and individual Election Results Religion: Southern Baptist mandates for health care Family: Married (Sharon 2016 General French), 4 children Bruce Westerman (R) Votes: 181,921 Percent: 74.9%

Contact: (202) 225-3772 Kerry Hicks (L) Votes: 60,969 Percent: 25.1% 130 Cannon Washington, DC 20515 Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017; NY Times election results, 2017; On the issues, 2017.

March 31, 2017 | Libbie Wilcox SEN. PROFILE

Sen. Dianne Feinstein

Biography

Dianne Feinstein, California’s senior senator, is a Democrat first elected in 1992. She is a respected pragmatist who can be a crucial ally to President Obama -- particularly on gun control -- as well as an annoyance to the with her blunt outspokenness on national-security matters. In 1984, Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale seriously considered Feinstein for vice president. She presided that year over the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. In the Senate, Feinstein kept a distance from the Clinton administration, negotiating for changes before voting for its 1993 budget, voting against the North American Free Trade Agreement, and withdrawing her support of the Clinton health care plan. Feinstein’s tough-on-crime background led her to sponsor a ban on assault weapons in 1994. Feinstein has had a moderate to liberal voting record and has differed on some issues from her colleague and Bay Area neighbor, Democratic Sen. . Feinstein supported the GOP’s Medicare prescription drug bill in 2003. With Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, she co-sponsored a bill to bar entry to the United States for people from nations that sponsor terrorism, which became law in 2002. In recent years, Feinstein has become an outspoken proponent of gay rights. In February 2011, she introduced a bill to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which established that U.S. law recognizes only heterosexual marriages and prevented gay couples from receiving federal benefits. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports trade with China Committee on Intelligence Senator, California • Strong proponent of stricter gun control Elected: 1992 Committee on Judiciary laws Committee on Rules and Administration Education: • Called for closing detention camp at Stanford U., B.A. 1955 Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Committee on Appropriations

Religion: Jewish Major Milestones Joint Congressional-Executive Commission on China Election Results Family: Married (Richard Presided over Obama’s 2009 Blum), 1 child, 3 inauguration ceremonies 2012 General stepchildren Dianne Feinstein (D) Votes: 7,864,624 Percent: 62.5% Contact: (202) 224-3841 First elected to US Senate 1992 Hart Office 331 Washington, DC 20510 Elizabeth Emken (R) Votes: 4,713,887 Percent: 37.5%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016.

April 6, 2016 | Claire Carter SEN.

Sen. Kamala Harris

Biography Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California in 1964. Her mother, an immigrant from India, was a breast cancer specialist, while her father was a Jamaican-American economics professor at Stanford University. Harris was raised in Berkeley and Oakland, California and Montreal, Canada. Following her graduation from Westmount High School, Harris attended for her undergraduate degree, and then the University of California Hastings College of the Law. After earning her law degree in 1989, Harris joined the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, where she was promoted after a year to deputy attorney for Alameda County and worked until 1998, specializing in prosecuting cases involving violent crimes. She was then made managing attorney of the Career Criminal Unit in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and then in 2000, chief of the Community and Neighborhood Division for the City Attorney of San Francisco, where she oversaw civil code enforcement. From 2003 to 2010, Harris served as district attorney of the City and County of San Francisco. She won the 2010 race for California attorney general and has held the position since. Harris is the first female, first African-American and first Asian-American to hold the position in California, as well as the first Tamil attorney general ever, in US history. As California attorney general, Harris focused on issues such as transnational gangs, human trafficking, online privacy, reducing recidivism and the national foreclosure crisis. Harris won the general election over fellow Democrat Loretta Sanchez for the congressional seat, after both defeated 32 other candidates in the primary. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Opposes the sale of recreational marijuana Committee on Homeland Security Senator, California but supports medical marijuana Elected: 2016 Committee on Intelligence • Supports national climate change Education: legislation and the Clean Power Plan Committee on Environment and Public Works Howard University, B.A. 1986; • Favors reinstating the Assault Weapons Committee on the Budget UC Hastings College of Law, J.D. Ban 1989 • Supports a woman’s right to choose Election Results Religion: Baptist • Favors strengthening the Voting Rights Act 2016 General Family: Married (Douglas Emhoff) Kamala Harris (D) Votes: 7,542,753 Percent: 61.6% Contact: (202) 224-3553 HSOB Room 112 Loretta Sanchez (D) Votes: 4,710,417 Percent: 38.4% Washington, DC 20510

Sources: Ballotpedia, 2016; National Journal Almanac, 2017.

February 22, 2017 | Yanni Chen, Madelaine Pisani REP. NANETTE BARRAGÁN

Rep. Nanette Barragán

Biography Nanette Barragán was born on September 15, 1976 in Harbor City, California. She is the youngest of 11 siblings who were raised by immigrants from Mexico. She has a B.A. in political science from UCLA and a J.D. from USC. During the Clinton administration, Barragán worked in the Office of Public Liaison doing African-American outreach. In 1999, Barragán worked at the NAACP's Washington bureau on health policy. During college and until 2003, Barragán served as the executive director of the Gillian S. Fuller Foundation where she was in charge of funding worthy nonprofits focused on education, the environmental and youth programs. In 2003 she externed for Justice Carlos Moreno at the California Supreme Court and in 2004 for the Los Angeles Legal Aid Foundation. She then worked at the United States Attorney’s office, Central District of California in the Organized Crime and Terror section. Barragán started working as a private practice lawyer with Latham & Watkins, LLP. While at that firm, she led an immigration asylum case spanning three years for a child and mother from Guatemala and withholding of removal was granted. She also provided pro bono assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina. In 2012 Barragán took leave from her law firm to work on Obama’s reelection campaign. She then ran for Hermosa Beach City Council where she helped balance the budget that resulted in surplus funds, approved funding for infrastructure in South Park and increased street paving budgets by 20%. In her 2016 campaign for Congress she received several major endorsements including Emily’s List, the California League of Conservation Voters, many members of Congress, and the Latino Victory Project. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Strongly favors investing in clean energy Committee on Homeland Security Representative, CA-44 • Favors college affordability measures Elected: 2016 Committee on Natural Resources • Favors protecting Social Security and Education: Medicare University of California Los • Favors closing tax loopholes and ending Angeles, B.A. Election Results University of Southern California, subsidies for toxic polluters J.D. • Strongly opposes privatization of Social 2016 General Religion: Catholic Security Nanette Barragan (D) Votes: 93,124 Percent: 52.2% Contact: (202) 225-8220 • Opposes increasing the use of military Isadore Hall (D) Votes: 85,289 Percent: 47.8% LHOB Room 1320 force internationally Washington, DC 20515

Sources: barraganforcongress.com; Ballotpedia, 2017; National Journal Almanac, 2017.

February 23, 2017 | Madelaine Pisani, Yanni Chen Delaware SEN. CHRISTOPHER COONS PROFILE

Sen. Christopher Coons

Biography

Delaware’s junior senator is Christopher Coons, who won Vice-President ’s former Senate seat in 2010 by defeating the Tea Party-backed Christine O’Donnell, then easily won a full term on his own in 2014. He is a Republican- friendly, business-friendly Democrat in the mold of Virginia’s , Colorado’s , and his home-state colleague, . Coons was born in Greenwich, Conn., the middle son of Ken and Sally Coons. His mother was a schoolteacher; his father held a variety of jobs, including managing a cannery and manufacturing kitchen furniture. After the family moved to Delaware in Coons’ early childhood, bankruptcy wiped out much of his father’s business success. His parents later divorced. In high school, Coons considered himself a Republican like his parents and volunteered for ’s 1980 presidential campaign. His conversion to the Democratic Party came while he was a student at Amherst College. Visiting Kenya for a semester in 1984, Coons said that observing his host family changed the way he thought about poverty and free markets. His first foray into politics came in 2000, when he ran for the New Castle County Council. After four years, he was elected county executive on an anti-corruption platform. Despite promising in his campaign not to increase taxes, Coons wound up raising taxes to close a budget gap. When Biden was chosen to join ’s 2008 presidential ticket, Coons got the attention of the national media and an immediate double-digit lead over his opponent. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Strongly backs making the tax code more Committee on Ethics Senator, Delaware supportive of renewable energy Elected: 2010 Committee on Foreign Relations • Supports scrutiny and reform of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Education: renewable fuel standard Amherst College, B.A. 1985 • Strong supporter of abortion rights and Senate Judiciary Yale Univeristy, J.D. 1992 receives a 100% from NARAL Yale Divinity, M.A. 1992 Committee on Appropriations • Supports revisions for the Affordable Care Election Results Religion: Presbyterian Act Family: Married, 3 children • Supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal 2014 General immigrants Christopher Coons (D) Votes: 130,645 Percent: 55.8% Contact: (202) 2254-5042 • Supports same-sex marriage quality Russell Senate Office 127A Kevin Wade (R) Votes: 98,819 Percent: 44.2% Washington, DC 20510

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia.

December 15, 2016 | Claire Carter SENATOR THOMAS CARPER PROFILE

Sen. Thomas Carper

Biography

Democrat Thomas Carper, first elected in 2000 and now Delaware’s senior senator, is a centrist consensus-builder who is well-liked on both sides of the aisle. A former House member and governor, he took over in 2013 as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, continuing two years later as the panel's top Democrat. Carper grew up in Southside Virginia and Ohio and graduated from Ohio State University. He first came to Delaware as an ensign in the Navy, then returned to get his M.B.A. at the University of Delaware. In 1976, he was elected state treasurer, at age 29. He ran for the U.S. House in 1982 and beat a scandal-tarred incumbent. In office, Carper established a moderate voting record and worked to let banks into the securities business and to prevent ocean sludge-dumping, both causes supported by Delaware constituencies. In 1992, Carper ran for governor and won the general election with 65% of the vote. Barred from a third term, he ran in 2000 for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican William Roth since 1970. In the Senate, Carper has one of the more moderate voting records among Democrats and has been actively involved over the years with centrist organizations like the Democratic Leadership Council. He is often at the center of efforts to build bipartisan coalitions, such as efforts to pass a health care overhaul bill in 2009 and 2010. He has pushed for changes in the filibuster and other Senate rules that have delayed the pace of legislation, as well as a presidential line-item veto.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Carper has taken significant action to work Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs Senator, Delaware on clean air legislation including laws to Elected: 2000 limit sulfur dioxide, mercury, and other Committee on Environment and Public Works pollutants Education: Ohio State U., B.A. 1968, U. • Supported efforts to help the Postal Service Committee on Finance Of Delaware, M.B.A. 1975 survive its financial struggles Religion: Presbyterian • Strong proponent of free trade and has worked to limit budget wars between Election Results Obama White House and the Republican Family: married (Martha controlled Congress Ann Stacy), 2 Children 2012 General • Supports gay marriage and opposed the Contact: (202) 224-2441 Defense of Marriage Act Thomas Carper (D) Votes: 265,415 Percent: 66.4% Hart Office 513 • Favors expanding Obamacare Washington, DC 20510 Kevin Wade (R) Votes: 115,700 Percent: 29.0%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

May 3, 2016 | Claire Carter REP.

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester

Biography Lisa Blunt Rochester was born in 1962 in , but her family moved to Wilmington, Delaware in 1969. Her father was a former Democratic president of the Wilmington Council, and her sister was an aide in Joe Biden’s Senate office as well as the state director for the Obama-Biden campaign. Blunt Rochester graduated in 1985 from Fairleigh Dickinson University (after spending a year at Villanova and a year at the University of Delaware) with her bachelor’s of arts in international relations and received her master’s degree in urban affairs and public policy from the University of Delaware in 2003. Her political career began in 1987 when she interned for Congressman Tom Carper, then went to the governor’s office with him as a policy advisor and ending up in the governor’s cabinet as state secretary of labor from 1998 to 2001. When Carper was elected as senator in 2000, Blunt Rochester stayed in new Democratic Governor Ruth Ann Minner’s cabinet as the personnel director. She was recruited to be the CEO of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, a public policy think-tank, where she met her husband Charles Rochester, an engineer working in China. She moved to for a brief period after they married in 2006, writing a book profiling women who reinvented themselves while living in a foreign country. Blunt Rochester moved back to the United States with her husband when he was transferred to Boston. She returned to Delaware after her husband passed away in 2014 and decided to run for the open House seat, winning the Democratic primary with almost 45% of the vote and the general election defeating Republican challenger Hans Reigle with 56% of the vote. She is the first woman and person of color to represent Delaware in Congress. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Supports minimum wage increase and Committee on Education & the Workforce Representative, DE overtime expansion Elected: 2016 Committee on Agriculture • Supports equal pay for men and women Education: • Supports Farleigh Dickinson University, B.A. • Supports stronger gun regulations 1985; University of Delaware, Election Results M.A. 2003 • Favors affordable education and free 2016 General Religion: Christian community college Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) Votes: 233,554 Percent: 55.5% Family: Widow, 2 children • Favors expanding Obamacare • Supports overturning Citizens United and Contact: (202) 225-4165 Hans Reigle (R) Votes: 172,301 Percent: 41.0% expanding voting rights LHOB Room 1123 Washington, DC 20515 • Opposes privatization of Social Security • Opposes raising the retirement age

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017; Ballotpedia, 2017.

February 22, 2017 | Christine Yan, Madelaine Pisani, Yanni Chen District of Columbia DEL.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton

Biography Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat who was first elected delegate from the District of Columbia in 1990, grew up in Washington. She worked for the American Civil Liberties Union and the New York City Commission on Human Rights, and was head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the Carter administration. Afterward, she taught law at Georgetown University. When the delegate seat came open in 1990, she edged past Council Member Betty Anne Kane, 39%-33%, but easily won in the general. In her early terms in the House, she had the difficult and sometimes vexing task of responding to the fiscal collapse of the District government just as Republicans took over Congress in 1995. She established good relations with Republicans active on District matters. She led the drive to give the D.C. delegate and the four territorial delegates to the House—all of whom were then Democrats—votes on most legislation in the House. She has also worked with Republicans on a variety of matters including fiscal management of the district and the allocation of tax breaks to several downtown areas in DC. Throughout her decades in the House, Norton has sought to move the District toward statehood, to secure full representation in Congress and to prevent Congress from overriding decisions of the District government.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports government transparency and Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Delegate, District of accountability Columbia Committee on Oversight & Government Reform • Supports expansion of Obamacare Elected: 1990 • Supports equal voting rights Education: Antioch Col., B.A., 1960 • Supports DC statehood Yale University, M.A., 1963 Yale University, LLB, 1964 Election Results Religion: Episcopalian 2016 General Family: Divorced, 2 children Eleanor Norton (D) Votes: 244,711 Percent: 88.9%

Contact: (202) 225-8050 Martin Moulton (L) Votes: 17,272 Percent: 6.3% 2136 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, “Del. Eleanor Norton,” March 3, 2017.

March 03, 2017 | Hunter Hamrick Florida SENATOR

Sen. Marco Rubio

Biography

Marco Rubio, the junior senator from Florida, won a riveting contest in 2010 and is regarded as one of the Republicans with the best chance to reshape the GOP for the 21st century. He is a Latino in a party that is desperate to make inroads with that demographic group, an eloquent and telegenic public speaker with a compelling biography, and a consistent conservative with a deep interest in policy. Rubio got his undergraduate degree in 1993 at the University of Florida. He then went to the University of Miami for a law degree. He interned for Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and in his last year of law school, ran the Dade County operation for Republican Sen. Bob Dole’s presidential campaign in 1996. At age 26, he ran for city commissioner in West Miami, and beat an incumbent. Two years later, he won an open state House seat. In 2007, he became speaker of the Florida House, making him the youngest person and the first Hispanic to achieve that position. In 2010, he ran for the Senate with tea party backing against popular Rep Gov. , winning 49%-29%. Rubio notably declined to join the Senate Tea Party Caucus founded by fellow freshman , R-Ky, but his voting record has been reliably conservative. He was vetted as a potential running-mate with in 2012, elevating his national profile. Rubio made an unsuccessful run for GOP nominee in 2016, dropping out after losing his home state of Florida to . Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Opposes Obamacare expansion Committee on Foreign Relations Senator, Florida • Supports absolute right to gun ownership Elected: 2010 Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship • Opposes abortion rights Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation Education: U. of Florida, B.A. ’93, U. Of • Opposes higher taxes on the wealthy Committee on Intelligence Miami J.D. ‘96 • Opposes green energy initiatives Joint Congressional-Executive Commission Committee on China Religion: Roman Catholic • Opposes pathway to citizenship for illegal Election Results Family: Married aliens 2010 General (Jeannette), 4 children • Opposes privatized social security Contact: (202) 224-3041 • Favors military expansion Marco Rubio (R) Votes: 2,645,743 Percent: 48.9% Russell Senate Office 284 • Opposes marijuana legalization Washington, DC 20510 Charlie Crist (I) Votes: 1,607,549 Percent: 29.7%

Kendrick Meek (D) Votes: 1,092,936 Percent: 20.2% Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

May 2, 2016 | Emilia Varrone SENATOR BILL NELSON

Sen. Bill Nelson

Biography

Bill Nelson, who was first elected to the Senate in 2000, is a careful centrist in much the same manner of his former Florida Democratic colleague , showing a willingness to break from his party when he deems its interests diverge from those of his state. He also is catching up to Graham in popularity; he coasted to a third term in 2012, outpolling President Barack Obama in the state. He attended the University of Florida for two years, and then graduated from Yale and the law school. After two-years in the Army, he returned to Melbourne and practiced law and worked on the staff of Democratic Gov. Reubin Askew. In 1972, at age 30, he was elected to the state House of Representatives. In 1978 he won a seat in the US House of Representatives. Nelson’s chance to run for higher office came in March 1999, when Republican Sen. Connie Mack said he would not run for reelection in 2000; it was the most expensive Florida Senate race to that point, with the two candidates spending more than $15 million between them. Nelson won 51%-46%. In the Senate, Nelson has become known as a deliberative lawmaker with a moderate-to-liberal voting record, usually siding with his party on major legislation. Some Republicans grouse that he prefers to tackle easy issues to tougher ones. Nelson responds by citing his work against oil drilling and health care. He is the ranking member in both the subcommittee on Emerging Threats & Capabilities as well as the ranking member on the Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports Obamacare expansion Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation Senator, Florida • Opposes absolute right to gun ownership Elected: 2000 Committee on Aging • Supports unrestricted abortion rights Education: Committee on Armed Services Yale U. ‘65, U of VA. ‘68 • Favors higher taxes on the wealthy • Supports green energy initiatives Committee on Finance Religion: Episcopalian • Supports Same-Sex Marriage Family: Married (Grace), 2 Election Results children • Opposes stricter punishment to reduce 2012 General crime Contact: (202) 224-5274 • Favors pathway to citizenship for illegal Bill Nelson (D) Votes: 4,523,451 Percent: 55.2% Hart Senate Office 716 aliens Washington, DC 20510 Connie Mack (R) Votes: 3,458,267 Percent: 42.2%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

April 27, 2016 | Emilia Varrone REP.

Rep. Al Lawson

Biography Alfred Lawson, a fourth-generation Floridian, was born in Midway, Florida in 1948. He worked his first job in the Gadsden Community tobacco fields at the age of 8. In high school, Lawson was an accomplished athlete and went on to play basketball at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, where he received his bachelor’s of science degree in political science and then earned his master’s of science in public administration from Florida State University. He married his college sweetheart, Dr. Delores Brooks, who teaches at Florida A&M University’s School of Nursing. Lawson was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1982 as an underdog candidate, serving for 18 years before being elected as a state senator in 2000. He served as the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, authoring the Preservation 2000 environmental law, which created the largest state-funded land acquisition program in the country. In 2005, Lawson sponsored and passed legislation creating the First Generation Matching Grant scholarship program. In addition, he hosts an annual basketball tournament, which has provided nearly $300,000 in academic scholarships to North Florida youth over the past 25 years. Lawson ran twice for the Democratic nomination in Florida’s 2nd district, losing narrowly in the 2010 primary to seven-term incumbent Allen Boyd and in the 2012 general election against incumbent Steve Southerland. After redistricting, Lawson defeated Florida political icon Corrine Brown, who is under indictment for corruption, in the 5th district’s Democratic primary. He defeated Republican Glo Smith in the general election with 64% of the vote.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Favors reform for affordable college Committee on Small Business Representative, FL-5 • Favors protecting veterans’ benefits Elected: 2016 Committee on Agriculture • Favors criminal justice reform Education: Florida A&M University, B.S. 1970; • Favors investing in infrastructure Florida State University, M.S.P.A. Election Results 1973 2016 General Religion: Episcopal Al Lawson (D) Votes: 194,549 Percent: 64.2% Contact: (202) 225-0123 LHOB Room 1337 Glo Smith (R) Votes: 108,325 Percent: 35.8% Washington, DC 20515

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017; Ballotpedia, 2017.

February 24, 2017 | Christine Yan, Madelaine Pisani, Yanni Chen REP.

Rep. Neal Dunn

Biography Neal Dunn was born in Boston in 1953 to a military family. Growing up, he was an Eagle Scout and active in rifle competitions along with his twin brother Alan. Dunn received a U.S. Army ROTC scholarship to Washington & Lee University, where he received his bachelor’s degree before earning his medical degree from George Washington University. He completed his urological residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and served as an attending urologist in the U.S. Army for 11 years, before moving to Panama City and working as a urologist there for over 20 years After retiring, he assumed an administrative role as the chief medical officer for the Advanced Urology Institute in North Florida. In 2014, Dunn was appointed by Florida Senate President Don Gaetz to serve as the Senate’s representative on the Enterprise Florida Board of Directors. Dunn also has served as the founding chairman of Summit Bank, which focuses on custom commercial lending, since 2008. He prioritizes repairing the healthcare system and economy, creating jobs and rebuilding the military.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Supports repealing Obamacare Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Representative, FL-2 • Favors lower tax rates and reduced Elected: 2016 Committee on Science, Space & Technology economic regulations Committee on Agriculture Education: • Supports the Second Amendment Washington & Lee University, B.S.; • Opposes amnesty and sanctuary cities George Washington University, Election Results M.D. • Supports Balanced Budget Amendment 2016 General Religion: Catholic • Opposes Common Core Neal Dunn (R) Votes: 231,163 Percent: 67.3% Family: Married, 3 children, 3 • Supports eliminating the Department of grandchildren Education Walter Dartland (D) Votes: 102,801 Percent: 29.9% Contact: (202) 225-5235 CHOB Room 423 Washington, DC 20515

Sources: Ballotpedia, 2017; National Journal Research, 2017.

February 22, 2017 | Christine Yan, Madelaine Pisani, Yanni Chen Georgia REP. DAVID PERDUE PROFILE

Sen. David Perdue

Biography

Republican David Perdue is Georgia's junior senator. He defeated Democrat Michelle Nunn in 2014 to succeed retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss, edging out a surprise win in a contest that had been expected to go to a runoff. His win came on the heels of a tough primary in which he faced four other Republicans, and it marks his first post in an elected office. Perdue was born in Macon and grew up in Warner Robins in a family of schoolteachers. After studying industrial engineering and operations research, he launched a career in management consulting, followed by senior roles at Sara Lee, Haggar Clothing, Reebok, and Pillowtex. In 2003, he took over as CEO of Dollar General, where he streamlined operations and closed stores before selling the chain in 2007. After a stint with an Indian chemicals company, he started an Atlanta- based trading firm in 2011. He established a reputation as a turnaround expert for troubled companies. Touting his business credentials, Perdue plunged into politics when Chambliss announced his retirement in 2013, hoping that he would get a boost from the family name – his cousin, , is a former governor. Both the primary and the general election were close, but the state's GOP lean and Obama's unpopularity gave Perdue a lift, and he won 53 percent to his opponent’s 45 percent. Perdue received a seat on the Agriculture Committee, maintaining a decades-long Georgia tradition. He also was given slots on Budget, Foreign Relations, Judiciary and Special Aging. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Advocates for a smaller government, and Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Senator, GA to shrink federal agencies Elected: 2014 Committee on Foreign Relations • Strong, conservative stance on foreign Committee on Aging Education: policy Georgia Tech, B.A. ’72; • Opposes increase in fed. minimum wage Committee on the Judiciary M.A. ‘75 Committee on the Budget Religion: Methodist Election Results Family: Married (Bonnie), 2 children 2014 General Contact: (202) 224-3521 David Perdue (R) Votes: 1,358,088 Percent: 52.89% Russell Senate Office 383 Washington, DC 20510 Michelle Nunn (D) Votes: 1,160,811 Percent: 45.21%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016.

April 6, 2016 | Emilia Varrone SENATOR

Sen. Johnny Isakson

Biography

Johnny Isakson, a Republican elected in 2004, is Georgia’s senior senator. He is as staunchly conservative as other Georgia Republicans but exudes a Southern charm that makes him less off-putting to his liberal colleagues than others in the state’s congressional delegation. The GOP takeover in 2015 handed him the chairmanship of two committees: Veterans' Affairs and Ethics. Isakson graduated from the and served in the Air National Guard. He went to work for Northside Realty in 1967 and eventually became president of the firm. He served in the state House and later state Senate between ’76 and ‘96. in 1998, Isakson won Newt Gingrich’s house seat when he stepped down as speaker of the House. In the House, Isakson served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he pushed for a rapid transit line for the overburdened Georgia 400 corridor. On the Education and the Workforce Committee, he took a leading role in negotiations on the No Child Left Behind Act, which tied federal funds for schools to test performance. Isakson ran for Senate in 2004, winning 58%-40%. Isakson has a conservative voting record in the Senate, though his folksy pragmatism makes him markedly less edgy than other Republicans in Georgia’s congressional delegation. He said his experience selling homes taught him the virtues of negotiation and compromise. True to his word, Isakson has been willing to compromise during high-stakes fiscal battles. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Opposes Obamacare expansion Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Senator, GA • Supports absolute right to gun ownership Elected 2004 Committee on Ethics • Opposes abortion rights Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Education: U of Georgia, B.B.A. ‘66 • Opposes legalization of marijuana Committee on Foreign Relations • Opposes higher taxes on the wealthy Committee on Finance Religion: Methodist • Opposes green energy initiatives Election Results Family: Married (Diane), 3 • Opposes same-sex marriage children, 9 grandchildren 2010 General • Opposes pathway to citizenship for illegal Contact: (202) 224-3643 aliens Johnny Isakson (R) Votes: 1,489,904 Percent: 58.3% Russell Senate Office 131 • Supports expansion of free trade Washington, DC 20510 Mike Thurmond (D) Votes: 996,515 Percent: 39.0%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

April 25, 2016 | Emilia Varrone REP. , JR.

Rep. Sanford Bishop, Jr.

Biography Bishop grew up in Mobile, Alabama, where his father was a college president. He went to Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he was student body president in 1968, attended Emory Law School, and then served in the Army. After a year in New York, he settled in Columbus to practice law. He was elected to the state legislature in 1976. He served there until 1990, when he was elected to the Georgia Senate. In 1992, he ran for the U.S. House and won the general election 64%- 36%. Bishop’s voting record is among the most conservative in the Congressional Black Caucus. Over the years, Rep. Bishop has supported a balanced budget, school prayer, a ban on flag burning and a proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage. He strongly backed the health care overhaul law, describing it as “a piece of legislation whose time has come.” In January 2013, Bishop joined the “Problem Solvers” coalition of lawmakers who agreed to meet monthly to promote bipartisanship. With a seat on the Appropriations Committee since 2003, Bishop has worked to safeguard and deliver funds to the district’s military facilities, and looks out for Georgia’s peanut farmers. On the 2008 farm bill, he helped design the peanut-rotation program. After the Democrats won control of the House in 2006, Bishop gained seats on the Agriculture, Defense, and Military Construction subcommittees at Appropriations. In 2016, Bishop won reelection with 61% of the vote.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Supports pro-choice legislation Committee on Appropriations Representative, GA-2 • Opposes same-sex marriage Elected: 1992 • Opposes repealing the 2010 Affordable Education: Care Act Morehouse Col., B.A. 1968; Emory • Supports building the Keystone XL pipeline U., J.D. 1971 Election Results • Opposes gun-control legislation 2016 General Religion: Baptist • Supports federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions Sanford Bishop, Jr. Votes: 148,543 Percent: 61.2% Family: Married (Vivian) (D) Contact: (202) 225-3631 Greg Duke (R) Votes: 94,056 Percent: 38.8% RHOB Room 2407 Washington, DC 20515

Sources: Ballotpedia, 2017; National Journal Research, 2017; , 2017.

March 22, 2017 | Yanni Chen EARL “BUDDY” CARTER

Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter

Biography A successful pharmacy owner, Earl “Buddy” Carter was spurred by his interest in local business issues to run for mayor of the town of Pooler in 1996, where he served for eight years. He then won election to the state House in 2004 and moved to the state Senate in 2008, securing seats on the appropriations and health panels and eventually rising to deputy whip. In 2014, Carter won the election to represent Georgia's 1st District. He succeeded GOP Rep. Jack Kingston, who gave up his seat for an unsuccessful Senate bid, to represent a stretch of coastal Georgia that runs from Savannah to the Florida border. Carter underscored his legislative and private-sector record, highlighting endorsements from the Chamber of Commerce and local business groups while diving into the wonkier details of issues such as flood insurance and port dredging. But he also tried to shore up his right flank by calling for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and highlighting his endorsement from the National Rifle Association. Carter was won reelection in 2016 with 100% of the vote.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Voted against increasing military and Committee on Homeland Security Representative, GA-1 domestic spending levels Elected: 2014 Committee on Education & the Workforce • Voted in favor of prohibiting the president Education: Young Harris College, from limiting the application of sanctions Committee on Oversight & Government Reform A.A. 1977; U of Georgia, B.S., on Iran 1980 • Voted in favor of the Pain-Capable Unborn Election Results Child Protection Act Religion: Methodist 2016 General • Voted in favor of the American SAFE Act of Family: Married (Amy Coppage), 3 (R) Votes: 210,243 Percent: 100% children 2015 Nathan Russo (I) Votes: N/A Percent: 0% Contact: (202) 225-5831 CHOB Room 432 Washington, DC 20515

Sources: National Journal Research, 2017; Ballotpedia, 2017.

January 18, 2017 | Yanni Chen Illinois SEN. PROFILE

Sen. Dick Durbin

Biography

Dick Durbin, first elected to the House in 1982 and to the Senate in 1996, is the Democratic whip, making him the chief vote-counter for Majority Leader Harry Reid. More diplomatic and less prone to partisan outbursts than Reid, Durbin is respected among colleagues for his willingness to work hard and for his ability to articulate his party’s themes in everyday language. At the outset of the 114th Congress (2015-16), Reid's serious injuries in a fall kept him away from the chamber for a time, raising Durbin's profile and renewing speculation in the news media about whether he is Reid's eventual successor as Democratic leader. In the Senate, Durbin is "one of the most skilled debaters we have," a Senate aide told National Journal in 2015. He has compiled a largely liberal voting record, though he supported welfare reform in the 1990s and has always supported the death penalty. While in the House, Durbin favored restrictions on abortion, but has opposed most legislation to restrict abortion since coming to the Senate. On other domestic issues, Durbin has had a strong pro- union voting record, but split with labor on trade, supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement and normal trade relations with China. After then Democratic Leader Tom Daschle’s defeat in 2004 and the elevation of Reid as minority leader, Durbin became minority whip, and then majority whip in 2007, after Democrats won their Senate majority. As whip, Durbin has worked hard on the floor to advance Democratic causes and bills. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: Senator, Illinois, • Largely liberal voting record, pro-union Senate Rules & Administration Committee Democratic Whip • Supports the death penalty Elected: 1996 Senate Judiciary Committee • Voted against Gulf War resolution in 1991 Education: and Iraq war resolution in 2002 Georgetown U., B.S. 1966, Senate Appropriations Committee J.D. 1969 Religion: Roman Catholic Major Milestones Election Results Family: Married (Loretta First became Democratic whip 2007 2014 General Schaefer), 3 children, 3 Chief Sponsor of DREAM Act 2007 grandchildren Became Chair of Appropriation’s 2013 Dick Durbin (D) Votes: 1,929,637 Percent: 53.5% Contact: (202) 224-2152 defense subcommittee Hart Senate Office Building Jim Oberweis (R) Votes: 1,538,522 Percent: 42.7% Room 711, Washington, D.C. 20501 Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

April 6, 2016 | Alexander Perry SEN.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth

Biography Tammy Duckworth was born in 1968 in Bangkok, Thailand. The daughter of a veteran father and a Thai mother, Duckworth spent much of her early life abroad, moving with her father’s jobs at the United Nations and, later, at international companies. Living in Singapore and Indonesia before moving to Hawaii at the age of 16, Duckworth obtained her undergraduate degree in marine biology at the University of Hawaii and then a master’s degree in international affairs at George Washington University. During her time at George Washington University, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. Duckworth’s family on her father’s side has a long tradition of military service, including ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War. In 1992, she became a commissioned officer in the US Army Reserve and elected to fly helicopters. Four years later, Duckworth joined the Illinois Army National Guard. While pursuing doctoral work at Northern Illinois University, she was deployed to Iraq in 2004, despite opposing President George W. Bush’s decision to invade the country. That November, Duckworth co-piloted a UH-60 Black Hawk that was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. As a result of the explosion, she lost both of her legs and sustained serious damage to her right arm. She received a Purple Heart later that year and continued to serve as lieutenant colonel in the Illinois Army Guard. In 2012, she was elected as the House Representative for Illinois’s 8th congressional district, becoming the first member of Congress born in Thailand and the first disabled woman to be elected to the House. She was reelected in 2014. In the 2016 Senate race, Duckworth defeated incumbent Mark Kirk. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Strongly favors laws against job Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation Senator, Illinois discrimination Elected: 2016 Committee on Energy & Natural Resources • Strongly favors expansion of Obamacare Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Education: • Strongly opposes vouchers for school University of Hawaii, B.A. 1989; choice Committee on Environment & Public Works George Washington University, M.A., 1992; • Favors green energy Capella University, Ph.D., 2015 • Strongly favors abortion rights Election Results Religion: Deist • Opposes expanding the military 2016 General Family: Married (Major Bryan • Strongly favors pathway to citizenship Tammy Duckworth Votes: 3,012,940 Percent: 54.9% Bowlsbey) (D) • Voted against the American SAFE Act of Contact: (202) 224-2854 2015 Mark Kirk (R) Votes: 2,184,692 Percent: 39.8% HSOB Room 524 Washington, DC 20510 Sources: Ballotpedia, 2016; National Journal Almanac, 2017.

February 22, 2017 | Yanni Chen, Madelaine Pisani REP.

Rep. Bobby Rush

Biography

Once a Black Panther and prison inmate, Democrat Bobby Rush was elected in 1992 and is now an elder liberal statesman of Chicago’s sharp-edged political scene. He also likely will go down in history as the only politician ever to beat Barack Obama in an election. Rush grew up on the North Side, a Boy Scout whose mother was a Republican precinct captain. While in the Army, he became involved in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the South, then became disillusioned with the military and went AWOL in 1968. That year, he founded the Illinois Black Panthers, with its “Power to the People” slogan, and recruited Fred Hampton, who became chairman of the organization but was later killed by police in a 1969 raid. In 1983, he was elected the 2nd Ward alderman on the Chicago City Council and became a strong supporter of Harold Washington, who became mayor. As he built a career in politics, Rush went back to school and earned master’s degrees in political science and theological studies. In 1992, he challenged Democratic U.S. Rep. Charles Hayes, an older- generation politician with a union background. Rush won 42%-39%. In the House, Rush has a liberal voting record. His rhetoric has softened over the years, and his more deliberate style contrasts sharply with his days as a Panther. But he does sometimes chafe at legislative compromises. He backed the 2010 health care overhaul law, but only after sending mixed signals because of his unhappiness over the removal of a provision that reimburses hospitals for indigent care. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Pro-choice on abortion issues House Committee on Energy and Commerce Representative, IL-1 • Favors higher taxes on the wealthy Elected: 1992 • Opposes privatizing social security Education: Roosevelt U., B,A, 1973, U. Of IL, M.A. 1994 Religion: Baptist Election Results Family: Married (Carolyn Thomas), 7 children 2016 General

Contact: (202) 225-4372 Bobby Rush (D) Votes: 234,037 Percent: 74.1% Rayburn Office 2188 Washington, DC 20515 August Deuser (R) Votes: 81,817 Percent: 25.9%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017. Ballotpedia, 2017.

April 7, 2017 | Justin C. Brown SENATOR RAND PAUL Sen. Rand Paul

Biography

Republican Sen. Rand Paul, elected in 2010 as Kentucky’s junior senator, is the son of former Rep. , R-, a libertarian and a presidential candidate in 2008 and 2012. The younger Paul is poised to preside over his father’s devoted following among strict adherents of limited government. He attended Baylor University, where he was an active member of the Young Conservatives of Texas. Although he failed to get an undergraduate degree at Baylor, Paul was admitted to Duke University, where he got his medical degree. Post residency, Paul moved to Bowling Green, Ky., near his wife’s home town, and opened an ophthalmology practice. After he gave a speech on tax day in 2009 to a Tea Party group, he decided to run for the Senate. Though Sen. Majority leader McConnell supported Paul’s opponent, Paul won the primary 59-35%. He went on to win the general election 56-44%. His victory was counted as one of the major triumphs for the Tea Party movement, and as soon as he got to Washington, Paul established a Tea Party Caucus in the Senate. Paul offered a large number of bills for a freshman, and he was perfectly willing to use his power to block anything he viewed as government overreach. When the budget blueprint from Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., which included his controversial plan to revamp Medicare, came to a vote in the Senate in May 2011, Paul was one of five Republicans who joined Democrats in voting it down. The other GOP senators were moderates who opposed Ryan’s plan because of its deep cuts to Medicare. Paul opposed it because its spending cuts overall didn’t go far enough. Paul suspended his 2016 presidential campaign after the Iowa caucuses

Biography Stance on Issues Committees

Currently: • Favors pro-life legislation Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Senator, KY • Favors an absolute right to gun ownership Elected: 2010 Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs • Opposes federal regulation of greenhouse Education: gas emissions Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Attended Baylor U., ‘81-’84 Duke U., M.D., ’88 • Supports building the Keystone pipeline Committee on Foreign Relations Religion: Presbyterian • Favors repealing Obamacare Election Results Family: Married, 3 children 2016 General

Rand Paul (R) Votes: 1,090,177 Percent: 57.3% Contact: (202) 224-4343 RSOB Room 167 Jim Gray (D) Votes: 813,246 Percent: 42.7% Washington, DC 20510

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017; Ballotpedia, 2017. March 7, 2017 | Emilia Varrone SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL PROFILE

Sen. Mitch McConnell

Biography

Republican Mitch McConnell, the senior senator from Kentucky, was first elected in 1984 and rose through the ranks to become the Senate majority leader. A tough, thick-skinned tactician, he made it his quest to lead the opposition to President Barack Obama but he also has been a skillful negotiator at times of crisis when partisanship has threatened the ability of the government to function. McConnell grew up in Alabama, where he overcame polio, and at age 13, moved to Louisville. Soon after graduating from law school, he became chief legislative assistant to Kentucky Sen. Marlow Cook. He served in the Ford administration Justice Department and then moved back to Louisville. In 1977, at age 35, McConnell won the office that had been Cook’s political stepping-stone, Jefferson County judge-executive. He was reelected in 1981, and in 1984, he ran for the Senate against incumbent Democrat Walter (Dee) Huddleston. McConnell won by 5,169 votes out of 1.2 million cast. He has been in politics for most of his adult life and is married to former Bush administration Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who was recently nominated by President-elect Trump to be Transportation Secretary. In taking over as the Senate's top Republican, McConnell regularly pledged his desire to surmount gridlock and apply his well-honed powers of persuasion to get GOP colleagues to join him.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Strongly opposes gun control Committee on Appropriations Sen., Kentucky • Supports efforts to “repeal and replace” Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Elected: 1984 the Affordable Care Act Committee on Rules and Administration Education: • Opposes campaign finance reform as Committee on Intelligence U. of Louisville, B.A. 1964, infringement on speech rights U. of KY, J.D. 1967 Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies • Supported an extension of the Bush-era tax Religion: Baptist cuts Election Results Family: Married (Elaine • Opposes regulation of greenhouse gases Chao) 2014 General

Contact: (202) 224-2541 Mitch McConnell (R) Votes: 806,796 Percent: 56.2% Russell Senate 317 Washington, DC 20510 Alison Lundergan Votes: 584,700 Percent: 40.7% Grimes (D)

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017. Ballotpedia 2017.

January 5, 2017 | Daniel Stublen REP. ANDY BARR PROFILE

Rep. Andy Barr

Biography Two years after losing to Democratic Rep. Ben Chandler by just 647 votes, Republican attorney Andy Barr got his revenge by winning Kentucky’s 6th District in 2012, even after boundary changes made the district slightly more Democratic. Barr grew up in Lexington and graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in government and philosophy. After two years as a legislative assistant for then Rep. Jim Talent, R-Mo., Barr returned to his hometown to earn a law degree from the University of Kentucky. Since then, he has practiced law as well as taught constitutional law and administrative law as a part-time instructor at Morehead State University. Barr also served as a deputy general counsel to former Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher. The race against Chandler in 2010 went down to , and although Barr hoped a recheck of voting machines would narrow the gap, he decided against a recount and conceded to Chandler 10 days after the election. Barr got an earlier start in his 2012 rematch and attacked President Barack Obama’s policies—especially on coal, an important issue to the district—and aggressively went after his rival. Polls showed the race tightening, and Barr got fundraising help from GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and outside Republican groups that helped put him over the top. He won, 51% to 47%.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Opposes “direct” military intervention in Committee on Financial Services Rep., Kentucky (6) Syria Elected: 2012 • Supports accountability for Members of Education: Congress U. of VA, B.A., 1996, • Opposes increasing the national debt U. of KY, J.D. 2001 • Opposes the Affordable Care Act Religion: Episcopalian • Supports the coal industry Election Results Family: Married (Eleanor Carol Leavell), 2 children 2016 General Contact: (202) 225-4706 Andy Barr (R) Votes: 202,099 Percent: 61.1% 1427 Longworth HOB Washington, DC 20515 Nancy Jo Kemper (D) Votes: 128,728 Percent: 38.9%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

February 16, 2017 | Claire Garney Louisiana SEN.

Sen. Bill Cassidy

Biography

Bill Cassidy was one of only five Republicans to defeat a House Democratic incumbent in 2008, and six years later he avoided the mistakes that had doomed incumbent Senator Mary Landrieu's previous opponents while relentlessly tying her to President Obama, a widely disliked figure in Louisiana. In the House, Cassidy was a reliable conservative vote and was made a part of the GOP leadership's whip team. Like his fellow physician and Louisiana GOP colleague Charles Boustany, he was given a plum seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee and called on to publicly criticize the Obama administration on health care. Cassidy said the government should step out of the way of patients, and he supports providing incentives for preventive care along with creating health savings accounts. Like the rest of his state's delegation, Cassidy has been an ardent advocate of the oil and gas industry. Cassidy's impressive reelection margins and legislative work led Louisiana Republicans and political pundits to deem him the most formidable potential challenger to Landrieu, the last remaining Senate Democrat from the Deep South. She had been elected with 50 percent of the vote in 1996 and beat two flawed challengers in 2002 and 2008 with 52 percent each time. But Obama's job-approval rating in the state was measured at just 39 percent in November, giving Cassidy an obvious theme. Outside conservative groups, taking no chances, poured an estimated $5.65 million in ads on his behalf during the runoff. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Health care reform, including expanding Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Senator, LA HSAs Elected: 2014 Committee on Energy & Natural Resources • Strongly opposes pathway to citizenship for Education: illegal citizens and any comprehensive Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions approach to immigration reform Louisiana State U., B.S, Committee on Appropriations 1979, M.D., 1983 • Holds an A+ rating from the NRA

Religion: Christian • Supports fracking, natural gas as Election Results transportation fuel, and building the Family: Married (Laura Keystone XL pipeline 2014 General Layden), 3 children Bill Cassidy (R) Votes: 712,379 Percent: 55.9% Contact: (202) 224-5824 Hart Office Building 703 Mary Landrieu (D) Votes: 561,210 Percent: 44.1% Washington, DC 20510

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Bill Cassidy, Ballotpedia, 2016; billcassidy.com.

September 8, 2016 | Alexander Perry SEN. JOHN KENNEDY

Sen. John Kennedy

Biography

Republican John Neely Kennedy was born on November 21, 1951 in southwestern Mississippi. Kennedy graduated magna cum laude in political science, philosophy and economics from Vanderbilt; was president of his senior class; and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia and his B.C.L. degree from Oxford University in England. He is an adjunct professor at LSU Law School and is a volunteer substitute teacher for East Baton Rouge Parish public schools. Kennedy served as special counsel to Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer from 1988-1992 and as secretary in the governor’s cabinet from 1990-1992. He also worked as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Revenue from 1996-1999. He was sworn in as Louisiana state treasurer in 2000 after winning the 1999 general election as a Democrat. He was re-elected three times, most recently in 2011. In August 2007, Kennedy changed his party affiliation to Republican and was re-elected to a third term, unopposed in November of that year. In that role Kennedy oversaw the state's$10.6 billion investment portfolio, as well as local and state bond issues and returned unclaimed property. In 2016, Kennedy ran in the Republican jungle primary for incumbent David Vitter’s open seat following his decision to retire. A total of 24 candidates filed to run. On November 8, 2016, John Kennedy and Foster Campbell (D) took the top two spots and advanced to a runoff on December 10th. He defeated Campbell in the runoff by over 21 percentage points.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees

nd Currently: • Supports the 2 Amendment Committee on the Budget Senator, Louisiana • Strongly favors supporting Elected: 2016 Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship • Opposes the TPP Education: Committee on the Judiciary Vanderbilt University, B.A., • Opposes amnesty for illegal aliens 1973, University of Virginia, • Favors a constitutional amendment Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs J.D., 1977 requiring a balanced budget Religion: Methodist Committee on Appropriations Family: Married (Becky), 1 Election Results child 2016 General Contact: (202) 224-4623 RSOB Room B11 John Kennedy (R) Votes: 536,191 Percent: 60.7% Washington, DC 20510 Foster Campbell (D) Votes: 347,816 Percent: 39.3% Sources: Johnkennedy.com, National Journal Almanac, 2017. Ballotpedia 2016.

February 22, 2017 | Madelaine Pisani, Yanni Chen REPRESENTATIVE RALPH ABRAHAM PROFILE

Rep. Ralph Abraham

Biography Republican Ralph Abraham, a rural doctor and humanitarian pilot, was elected in 2014. Abraham originally trained to be a veterinarian but changed careers in his late 30s to become a physician. He likes to boast he "can treat anything on four legs." He serves in the Coast Guard Auxiliary and works as a volunteer pilot with Pilots for Patients, a Monroe, La., group providing free air transportation to people needing medical assistance who live far from hospitals or doctors. Abraham, who had considered a run for Congress for several years, started his campaign in 2014 after loaning his campaign at least $200,000 of his own money. In the November all-candidate election, Abraham finished with 23 percent of the vote, just ahead of Dasher's 22 percent and well ahead of McAllister's 11 percent. Abraham then faced a competition with the leading vote-getter in the nine-candidate race—Democrat Jamie Mayo, the mayor of Monroe. Abraham beat Mayo by nearly 30 points. In 2016, he ran for reelection and beat his only opponent handily.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports repealing and replacing House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Representative, LA-5 Obamacare Elected: 2014 House Science, Space & Technology Committee • Supports an absolute right to gun Education: ownership House Agriculture Committee Louisiana State University, • Supports congressional term limits B.A. 1976; M.D. 1994 Religion: Baptist Election Results Family: Married (Dianne), 3 children 2016 General

Contact: Ralph Abraham (R) Votes: 208,545 Percent: 81.6% https://twitter.com/repabr aham/ Billy Burkette (R) Votes: 47,117 Percent: 18.4%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

December 22, 2016 | Justin C. Brown REP. MIKE JOHNSON

Rep. Mike Johnson

Biography

Republican Mike Johnson was born on January 30, 1972 in Shreveport, Louisiana. He is the oldest of four siblings and his father was a firefighter who was critically burned and disabled in the line of duty. He received an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, at which he was a member of the Order of Omega honor society and Kappa Sigma fraternity. He earned a J.D. from Louisiana State University Law Center. Johnson has also worked as a talk radio host and conservative columnist. He has debated on NPR, The O’Reilly Factor, Fox and Friends and other nationally broadcast shows. He first took office as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, representing the state’s 8th district. He was the only candidate running in a special election set for February 21, 2015. He served on the civil law and procedure committee, the house and government affairs committee and the judiciary committee. In 2016 he ran for and won the open seat representing Louisiana’s 4th district in the House after incumbent John Fleming decided to run for the Senate.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees

Currently: • Strongly opposes expanding Obamacare Committee on the Judiciary Representative, LA-4 • Strongly favors pro-life legislation Elected: 2016 Committee on Natural Resources • Strongly opposes gun-control legislation Education: Louisiana State, B.A., J.D. • Opposes national environment policy

Religion: Southern Baptist • Favors lowering taxes Election Results • Favors illegal immigrants returning to Family: Married (Kelly), 4 country of origin children 2016 General • Favors strengthening borders Contact: (202) 225-2777 Mike Johnson (R) Votes: 87,370 Percent: 65.2% CHOB Room 327 Washington, DC 20515 Marshall Jones (D) Votes: 46,579 Percent: 34.8%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017. Ballotpedia, 2017, Mike Johnson, On the Issues, January 3, 2016.

February 27, 2017 | Madelaine Pisani, Yanni Chen CEDRIC RICHMOND

Rep. Cedric Richmond

Biography Democrat Cedric Richmond, elected in 2010, has formed tight alliances with key senior Congressional Black Caucus members and worked successfully with Louisiana Republicans on obtaining money for the state. Richmond grew up in eastern . His father died when he was 7 years old, and he was raised by his mother, a public school teacher. In his youth, life revolved around an urban park where he loved to play sports and later, while in high school, coached teams of younger boys. He graduated from Atlanta’s Morehouse College, the nation’s only all-male historically black college, and returned to his hometown to earn a law degree from Tulane University. Richmond was elected in 2000 to the state House at age 26, becoming the youngest lawmaker in Baton Rouge. He pushed initiatives such as a redevelopment tax credit for weather-damaged areas, funding for playgrounds, and a ban on assault weapons. In his first campaign, Richmond’s central message was that he would be more a dependable supporter of Obama’s agenda than the previous representative. In the House, Richmond has been a loyal Democrat, on rare occasions departing from the party line in deference to his state’s needs. He belongs to the business-friendly New Democrat Coalition. He supported a transportation bill in April 2012 that a majority of Democrats opposed because it included an extension of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Richmond has worked extensively on curbing youth violence and in 2013 was given a seat on the Judiciary Committee. When the House is in session, he regularly eats dinner with fellow black Democrats James Clyburn of , the assistant minority leader. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Representative from Louisiana (2) • Supports expanding Obamacare House Judiciary Committee Elected: 2010 • Opposes the absolute right to gun control House Homeland Security Committee • Supports reducing the use of solitary Education: confinement and juvenile incarceration Morehouse Col., B.A. 1995; • Supports abortion rights Tulane U., J.D. 1998 Election Results • Supports at least $700 million in spending 2016 General Religion: Baptist on coastal restoration in Louisiana Cedric Richmond (D) Votes: 198,289 Percent: 69.8% Contact: 202-225-6636 Kip Holden (D) Votes: 57,125 Percent: 20.1% Cannon House Office Building Room 240

Sources: Ballotpedia, 2016; National Journal Almanac 2016.

December 22, 2016 | Owen Minott SEN. PROFILE

Sen. Ben Cardin

Biography

Cardin is from northwest , the son and nephew of state legislators. He is a man who was elected to the state House at the age of 23—as soon as he was eligible to run. After serving four years as Ways and Means chairman in Annapolis, he became House speaker in 1979, at age 35. He had an interest in running for governor; but when , now Maryland’s senior senator, left her 3rd District House seat to run for the Senate in 1986, Cardin jumped into that race and was easily elected. Maryland Senate seats don’t come open very often, so when one did, Cardin and 17 other Democrats filed to run. An experienced campaigner and fundraiser, Cardin began as the front-runner even though his earnest, somewhat bland demeanor raised questions about his viability as a statewide candidate. The Republican nominee was Lt. Gov. , the first African-American statewide officeholder in Maryland and a candidate exceptionally well-positioned to exploit Cardin’s weaknesses. Cardin won 54%-44%, in what was a tough year for Maryland Republicans. A rock-solid Democrat, Cardin regularly is among the top 10 liberal senators in National Journal’s annual vote rankings. But he is able to work effectively with Republicans because he shuns partisan sound bites and has such a fondness for policymaking.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Committed to expanding mass transit Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Senator, Maryland • Has worked to end racial profiling and Elected: 2006, 2nd term Senate Committee on Foreign Relations returning voting rights to convicted felons. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Education: U. of Pittsburgh, B.A. 1964, Senate Committee on Finance U. of MD, LL.B., J.D. 1967 Joint Committee on Security and Cooperation in Europe Religion: Jewish Major Milestones Election Results Family: Married (Myrna First elected to US Senate 2006 Edelman), 2 children, 2 2012 General grandchildren Ben Cardin (D) Votes: 3,021,364 Percent: 56.04% Contact: (202) 224-4524 Hart Senate Office Building Daniel Bongino (R) Votes: 2,509,132 Percent: 26.36% Room 509 Washington, DC 20510 S. Rob Sobhani (I) Votes: 430,934 Percent: 16.38% Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016.

April 11, 2016 | Justin C. Brown SEN.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen

Biography Chris Van Hollen was born in 1959 in Karachi, Pakistan, where his father worked as a foreign service officer. His mother worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department. In addition to Pakistan, Van Hollen spent his early years in Turkey, India and Sri Lanka. He moved back to the United States for his junior year of high school to attend Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts. Van Hollen graduated from with his Bachelor’s of Arts in Philosophy and then went on to Harvard University for his Master of Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government. From 1985 to 1987, Van Hollen worked as a legislative assistant for defense and foreign policy to Senator (R) from Maryland. In addition, he also spent time as a staff member of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate and he was a legislative advisor to Governor from Maryland. In 1990, Van Hollen earned his law degree from Georgetown Law School. After being admitted to the Maryland state bar, Van Hollen joined the law firm of Arent Fox. From 1991 to 2003, he served in the Maryland General Assembly. While in the Maryland State Senate (1995-2003), Van Hollen served on the Budget and Taxation Committee and the Health and Human Services Subcommittee. He worked on efforts to raise the tobacco tax, increase funding for education and prohibit oil drilling in the Chesapeake Bay. In 2003, Van Hollen became the U.S. Representative for Maryland’s 8th congressional district. The largest employer in the district is the federal government, so Van Hollen worked on issues relating to it. He secured federal funding for transportation initiatives, homeland security and more. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Favors expanding Obamacare Committee on the Budget Senator, Maryland • Strongly favors prioritizing green energy Elected: 2016 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry • Strongly opposes vouchers for school Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Education: choice Swarthmore College, B.A. 1982; Committee on Appropriations Harvard University, M.P.P. 1985; • Strongly opposes privatized Social Security Georgetown University, J.D. 1990 • Favors strong regulation of the fracking Election Results Religion: Episcopalian industry at the federal level 2016 General Family: Married (Katherine A. Wilkens), 3 children Chris Van Hollen (D) Votes: 1,659,907 Percent: 60.9% Contact: (202) 224-4654 Kathy Szeliga (R) Votes: 972,557 Percent: 35.7% HSOB Room 110 Washington, DC 20510

Sources: Ballotpedia, 2016; National Journal Almanac 2017. . February 22, 2017 | Madelaine Pisani , Yanni Chen REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS PROFILE

Rep. Elijah Cummings

Biography

Cummings is the son of sharecroppers from South Carolina who moved north for a better life for their seven children. He grew up in Baltimore, where as an 11-year-old he was one of the first children to integrate a park's swimming pool. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Howard University, and then got a law degree from the University of Maryland. He practiced law for a time in Baltimore, and then in 1982, at age 31, he ran successfully for the Maryland House of Delegates, where he served 16 years and rose through the ranks to become speaker pro tem. He ran for the U.S. House after resigned to become president of the NAACP. Cummings main competition was the Rev. Frank Reid III, stepbrother of Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, who raised $255,000. Cummings had support from local businesses and community- development organizations, and raised $450,000. He won with 37% of the vote to 24% for Reid. He has not been seriously challenged in a primary or general election since then. Cummings lives in troubled west Baltimore, and he is a crusader against drug abuse, for stricter gun control, and for help for low-income homeowners. He also is a staunch defender of labor unions, which have been his top source of campaign funds throughout his career. On Oversight and Government Reform, Cummings has forcefully pushed back against the GOP on subpoena powers, Democrats’ access to records, and numerous other matters. Cummings usually wins reelection by landslide margins, and in 2006 he was unopposed. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Has fought for stricter gun control House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Congressman, MD-7 • Defended labor unions Elected: 1996 House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure • Partnered with to fight Education: economic inequality Howard U., B.S. 1973, U of MD, J.D. 1976 Religion: Baptist Election Results Family: Married (Maya Rockeymoore), 1 child 2016 General

Contact: (202) 225-3178 Elijah Cummings (D) Votes: 238,838 Percent: 74.9% Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2163 Corrogan Vaughn (R) Votes: 69,556 Percent: 21.8% Washington, DC 20515

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017; Maryland Board of Elections, “Official 2014 Gubernatorial General Election results for Representative in Congress,” December 2, 2014.

April 7, 2017 | Justin C. Brown REP. PROFILE

Rep. Steny Hoyer

Biography

Democrat Steny Hoyer, elected in 1981, is the longest-serving member of Congress from Maryland. He is the minority whip and the de facto leader of his party’s shrinking moderate wing in the House, and he is at heart a bipartisan deal-cutter despite his role as a public critic of Republicans. He grew up in New York City, but moved from place to place with his mother and stepfather, who was in the Air Force and, when Steny was in high school, was transferred from Florida to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. In 1966, just after graduating from law school, Hoyer was elected to the Maryland Senate, at age 27. He was Senate president from 1975 to 1978, the youngest person to hold that post in Maryland history. In 1981, after incumbent Gladys Spellman was incapacitated by a heart attack, the 5th District seat was declared vacant. Hoyer won the special election, edging out Spellman’s husband and several other Democrats in the primary and beating a well-financed Republican in the general. The district then was entirely in Prince George’s County. Hoyer has fine political instincts, works hard, and can speak in an old-fashioned, patriotic style that can be genuinely moving. His voting record is relatively moderate among Democrats, especially on foreign policy issues. Hoyer won his first leadership post in 1989 as chairman of the Democratic Caucus. Hoyer later became minority whip in 2002.

Biography Stance on Issues Leadership Currently: • Fought for transportation bills during the House Minority Whip Representative, MD-5 GOP’s stance on “fiscal cliff” budget Elected: 1981 negotiations in 2012. Education: • Advocated for more spending for U. Of MD, B.S. 1963, education programs and better pay and Georgetown U., J.D. 1966 benefits for federal workers Religion: Baptist • Has been a champion of human rights around the world Election Results Family: Widower, 3 children, 3 grandchildren • Fought to cleanup the Chesapeake Bay 2016 General

Contact: (202) 225-4131 Steny Hoyer (D) Votes: 242,989 Percent: 67.4% Longworth Office 1705 Washington, DC 20515 Mark Arness (R) Votes: 105.931 Percent: 29.4%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

April 7, 2017 | Justin C. Brown REPRESENTATIVE PROFILE

Rep. Andy Harris

Biography Andy Harris, who defeated freshman Democrat Frank Kratovil in 2010, is the lone Republican in Maryland’s congressional delegation. He juggles working with his Terrapin State colleagues on local matters with agitating for his fervently conservative views. Harris, a anesthesiologist and professor, was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to immigrants from Eastern Europe. His father, a Hungarian anti-communist activist, had been jailed in a Siberian gulag for over a year for his political views before meeting Harris’ mother, who had fled Ukraine, at a displaced persons camp in Austria. Harris credits his parents’ escape from communism and the spirited dinner-table conversations they encouraged among their four sons with fostering his fiercely held beliefs in the ills of big government and the sanctity of the private sector. After Harris completed his medical studies at Johns Hopkins, he began to practice and teach there. He and his wife, Sylvia, have five children and live in a suburb north of Baltimore. Harris was elected to the state Senate to represent Baltimore County in 1998. In Annapolis, he was one of the most conservative members, and he served as the chamber’s minority whip from 2003 to 2007. He picked up a reputation for his artful filibusters—during a fight against a stem cell research bill, he read from a biology textbook on DNA.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports a national sales tax Committee on Appropriations Rep., Maryland (1) Elected: 2010 • Strongly favors vouchers for school choice

Education: • Strongly opposes expanding ObamaCare Johns Hopkins U., B.S. 1977; • Strongly opposes higher taxes on the M.D. 1980; M.H.S. 1995. wealthy • Strongly opposes prioritizing green energy Religion: Roman Catholic Election Results • Opposes privatizing Social Security Family: Widower, 5 children • Strongly opposes citizenship for illegal 2016 General aliens Contact: (202) 225-5311 Andy Harris (R) Votes: 242,574 Percent: 67.0% Longworth House 1533 Washington, DC 20515 Joe Werner (D) Votes: 103,622 Percent: 28.6%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

April 7, 2017 | Christine Yan Mississippi

Sen. Roger Wicker

Biography Wicker grew up in Pontotoc, Mississippi, where his father was a state senator and a circuit judge. As a teenager, he became interested in Republican politics. He was a page in the U.S. House and campaigned door-to-door for Sen. in his first race for Congress. At Ole Miss, Wicker was associated student body president and went on to get his law degree there. He then served for four years in the Air Force, remaining in the Reserve until 2004. In 1980, he worked for Sen. on the House Rules Committee. In 1982, Wicker set up a law practice in Mississippi and was the county public defender in Tupelo. In 1987, he was elected to the state Senate, where he helped draft the state’s strict abortion law and was also a leading advocate of government-sponsored vouchers for private school tuition. In 1994, Wicker ran for and won a seat in the House, where he compiled a solidly conservative voting record. He was appointed in 2007 as Mississippi’s junior senator won a special election to the seat in 2008 and then won a full six-year term in 2012. He has been part of the core of Senate Republicans opposed to most of President Obama’s initiatives, and became chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2015. Wicker took over the Armed Services Committee's seapower subcommittee and became chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee's panel on technology and the Internet, focusing on getting more broadband access in rural areas. Wicker introduced a bill to overturn Roe v. Wade and called the health care overhaul the “great fight for the rest of this term, maybe our lifetimes.” After Congress voted to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” Wicker and James Inhofe introduced a bill forbidding same-sex marriages on military bases. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Strongly opposes abortion Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation Senator, MS • Strongly favors gun rights Elected: 2007 Committee on Armed Services • Strongly opposes sanctuary cities Education: U. of MS, B.A. 1973, Committee on Security & Cooperation in Europe J.D., 1975 • Voted against the confirmation of John Committee on the Environment & Public Works Brennan as director of the CIA and Loretta Lynch as US attorney general Committee on the Budget Religion: Baptist • Voted against establishing net neutrality Family: Married (Gayle Long), 3 Committee on Rules & Administration children; 4 grandchildren Election Results

Contact: (202) 224-6253 2012 General DSOB Room 555 Roger Wicker (R) Votes: 709,626 Percent: 57.2% Washington, DC 20510 Albert N. Gore (D) Votes: 503,467 Percent: 40.6% Sources: National Journal Research, 2017; Ballotpedia, 2017.

January 18, 2017 | Yanni Chen SEN. THAD COCHRAN PROFILE

Sen. Thad Cochran

Biography

Senator Cochran grew up in small towns in northern Mississippi and near Jackson. In 1968, he worked on the Nixon-Agnew presidential campaign in Mississippi, where ran third. Four years later, when President Nixon was sweeping Mississippi, Cochran ran for Congress and was elected as a Republican from the Jackson-area district. In the House and in the Senate, he managed for years to amass a generally conservative record with little controversy or acrimony. When Cochran first became Chair of the Appropriation he vowed to reign in spending. Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005, causing massive damage in Mississippi, and suddenly keeping tight controls on spending was not the chairman’s prime concern. Cochran viewed the devastation by helicopter on August 31, and then persuaded the Senate to immediately vote for $10.5 billion in disaster relief. He also has a long relationship with Maryland's Barbara Mikulski, the panel's top Democrat, who has assiduously sought his help on getting military and other spending for her state. In recent years, Cochran has become more inclined to abandon his party on floor votes. He was one of just 11 Republicans to support a $17 billion Democratic jobs bill in 2010, and he joined Democrats that year in backing the New START arms reduction treaty with .

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Opposes: Obamacare, a pathway to Chair, Committee on Appropriations Senator, MS citizenship for illegal aliens, higher taxes on Elected: 1978 the wealthy, same-sex marriage Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Education: • Supports: absolute right to gun ownership, expanding the military, free trade U. of MS, B.A. 1959, Committee on Rules & Administration J.D. 1965, Religion: Baptist Major Milestones Election Results Family: Married (Kay Named Chair of the Senate 2005 Webber), 2 children Committee on Agriculture 2014 General

Contact: (202) 224-5054 Thad Cochran (R) Votes: 378,208 Percent: 60.4% Dirksen Senate Office Named Chair of the Senate 2003 Committee on Agriculture Building Room 113 Travis Childers (D) Votes: 228,974 Percent: 37.4% Washington, DC

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016.

April 6, 2016 | Owen Minott Jr. REP.

Rep. Bennie Thompson

Biography

Bennie Thompson, who was elected in April 1993, has established himself as a liberal Democratic fixture in an otherwise deeply conservative Republican state. He looks out for the needs of his poor, rural district while serving as the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee. Thompson grew up in Bolton, in Hinds County outside Jackson, and graduated from Tougaloo College and Jackson State University. A lifelong grass-roots activist and labor organizer, he successfully encouraged other African-Americans to run for office. Thompson has a solidly liberal voting record. He initially made no particular attempt to win white votes in his district, making almost as few concessions across the racial divide as white lawmakers had earlier. In time, he moderated his votes and reached out to whites, including some of the district’s large farmers. He publicly supported GOP Sen. Thad Cochran in Cochran's successful June 2014 runoff against tea party favorite Chris McDaniel. The locus of his legislative activity is the Homeland Security Committee. Thompson has been both the ranking minority member and the chairman in recent years and has focused on the needs of first responders. He also has been increasingly vocal about the growing threat of computer-based attacks and pushed back in 2012 against Republican calls to scale back the Homeland Security Department’s role in favor of defense and intelligence agencies.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Called for expanding defense against Committee on Homeland Security Representative, MS-2 computer-based attacks Elected: 1993 • Supports a ban on assault-style weapons Education: • Wants FEMA to remain part of Homeland Tugaloo Col., B.A. 1968, Security Jackson St. U., M.S. 1972 Election Results Religion: Methodist 2016 General Family: Married (London Johnson), 1 child, 2 Bennie Thompson(D) Votes: 192,343 Percent: 67.1% grandchildren John Bouie II (R) Votes: 83,542 Percent: 29.1% Contact: (202) 225-5876 Rayburn Office 2466 Washington, DC 20515

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017; Ballotpedia,, 2017.

April 7, 2017 | Claire Carter and Alexander Perry SENATOR PROFILE

Sen. Roy Blunt

Biography

Republican Roy Blunt was elected in 2010 as Missouri’s junior senator to replace retiring Sen. Christopher (Kit) Bond, also a Republican. A former House majority whip and majority leader with a smooth manner and solid contacts in the lobbying world, Blunt swiftly entered the Senate’s GOP leadership ranks, becoming vice chairman of the Republican Conference. He took over the chairmanship of the Rules and Administration Committee in 2015. Blunt grew up on a dairy farm near Springfield, Mo. Blunt graduated from Southwest Baptist University, 25 miles north of Springfield. He later taught history and government at the high school and college levels. He got his start in politics in 1972, when he volunteered for Republican John Ashcroft’s unsuccessful campaign for Congress. In 1973, then GOP Gov. Bond named the 23-year-old Blunt to be Greene County clerk. Blunt's voting record is conservative, but he differs from the tea party-oriented Republicans who take a dim view of government spending. After a tornado in May 2011 devastated the town of Joplin, Mo., and killed 159 people, Blunt pushed for a strong federal relief effort to help the battered community. Blunt’s most prominent legislative move during his first two years was his sponsorship in February 2012 of an amendment that would allow employers to exclude any insurance benefit that they deem immoral. His action came after Obama proposed a new contraception coverage rule in response to complaints from religious groups.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Blunt votes pro-life and is conservative on Committee on Rules and Administration Senator, Missouri most social issues Elected: 2010 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation • Opposes expanding Obamacare and a Committee on Intelligence Education: pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens SW Baptist U., B.A. 1970; • Worked across the aisle to restore tax Committee on Appropriations SW Missouri St. U, M.A. credits for hybrid trucks and electric Joint Committee on Library and on Printing 1972 vehicles Religion: Baptist • Paying for deteriorating infrastructure Election Results Family: Married (Abigail without raising taxes is a priority 2010 General Perlman), 4 children, 6 • Introduced the “Hire More Heroes Act” to grandchildren exempt some veterans from ACA’s Roy Blunt (R) Votes: 1,054,160 Percent: 54.2% employer mandate Contact: (202) 224-5721 Russell Office 260 • Has voted in favor of No Child Left Behind Robin Carnahan (D) Votes: 789,736 Percent: 40.6% Washington, DC 20510 and school prayer Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

April 28, 2016 | Claire Carter SENATOR CLAIRE MCCASKILL

Sen. Claire McCaskill

Biography

Democrat Claire McCaskill, elected in 2006, is Missouri’s senior senator, a straight-talking centrist, and an outspoken proponent of government reform. Her close relationship with President Barack Obama almost doomed her reelection, but she drew an opponent who committed arguably the 2012 season’s most disastrous gaffe. McCaskill earned degrees from the University of Missouri and its law school, clerked for the state Court of Appeals in Kansas City, and worked as an assistant prosecutor. In 1982, at the age of 29, she was elected to the Missouri House, where she was the first sitting member to have a baby. Ten years later, she became Jackson County prosecutor. And in 1998, she decided to run statewide and was elected state auditor. McCaskill was a prize Senate recruit for the national party in 2006, but on Election Day, McCaskill won 50%-47%, a difference of just 48,000 votes out of 2.1 million cast. In the Senate, McCaskill has emphasized her independence, voting against her party more often than most non-. McCaskill has departed from the Democratic line on a host of other issues. Despite supporting the health care law, she later said she would consider changing its individual mandate requirement. In 2010, she joined other moderates in questioning the party’s support for continual extensions of unemployment benefits. Her crowning achievement in her first term was a bill included in the fiscal 2013 defense authorization law. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports Obamacare expansion Committee on Aging Senator, Missouri • Opposes absolute right to gun ownership Elected: 2006 Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs • Supports unrestricted abortion rights Education: Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation U of Missouri B.S. ’75, J.D. • Favors higher taxes on the wealthy ’78 • Supports green energy initiatives Committee on Armed Services Religion: Roman Catholic • Supports Same-Sex Marriage Election Results Family: Married (Joseph), 3 • Favors stricter punishment to reduce crime children, 4 stepchildren, 8 2012 General grandchildren • Opposes marijuana legalization Claire McCaskill (D) Votes: 1,494,125 Percent: 54.8% Contact: (202) 224-6154 Hart Senate Office 503 Todd Akin (R) Votes: 1,066,159 Percent: 39.1% Washington, DC 20510

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

April 25, 2016 | Emilia Varrone PROFILE

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer

Biography Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer has a firm political grip on a large swath of suburban and rural Missouri and has been mentioned as a future candidate for statewide office. He once worked in the banking business and remains a firmly conservative protector of the industry as a member of the Financial Services Committee. Luetkemeyer has Missouri roots that stretch back five generations. He grew up in St. Elizabeth, where his father worked as an insurance agent and then owned a bank. Luetkemeyer was a star high school baseball player, but his tryouts with the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates were unsuccessful. He graduated from Lincoln University, a historically black college in Jefferson City, with a degree in political science. Luetkemeyer was elected in 1999 to the Missouri House of Representatives, where he developed a reputation as a thoughtful legislator. In 2007, Luetkemeyer was appointed director of the Missouri Division of Tourism. A year later, the 9th District House seat came open when Republican Rep. Kenny Hulshof decided to run for governor to succeed retiring Republican Gov. . In the general election, Luetkemeyer faced state Rep. Judy Baker, a health care consultant from Columbia. In the election, Baker managed to carry populous Boone County, but Luetkemeyer prevailed in the rural counties and those west of St. Louis. He won 50%-47.5%. In the House, Luetkemeyer joined the Tea Party Caucus and established himself as a devout social and fiscal conservative. He successfully amended a House-passed bill in February 2011 barring the United States from contributing to the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which he said engaged in “dubious science.” Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Supports Export-Import Bank Small Business Representative, Missouri (3) • Supports trade adjustment assistance and Elected: 2008 Financial Services trade promotion authority Education: • Opposes expanding abortion rights Lincoln University, B.A, 1974 • Supports energy independence Election Results • Strongly opposes Affordable Care Act 2016 General • Supports Balanced Budget Amendment Religion: Catholic Blaine Luetkemeyer (R) Votes: 249,865 Percent: 67.8% Contact: Kevin Miller (D) Votes: 102,891 Percent: 27.9% 2230 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 202-225-2956

Sources: Ballotpedia, “Blaine Luetkemeyer,” 2017; National Journal Almanac, 2017.

January 19, 2017 | Christine Yan REP. WILLIAM

Rep. William Lacy Clay

Biography Democrat William Lacy Clay, who goes by “Lacy,” was first elected in 2000 to the seat that his father, , held for 32 years. In the 2012 election, he trounced fellow Democratic Rep. after redistricting threw them together in a contentious primary. Born in St. Louis, Clay moved to the Washington, D.C., area at age 12 after his father’s election to the House in 1968. He had started law classes at Howard University in 1983, when a special election for the state House drew him back to St. Louis. Party leaders appointed him the Democratic nominee. Eight years later, he was again chosen by party leaders to run in a special election for a safely Democratic state Senate seat. Clay wanted to take his father’s place when he announced his retirement in 1999, but he had a serious primary contest. He won the primary 61%-28% over Councilman Charlie Dooley. In the general election, Clay won 75%-22%, and since then has won reelection by comparable margins. In the House, Clay has a mostly liberal voting record. He is a member of the House Democrats’ whip organization and is active in the Congressional Black Caucus. Clay is usually low-key and can be diplomatic in resolving differences among other lawmakers. But nothing raised Clay's profile like the riots that followed the police shooting of an unarmed black youth in Ferguson, a city in his district, in August 2014. He criticized police for a "heavy-handed" approach to peaceful demonstrations and said that law enforcement organizations needed more diversity in their ranks. He also called on the federal government to take over the investigation into the shooting. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports the protection of voting Committee on Financial Services Rep., Missouri (1) rights for blacks Elected: 2000 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform • Supports the creation a national Civil Education: Rights Trail U. of MD, B.S. 1983 • Supports the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank Religion: Roman Catholic • Opposes automatically counting prison Election Results Family: Divorced (Ivie inmates—many of them African- 2016 General Lewellen), 2 children Americans and Latinos from urban Contact: (202) 225-2406 areas—as residents of the rural, William Lacy Clay (D) Votes: 236,993 Percent: 75.5% 2428 Rayburn HOB mainly white communities that host Washington, DC 20515 prisons in the census Steven Bailey (R) Votes: 62,714 Percent: 20.0%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

March 15, 2017 | Claire Garney New York SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER

Sen. Charles Schumer

Biography

Democrat Charles “Chuck” Schumer, first elected in 1998, is New York’s senior senator and one of Capitol Hill’s most adept dealmakers as the Senate's third-ranking Democrat. A political chess player who helped his party obtain its Senate majority, he now serves as one of its chief messengers as well as an indispensable policy ally of President Barack Obama’s—all while commanding vast swaths of media attention. Schumer graduated from Harvard College and Law School, and with his law degree fresh in hand in June 1974, he ran for an open New York Assembly seat. He won, at age 23, becoming the state’s youngest Assembly member since Theodore Roosevelt. In 1980, just before turning 30, he was elected to the U.S. House from an open Brooklyn seat. Schumer got a seat on the Banking and Judiciary Committees and chaired the Crime Subcommittee. Schumer was the House sponsor of the Brady bill that was passed over the strong opposition of NRA. Schumer also contributed key provisions to the immigration acts in 1986 and 1990. In 1998, Schumer ran and won against the incumbent senator, Alfonse D’Amato. In the Senate, Schumer established a solidly liberal voting record. He is a leading proponent of focusing Democratic efforts on the middle class; he often says his political reference point is an imaginary Long Island couple convinced that politicians devote too much attention to the very rich and very poor. Seldom if ever has the No. 3 person in a party’s leadership done as much to determine a major party’s policy stands and political positioning. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports Obamacare expansion Committee on Rules & Administration Senator, New York • Opposes absolute right to gun ownership Elected: 1998 Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs • Supports unrestricted abortion rights Committee on Finance Education: Harvard U. B.A. ‘71, J.D. ‘74 • Favors higher taxes on the wealthy Committee on Judiciary • Supports green energy initiatives Religion: Jewish Joint Committees on Library & Printing • Supports Same-Sex Marriage Family: Married (Iris), Election Results 2 children • Supports marijuana legalization 2010 General • Supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal Contact: (202) 224-6542 aliens Charles Schumer(D) Votes: 3,047,111 Percent: 66.3% Hart Senate Office 322 Washington, DC 20510 • Favors expanding the military Jay Townsend (R) Votes: 1,479,724 Percent: 32.2%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

May 2, 2016 | Emilia Varrone SENATOR KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Biography

Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, New York’s junior senator, had been in the House for just one term when Democratic Gov. David Paterson in 2009 appointed her to the Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Gillibrand graduated from Dartmouth College, where she majored in Asian studies and attained fluency in Mandarin. Gillibrand graduated from law school at the University of California, Los Angeles. After law school, Gillibrand clerked for a Reagan-appointed federal Appeals Court judge. She then joined a major New York law firm, Boies, Schiller & Flexner. In 2005, she launched a quixotic campaign against four-term U.S. Rep. John Sweeney who had never faced a serious re-election challenge. Gillibrand won the seat. When she arrived in the House, Gillibrand began posting a “Sunlight Report” of her daily schedule, including meetings with lobbyists. She held “office hours” in grocery stores throughout the district. She got the committee seats she wanted, on Agriculture and Armed Services. The reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, passed into law in the lame-duck session of 2010, included a number of her proposals, such as banning junk food from schools. The issue that initially brought Gillibrand the most attention was her call for repeal of the 17-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy barring openly gay military service members. Gillibrand also began burnishing her national image by starting a campaign, Off the Sidelines, to mobilize female candidates across the country. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports Obamacare expansion Committee on Aging Senator, New York • Opposes absolute right to gun ownership Appointed: 2009 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry • Favors unrestricted abortion rights Education: Committee on Armed Services Dartmouth College, B.A. • Favors higher taxes on the wealthy ’88, U.C.L.A. J.D. 1991 • Favors green energy initiatives Committee on Environment & Public Works Religion: Roman Catholic • Supports Same-Sex Marriage Election Results Family: Married (Jonathan), • Favors pathway to citizenship for illegal 2012 General 2 children aliens Contact: (202) 224-4451 • Opposes stricter punishment to reduce Kirsten Gillibrand (D) Votes: 4,8080,878 Percent: 67.6% Russell Office 478 crime Washington, DC 20510 Wendy Long (R) Votes: 1,755,466 Percent: 24.7%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

April 22, 2016 | Emilia Varrone REP.

Rep. Gregory Meeks

Biography

Democrat Gregory Meeks, first elected in 1998, is a liberal who has more of a pro-business orientation than other New York City Democrats. Meeks grew up in public housing projects in Harlem. After graduating from college and law school, Meeks moved to Far Rockaway. He became an assistant district attorney in 1978 and a workers’ compensation judge in 1985. He was elected to the New York state Assembly in 1992 and became an ally of Democratic Rep. Floyd Flake, a minister whose Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church congregation grew from 1,400 members in 1976 to 12,000 in 2000. When Flake retired, Meeks won a majority of Democratic committee members at a January 1998 endorsement meeting and thus became the party’s nominee. Meeks has a liberal voting record, but he is a member of the commerce-oriented New Democrat Coalition. In 2008, Meeks became chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus’s political action committee. But his personal life has caused him some political problems. The Federal Election Commission in 2006 reprimanded him for using more than $6,000 in 2004 campaign funds for a personal trainer and other expenses. Meeks’ financial ethics have become fodder for New York’s major dailies in recent years. Meeks blamed the negative attention on conservative groups out to undermine Democrats.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supported the 2005 Central American Free Committee on Financial Services Representative, NY-5 Trade Agreement Elected: 1998 • Supported the construction of a natural gas Committee on Foreign Affairs Education: pipeline in New York’s Gateway National Adelphi U., B.A. 1975; Recreation Area Howard U., J.D. 1978 • Strongly favors expanding Obamacare Religion: African Methodist • Strongly opposes stricter punishment to Election Results Episcopal reduce crime 2014 General Family: Married (Simone- • Strongly favors prioritizing green energy Marie), 3 children • Opposes privatizing social security Gregory Meeks (D) Votes: 75,712 Percent: 80.2% Contact: (202) 225-3461 RHOB Room 2234 Allen Steinhardt Votes: 3,870 Percent: 4.1% Washington, DC 20515

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Gregory Meeks, Ballotpedia, 2016.

April 26, 2016 | Katharine Conlon REP.

Rep. Yvette Clarke

Biography Democrat Yvette Clarke, elected in 2006, is a liberal who concentrates on immigration and other issues important to her diverse constituency. She is active in the Congressional Black Caucus and is now one of its senior leaders. As a young girl, she tagged along to political meetings and events with her mother, Una Clarke, who in 1991 became the first Jamaican elected to the New York City Council. Prior to her political career she helped train child care workers, worked as a state legislative aide and served as business development director for the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp. In 2001, Clarke defeated four other candidates for a spot on the city council. From its creation in 1968 until 2006, the 11th District was represented by just two people, both Democrats—trailblazer Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and a 1972 presidential candidate, and Major Owens, who succeeded her in 1982. Owens announced in 2004 that he would serve just one more term, and Clarke ran unsuccessfully for the seat. Clarke ran again in 2006, but she first had to navigate a competitive primary field. Clarke’s status as the only woman in the contest and her support among Caribbean-Americans were helpful. She picked up the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union’s powerful Local 1199, which worked to turn out votes. In the September primary, the only election that mattered in the heavily Democratic district, Clarke won with 31% of the vote. In the House, Clarke has had a solidly liberal voting record and tied for most-liberal member in National Journal’s 2012 rankings.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports the DREAM Act and immigration Committee on Energy and Commerce Rep., New York (9) reform Elected: 2006 Committee on Ethics • Supports abortion rights Education: • Supports alternative sources of energy Oberlin College • Supports gun safety laws Religion: African Methodist Election Results Episcopal 2016 General Family: Single Yvette Clarke (D) Votes: 214,189 Percent: 92.4% Contact: (202) 225-6231 2058 Rayburn HOB Alan Bellone Votes: 17,576 Percent: 7.6% Washington, DC 20515 (Conservative)

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016; plaskett.house.gov, 2017.

March 07, 2017 | Claire Garney North Carolina SENATOR PROFILE

Sen. Richard Burr

Biography

Republican Richard Burr, North Carolina’s senior senator, was first elected to the Senate in 2004 after serving 10 years in the House. A hard-working and conscientious conservative, Burr has not built the national profile of other senators and has been stymied in his attempts to enter the Senate GOP leadership ranks. But his ascension to the chairmanship of the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2015 offered him a chance to prominently shape debates over surveillance and terrorism. In the House, Burr had a mostly conservative voting record. On the Energy and Commerce Committee, his early cause was streamlining the Food and Drug Administration’s drug and medical device approval process, which he argued would speed lifesaving products to the market. With broad bipartisan support, his FDA Modernization Act became law in 1997. He helped to set up the National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the NIH. After the , he sponsored laws to improve defenses against bioterrorism. He sought a crackdown on illegal textile imports but backed President George W. Bush’s call for trade promotion authority after securing promises that the local textile industry would have a seat at the table. In the Senate, Burr has shown little interest in self-promotion. He has leaned conservative on cultural issues and initially toward the center on foreign policy, although he has moved further to the right in that area since Democrat Barack Obama became president.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees

Currently: • Strong supporter of securing the border Committee on Intelligence Senator, North Carolina and takes a strong conservative stance on Elected: 2004 most issues of immigration Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Education: • Burr was part of a group of senators to Joint Committee on Security and Cooperation in Europe Wake Forest U., B.A. 1978 keep down student loan interest rates by tying them to government’s cost of borrowing Committee on Finance Religion: Methodist • Supporter of rights for veterans including Election Results Family: Married (Brooke ensuring dignified burials for all veterans, Fauth), 2 children Burr surprised conservatives voting in favor 2010 General of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Contact: (202) 224-3154 • Strongly favors gun ownership as an Richard Burr (R) Votes: 1,458,046 Percent: 54.8% Russell Office 217 absolute right Washington, DC 20510 Elaine Marshall (D) Votes: 1,145,074 Percent: 43.1%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

May 3, 2016 | Claire Carter SEN. PROFILE

Sen. Thom Tillis

Biography

Tillis was born in Jacksonville, Fla., but by the time he was 17 had moved with his family 20 times as his father took new jobs. He became interested in technology and, after earning a degree at the University of Maryland, worked for the now- defunct Wang Laboratories before joining the international accounting and consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He remained there when IBM took it over, advising banks and other corporations. Tillis moved to Cornelius, a Charlotte suburb, in 1998 and served as a town commissioner. He was elected to the state House in 2006 and rose quickly through the ranks. In 2011, colleagues elected him the fifth Republican speaker in state history. He helped enact laws that included a restructuring of North Carolina's tax code that entailed reductions in personal and business income taxes, elimination of the estate tax, and a cap on the gasoline tax. Democrats contended those moves came at the expense of education improvements in the state—a charge that became a prominent feature in his competitor’s ads. Tillis's defeat of Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan in 2014 affirmed the rightward shift in North Carolina that had contributed to the election of Gov. Pat McCrory in 2012. It also affirmed the preference of state government over federal government among North Carolinians: As state House speaker, Tillis presided over a Legislature that pleased conservatives but angered Democrats and independents. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Opposes expanding Obamacare Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Senator, NC • Pro-life on abortion related issues Elected: 2014 Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry • Favors an absolute right to gun ownership Senate Committee on Aging Education: U of MD-University College, Senate Committee on Armed Services B.S. 1997 Senate Judiciary Committee Religion: Catholic Election Results Family: Married (Susan), 2 children 2014 General

Contact: (202) 224-6342 Thom Tillis (R) Votes: 1,423,259 Percent: 48.8% Dirksen Senate Office 185 Washington, DC 20510 Kay Hagan (D) Votes: 1,3777,651 Percent: 47.3%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

May 6, 2016 | Justin C. Brown REP. G.K BUTTERFIELD

Rep. G.K. Butterfield

Biography Democrat G.K. (George Kenneth) Butterfield, who won a special election in July 2004, rarely makes headlines but is considered an important behind-the-scenes strategist for both the Democratic leadership and the Congressional Black Caucus. He took over in 2015 as the Black Caucus’s chairman. Butterfield grew up in Wilson County, North Carolina. He got his bachelor’s and law degrees from North Carolina Central University. A civil rights lawyer, Butterfield took on many voting rights cases. As a Superior Court judge for 12 years, he handled thousands of civil and criminal cases in 46 counties until February 2001, when Democratic Gov. Michael Easley appointed him to the state Supreme Court. After Butterfield lost election in 2002 to a full term, Easley appointed him as a special Superior Court judge. In the House, Butterfield has a liberal voting record, particularly on economic matters. One of his issues was settling claims of up to 74,000 African- American farmers who were unfairly discriminated against when applying for Agriculture Department loans and programs between 1983 and 2010. He lobbied to include an exhibit in the new Capitol Visitor Center on the slave labor that was employed in building the Capitol and on the careers of the 22 African-Americans who served in Congress during and after Reconstruction. He also pushed for renewal of the Voting Rights Act. He pressed Obama administration officials in early 2013 for the appointment of an African-American federal judge for North Carolina’s Eastern District.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Strongly favors raising the minimum wage Committee on Energy and Commerce Representative, NC-1 • Strongly favors expanding Obamacare Elected: 2004 • Opposes vouchers for school choice Education: NC Central U., B.A. 1971, • Strongly favors pathway to citizenship J.D. 1974 • Pro-choice and supports legalized abortion Religion: Baptist when the life of the woman is in danger Election Results Family: Divorced, 3 children • Strongly support of the Voting Rights Act 2016 General Contact: (202) 225-3101 G.K. Butterfield (D) Votes: 240,661 Percent: 68.6% Rayburn House 2080 Washington, DC 20515 H. Powell Dew Jr. (R) Votes: 101,567 Percent: 29%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017. Ballotpedia 2017.

April 7, 2017 | Alexander Perry REP. WALTER JONES

Rep. Walter Jones

Biography

Republican Walter Jones, first elected in 1994, is one of his party’s leading iconoclasts. An evangelical Christian and devout social conservative, he has been the GOP’s most fervently antiwar House member. Jones grew up in eastern North Carolina, and served in the National Guard. In the House, Jones’ voting record began consistently conservative and hawkish, but over the years has moderated. He had a remarkable conversion on the issue of the war in Iraq. Jones voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq in 2002, as did all but six House Republicans. When his party assumed the House majority in 2011, Jones was the chamber’s most liberal Republican that year, according to National Journal’s rankings (he was third most liberal in 2012). He refused to support John Boehner for House speaker in January 2013, casting his vote for former Comptroller General David Walker, a deficit hawk. He was the only Republican to vote against a fiscal 2011 bill making billions of dollars in spending cuts. In December 2010, he was one of just three Republicans to support a Democratic bill extending the Bush- era tax cuts for low- and middle-income Americans but not for the wealthy. After the Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United decision on campaign finance, Jones co-sponsored an Obama White House-backed bill aimed at restricting companies’ ability to air campaign ads. He later opposed the bill because of the exemptions granted to the National Rifle Association and other groups.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Opposes expanding the Affordable Care Committee on Armed Services Rep., North Carolina (3) Act Elected: 1994 • Strongly favors absolute right to gun Education: ownership NC St. U., 1962-65, • Strongly opposes pathway to citizenship for Christian Col., B.A., 1966 illegal citizens Election Results Religion: Catholic • Favors expanding the military 2016 General Family: Married (Joe Anne • Favors staying out of Iran Whitehurst, 1 child • Strongly favors privatizing social security Walter Jones (R) Votes: 217,531 Percent: 67.2% Contact: (202) 225-3415 Ernest Reeves (D) Votes: 106,170 Percent: 32.8% 2333 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Robert Pittenger, Ballotpedia, 2016.

April 7, 2017 | Katharine Conlon and Claire Garney REP. RICHARD HUDSON

Rep. Richard Hudson

Biography

Republican Richard Hudson, a veteran congressional staffer, captured the 8th District seat in 2012 by knocking off Democratic Rep. , who had ousted Hudson’s former boss, Rep. Robin Hayes, in 2008. Hudson grew up in the Charlotte area, helping his grandfather campaign in the northeastern part of the state for the Roanoke Rapids City Council, where he served for 30 years. After college, Hudson continued to work behind-the-scenes in politics. In Washington, he served as chief of staff to GOP Reps. and John Carter of Texas and of North Carolina. He also was district director for Hayes. Republicans made Kissell’s seat a top 2012 takeover target after the favorable work of GOP map-makers. Although Hayes passed on a bid, the race drew four other Republican candidates in addition to Hudson. Hudson captured first place on the primary ballot with 32%, setting up a runoff with former Iredell County Commissioner Scott Keadle. When Keadle tried to portray Hudson as a Washington insider out of touch with the needs of the district, Hudson maintained that his experience on Capitol Hill created connections that would allow him to be more effective than most freshmen. He also got endorsements from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Sen. . Hudson cruised to a runoff win, 64% to 36%.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Strongly opposes expanding the Affordable Committee on Energy and Commerce Representative, NC-8 Care Act Elected: 2012 • Strongly opposes pathway to citizenship for Education: illegal citizens UNC (Charlotte), B.A., 1996 • Strongly opposes expanding free trade

Religion: Methodist • Strongly favors absolute right to gun ownership Election Results Family: Married (Renee) , 1 child 2016 General

Contact: (202) 225-3715 Richard Hudson (R) Votes: 189,863 Percent: 58.8% 429 Cannon HOB Washington, DC 20515 Thomas Mills (D) Votes: 133,182 Percent: 41.2%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

April 6, 2017 | Katharine Conlon and Claire Garney REP. MARK WALKER

Rep. Mark Walker

Biography

Republican Mark Walker, an ordained minister running as a Washington outsider, easily defeated Democrat Laura Fjeld in 2014 to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Howard Coble. Walker has cited Ronald Reagan as a chief inspiration, especially on foreign policy, and framed his campaign in religious terms. Most of Walker's professional career has been serving churches in the region, most recently at Lawndale Baptist Church. But he also devoted time to helping local and state Republicans on campaigns as well as engaging in civic affairs in Greensboro. Walker’s 2014 race was unusual in that he aimed to get the edge on the ground rather than seek support of national Tea Party groups, and he openly pledged to decline PAC money. Walker defeated a primary challenger on June 7, 2016 and faced Democrat Pete Glidewell in the general election, held on November 8.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Strongly opposes expanding the Affordable Committee on House Administration Representative, NC-06 Care Act Elected: 2014 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform • Strongly favors an absolute right to gun Education: Piedmont ownership Baptist College, B.A., 1999 • Voted in favor of trade promotion authority Religion: Baptist • Voted against the export-import bank Family: Married (Kelly), 3 Election Results • Voted against the Iran nuclear deal children 2016 General Contact: (336) 225-3065 1305 Longworth HOB Mark Walker (R) Votes: 207,983 Percent: 59.2% Washington, DC 20515 Pete Glidewell (D) Votes: 143,167 Percent: 40.8%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

April 6, 2017 | Jessica Grischkan and Claire Garney REP. VIRGINIA FOXX

Rep. Virginia Foxx

Biography

Republican Virginia Foxx, first elected in 2004, is one of Congress’ most vocal conservatives and earned a position in the leadership ranks by becoming House Republican Conference secretary in 2012. Her GOP admirers call her a passionate voice of reason, while her liberal critics dismiss her as a loose cannon. Foxx grew up in the hardscrabble hollows of Western North Carolina. She graduated from the University of North Carolina and had a diverse professional and political background before winning election to Congress at age 61. She owned a nursery and landscape company, and she taught sociology and was assistant dean of the General College at Appalachian State University. Later, she was president of Maryland Community College. She served 12 years on the Board of Education of Watauga County. In 1994, Foxx was elected to the state Senate, where she sponsored a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and a bill to deny Social Security benefits to illegal aliens. She actively supported gun rights and home schooling, and she opposed abortion rights. In the House, Foxx has a solidly conservative voting record and is close to GOP leaders. On the Education and the Workforce Committee, Foxx chairs the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. She has said she believes that the federal Education Department puts overly burdensome regulations on colleges. Foxx is an advocate of for- profit colleges and community colleges and staunchly opposed the 2010 House-passed bill that put the federal government directly in charge of student lending.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Social conservative who opposes same-sex Committee on Education and the Workforce, Chairwoman Rep., North Carolina (5) marriage and abortions Elected: 2004 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform • Strongly supports home schooling and Education: U. of NC, A.B. school vouchers to expand education 1968, M.A.C.T. 1972 options for families U. of NC-Greensboro, Ed.D. • Strongly opposes the Affordable Care Act 1985 • Supports developing U.S. fossil fuel Election Results Religion: Roman Catholic resources to secure energy independence Family: Married (Thomas • Strongly supports greater border 2016 General Foxx), 1 child, 2 enforcement and immigration restriction Virginia Foxx (R) Votes: 207,625 Percent: 58.4% grandchildren to prevent illegal immigration Contact: (202) 225-2071 Josh Brannon (D) Votes: 147,887 Percent: 41.6% 2262 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, “Virginia Foxx,” June 14, 2016.

April 7, 2017 | Ben Booker and Claire Garney Ohio SENATOR

Sen. Rob Portman

Biography

Republican Rob Portman is Ohio’s junior senator, elected in 2010 to succeed the retiring George Voinovich, also a Republican. Portman is a consummate Washington insider—he has served in the House as well as in both Bush White Houses. After graduating Dartmouth, he worked for Republican George H.W. Bush’s 1980 presidential campaign. He earned a law degree at the University of Michigan and then worked for law firms in Washington and Cincinnati. After Bush was elected president in 1988, Portman went to the White House as a presidential counsel and then was promoted to head the Office of Legislative Affairs. In January 1993, when Gradison resigned his 2nd District House seat, Portman ran to fill the vacancy, he won easily. In the House, Portman got on the Ways and Means and Budget committees and became known for his fiscal conservatism and his ability to work across the aisle. In 2005, President George W. Bush appointed Portman as the U.S. trade representative, in charge of negotiating free trade agreements and representing U.S. interests in global talks on reducing trade barriers. A year later, Bush appointed him director of the Office of Management and Budget, a position that requires immersion in the arcana of federal spending. Portman won Voinovich’s senate seat in 2010, 57%-39%. In the Senate, Portman’s vast government experience and demeanor quickly earned him respect from both parties. His voting record has been conservative, but not extremely so; in 2013 he announced his decision to support same-sex marriage. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Opposes Obamacare expansion Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs Senator, Ohio • Supports absolute right to gun ownership Elected: 2010 Committee on Budget • Opposes abortion rights Education: Committee on Energy & Natural Resources Dartmouth Col., B.A. ’79, U. • Opposes higher taxes on the wealthy Of Michigan J.D. ‘84 • Opposes green energy initiatives Committee on Finance Religion: Methodist • Favors pathway to citizenship for illegal Election Results Family: Married (Jane), 3 aliens 2010 General children • Favors privatized social security Contact: (202) 224-3353 • Favors military expansion Rob Portman (R) Votes: 2,168,742 Percent: 56.9% Russell Senate Office 448 Washington, DC 20510 Lee Fisher (D) Votes: 1,503,297 Percent: 39.4%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

April 28, 2016 | Emilia Varrone SENATOR PROFILE

Sen. Sherrod Brown

Biography

Democrat Sherrod Brown, Ohio’s senior senator, was first elected to the House in 1992 and to the Senate in 2006. He is an Ivy League graduate with two master’s degrees, but he is one of Congress’ most ardent defenders of the working class, in addition to being an adept campaigner who has twice beaten well-funded Republicans. He became the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee's top Democrat in 2015. Brown grew up in Mansfield, the son of a doctor, graduated from Yale in 1974, and won a seat in the state House later that year. Brown has spent more than half his life in public office. In 1982, when he was 29, he was elected Ohio secretary of state and worked to increase voter registration and turnout. In 1992, Brown ran for the open 13th District House seat. For many years, Brown wore a self-designed lapel pin of a canary in a cage, to commemorate underground miners who were at risk back in the days before labor unions and government safety inspections. He had a consistently liberal voting record in the House. On trade, he was one of the most voluble pro- labor and “fair-trade” members from the Great Lakes area, attacking the string of free trade agreements and policies that followed NAFTA in 1993. He sponsored bus trips to Canada for consumers to buy prescription drugs. He urged a ban on the use of antibiotics in farm animals, including penicillin and tetracycline. He called for enforcement of laws against importing goods made with slave labor in China and helped to increase funding for international programs to fight tuberculosis.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees

Currently: • Opposes free trade which helps with the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Senator, Ohio large constituency of coal and mining Elected: 2006 counties Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Education: • Supports limiting the size of banks, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Yale U., B.A. 1974, Ohio St. including capping banks so they cannot U., M.A., 1979, M.A. 1981 hold more than 2% GDP Committee on Finance • Religion: Lutheran He has worked to make Ohio a leader in wind energy, but is a swing vote for some Election Results Family: Married (Connie environmental issues Schultz), 2 children, 2 • Brown was a proponent of a government- 2012 General stepchildren, 2 run insurance option, and remains in favor grandchildren of expanding Obamacare Sherrod Brown (D) Votes: 2,762,690 Percent: 50.7% Contact: (202) 224-2315 • Fought against privatizing Medicare and Josh Mandel (R) Votes: 2,435,712 Percent: 44.7% Hart Office 713 Social Security Washington, DC 20510 Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

May 3, 2016 | Claire Carter REP. PROFILE

Rep. Mike Turner

Biography

Mike Turner, a Republican first elected in 2002, is a former Dayton mayor who has shown a stronger interest in urban issues than most House Republicans. He takes more of a party-line approach on defense, an area in which his influence has steadily increased. Turner grew up in Dayton. He graduated from Ohio Northern University, Case Western law school, and the University of Dayton business school and became a corporate lawyer. In 1993, at age 33, he narrowly defeated a scandal-tainted Democratic incumbent to win the first of two terms as Dayton mayor. Ohio and national Republican leaders recruited him to challenge 3rd District Democratic Rep. Tony Hall. Hall was tapped for a position in the Bush administration clearing the way for Turner to win the general election against Rick Carne. In 2013, he became chairman of the Armed Services Committee’s Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, enabling him to protect Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the Lima Army Tank Plant against defense cuts. He has worked to make Dayton into a center for unmanned aerial vehicle research and testing, and he has been strongly critical of the Obama administration’s funding cuts for missile defense. Turner and Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-Mass., created the bipartisan Military Sexual Assault Prevention Caucus in 2012. Turner also earlier collaborated with Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., to review the military’s handling of sexual assault charges. Turner also formed a caucus of former mayors serving in Congress to focus on urban issues. He has worked on House- passed legislation to accelerate the cleanup of polluted brownfields by making it easier for communities to apply for federal grants. He also promoted the kind of public-private partnerships that he used for economic development in Dayton. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Strongly supports large, robust military House Armed Services Committee Representative, OH-10 • Strongly opposes the Iran Nuclear Deal Elected: 2002 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee • Supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership Education: OH N. U., B.A. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 1982, Case Western • Social conservative, who is pro-life and a Reserve U., J.D. 1985, U. of supporter of gun rights Dayton, M.B.A. 1992 • Sponsored legislation to curtail sexual Religion: Presbyterian assault in the military Election Results Family: Married (Majida • Supports protecting the child custody 2014 General Mourad) , 2 children (2 rights of military service members when from previous marriage) they deploy overseas Mike Turner (R) Votes: 130,752 Percent: 65.2%

Contact: (202) 225-6465 Bobby McKenzie (D) Votes: 63,249 Percent: 31.5% Rayburn Office 2239 Washington, DC 20515 Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, “Mike Turner,” April 28, 2016.

April 28, 2016 | Ben Booker Oklahoma SEN. JAMES INHOFE PROFILE

Sen. James Inhofe

Biography

Republican James Inhofe, Oklahoma’s senior senator, was first elected to the House in 1986 and to the Senate in 1994. He is widely known for his vehement disbelief in the science of climate change as well as for his hawkish pro-military views. He returned to the chairmanship of the Environment and Public Works Committee in 2015. Inhofe (IN-hauff) grew up in Tulsa, served in the Army, and worked in real estate and insurance. He was elected to the Oklahoma House in 1966, at age 31, and to the Oklahoma Senate in 1969. He won the heavily Republican 1st District House seat in 1986, when Jim Jones ran unsuccessfully for the Senate, but held it with uninspiring margins. Inhofe’s greatest achievement in the House was reforming the arcane discharge petition rule. For years, House rules kept secret the names of signers of petitions to force bills stuck in committees to the floor for action; anonymity allowed lawmakers to claim they had worked to bring legislation to the floor when they in fact had done the opposite. That was changed in 1993, and one of the first bills to benefit from the new rules was an aviation liability reform bill, co-sponsored by flying buff Inhofe and limiting the liability of small airplane manufacturers in lawsuits resulting from crashes. Inhofe jumped into the 1994 Senate race after , a , announced he was retiring to become president of the University of Oklahoma with two years left in his Senate term. Inhofe has a solidly conservative voting record and is blunt, even acerbic, at times. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports more oil and gas drilling and Committee on Environment and Public Works Senator, Oklahoma exploration in the United States Elected: 1994 • Opposes the government regulating Committee on Armed Services Education: greenhouse gas emissions University of Tulsa, B.A. • Supports taking military action in Syria 1973 • Opposes same-sex marriage Religion: Presbyterian • Favors privatizing social security Election Results Family: Married, 4 children • Opposes gun control legislation 2014 General (1 deceased); 16 grandchildren • Supports pro-life legislation James Inhofe (R) Votes: 557,537 Percent: 68.0%

Contact: (202) 225-1555 Matt Silverstein (D) Votes: 24,890 Percent: 28.5% Russell Senate Office 205 Washington, DC 20510

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

January 5, 2016 | Claire Carter SEN.

Sen. James Lankford

Biography Just a few years ago, Republican James Lankford was a little-known church youth camp director without any political experience. Since then, he has won a seat in the House, a leadership position in his party, and -- in 2014 -- the Senate seat held by retiring GOP Sen. Tom Coburn. In the House, Lankford was given a seat on the Oversight and Government Reform panel and won committee passage of several bills, including a measure setting new standards to promote transparency in the awarding of federal grants. On the Budget Committee, he became a firm supporter of Republican Chairman Paul Ryan's push to cut spending. named him, along with California Democrat , as the freshman "most likely to succeed." When Georgia's Tom Price decided against running again for the Policy Committee chairmanship, Lankford quietly lined up support from colleagues and was elected without opposition to the party's fifth-ranking post. When Coburn announced he would resign at the end of the 113th Congress rather than serve the final two years of his term, Lankford jumped into the race. Despite his earlier backing from Tea Party interests, Lankford rankled some in the movement by joining the GOP leadership and voting in favor of raising the federal debt ceiling. Several of the Tea Party's most visible figures coalesced around Republican T.W. Shannon, an African-American who also is a member of the Chickasaw tribe. Lankford, however, drew on his long-standing support from the state's Baptist community and won 57 percent of the primary vote to Shannon's 34 percent. In solidly conservative Oklahoma, that assured his eventual election.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports the absolute right to own Senate Committee on Appropriations Senator, Oklahoma guns Elected: 2014 Senate Committee on Intelligence • Supports repealing Obamacare Education: • Opposes abortion rights Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs University of Texas, B.S., 1990; Southwestern Baptist • Opposes Common Core education Theological Seminary, M.Div., standards 1994 • Supports domestic drilling and refining Election Results Religion: Baptist of oil and gas 2016 General Family: Married (Cindy) , 2 children James Lankford (R) Votes: 980,892 Percent: 67.7%

Contact: (202) 224-5754 Mike Workman (D) Votes: 355,911 Percent: 24.6% Hart Senate Office Building 316 Washington, DC 20515 Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

March 15, 2017 | Owen Minott REP. FRANK LUCAS

Rep. Frank Lucas

Biography Republican Frank Lucas, who won his seat in a 1994 special election, is a soft-spoken, unflashy farmer and rancher. As chairman of the Agriculture Committee until 2015, he sought to bridge the divide between deal-oriented lawmakers from farm states and budget-conscious conservatives. Lucas’ family roots in western Oklahoma extend more than 100 years; he owns a 480-acre farm and cattle ranch in Roger Mills County. He studied agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University, where he was active in the College Republicans and student government. He was elected to the Oklahoma House in 1988 at age 28 after losing two races. He got his chance to run for Congress when Glenn English, a 19-year conservative Democrat, resigned. Lucas had serious competition in both the primary and the general election, but he ultimately won 54%-46%. Since then, he has been reelected by wide margins. Lucas’ voting record is mostly conservative, but less so on cultural issues. He also increasingly has broken from conservative orthodoxy on economic matters. His main focus is the pragmatic work of the Agriculture Committee, where he became the ranking Republican in the 111th Congress (2009-10) and rose to chairman in 2011 when Republicans took majority control of the House. He found himself leading a committee full of freshmen and new members who did not share his bipartisan leanings. Also with an eye on his district, Lucas helped to write the final provisions in the 2005 energy bill governing rural grants and biodiesel tax credits. He remains a proponent of government support for alternative fuels, particularly switchgrass. On the Financial Services Committee, Lucas has been a reliable supporter of the banking and insurance industries.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports rural airport subsidies Committee on Science, Space & Technology Rep., Oklahoma (3) • Supports the Economic Development Elected: 1994 Committee on Agriculture Administration Education: • Supports bipartisan agreements Committee on Financial Services Oklahoma State U., B.S. 1982 • Supports alternative fuels Religion: Baptist • Supports the banking and insurance industries Election Results Family: Married (Lynda L. Bradshaw), 3 children, 2 2016 General grandchildren Frank Lucas (R) Votes: 227,525 Percent: 78.3% Contact: (202) 225-5565 2405 Rayburn HOB Frankie Robbins (D) Votes: 63,090 Percent: 21.7% Washington, DC 20515

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

February 23, 2017 | Claire Garney Pennsylvania SENATOR PROFILE

Sen. Pat Toomey

Biography

Republican Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania’s junior senator, grew up in Providence, R.I. After college, he worked in investment banking, founding a successful international financial services consulting firm in 1990 and amassing considerable wealth. After six years on Wall Street, Toomey moved to Allentown, Pa. In 1998, Toomey ran for the seat of retiring 15th District Rep. Paul McHale, a Democrat. One of six candidates in the Republican primary, he called for individual Social Security investment accounts, creation of a flat tax to replace income taxes, and term limits for members of Congress. He promised to serve only six years. As a member of the House, Toomey worked primarily on economic issues. Toomey kept his term limit pledge in 2004 and ran for the Senate seat held by then-Republican . After he lost the election, Toomey became president of the , a national organization that champions lower taxes and spends generously to support conservative candidates who share its views. Toomey’s view was that the GOP was courting political disaster because it had abandoned conservative principles. He decided to challenge Specter again in 2010 after the incumbent cast one of three Republican votes for the Democrats’ economic stimulus bill. In the Senate, Toomey has shown a preference for policy over sound bites, and perhaps as a result, is not a frequent figure on cable television. But he has won praise for articulating conservative ideals in a reasonable way. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supported Medicare Part D, but wouldn’t Committee Banking, House, and Urban Affairs Senator, PA vote for it unless it brought down cost Elected: 2010 Committee on the Budget • Strongly supports reducing and eliminating Education: taxes, voted to reduce the capital gains tax Committee on Finance Harvard, B.S. 1984

Religion: Roman Catholic Major Milestones Election Results Family: Married (Kris), 3 Head of Club for Growth 2005- children 2009 2016 General

Contact: (202) 224-4254 Pat Toomey (R) Votes: 2,893,833 Percent: 48.9% RSOB 248 Won one of the most competitive 2016 Senate races Washington, DC 20510 Katie McGinty (D) Votes: 2,798,668 Percent: 47.2%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016.

February 1, 2016 | Claire Carter SEN. BOB CASEY PROFILE

Sen. Robert (Bob) Casey Jr.

Biography

Robert Casey Jr. was born in the former coal town of Scranton, the oldest son in a large Irish-Catholic political family. Like his father, Robert Jr. graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. He practiced law in Scranton, and then won election as state auditor general in 1996. He was reelected in 2000. In 2005, national Democrats were looking for a strong challenger to Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, a high-profile social conservative with a red-state following and a blue- state constituency. Casey won 59%-41%, to become the first Pennsylvania Democrat elected to a full Senate term since Joe Clark in 1962. In the Senate, Casey is a reliable supporter of his party’s agenda, though his devout Catholicism and his social conservatism occasionally cause him to break ranks. He has voted with President Barack Obama on most major issues. He angered some anti-abortion groups in April 2011 when he voted against denying federal funds to Planned Parenthood, saying the group provides many family planning services beyond abortion. Republicans hoped to unseat Casey in 2012, but they had a hard time recruiting a top-tier candidate to take on the well-funded incumbent. Casey won endorsements from most of the state’s major newspapers, including the conservative Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. His opponent, former coal company executive Tom Smith, outspent him, $21 million to $14 million, but Casey hung on to win, 54%-45%.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Anti-abortion, yet voted against defunding Joint Committee on Economics Senator, Pennsylvania Planned Parenthood Elected: 2006, 2nd term Senate Committee on Aging • Casey voted against South Korea, Panama, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Education: and Colombia trade bills that became law Col. Of the Holy Cross, B.A. in October 2011. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions 1982; Catholic U., J.D. ’88 Senate Committee on Finance Religion: Roman Catholic Major Milestones Election Results First elected to US Senate 2006 Family: Married (Terese), 4 children 2012 General

Contact: (202) 224-6324 Robert Casey Jr. (D) Votes: 3,021,364 Percent: 53.69% Russell Senate Office Building, Room 393 Tom Smith (R) Votes: 2,509,132 Percent: 44.59% Washington, DC 20510

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016.

April 11, 2016 | Justin C. Brown REP. PATRICK MEEHAN

Rep. Patrick Meehan

Biography

Meehan grew up in Cheltenham Township, in Montgomery County, just north of Philadelphia. He helped pay his tuition at by working at a rubber factory, where he shoveled rubber pellets into an incinerator. Meehan graduated from Temple University law school, and then went to work for the large law firm founded by long ago Philadelphia Mayor Richardson Dilworth (1956-62). In 1994, Meehan was the campaign manager for Republican Rick Santorum in his successful Senate race against incumbent Democrat Harris Wofford. With his solid Republican credentials, he was elected district attorney in Delaware County in 1995. In 2001, Meehan was appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. When Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak decided to challenge Specter for his Senate seat in 2010, Meehan ran for Sestak’s House seat. Meehan was endorsed by the United Aerospace Workers Local 1069. Meehan won 55%-44%, carrying all three counties in the district. In the House, Meehan was one of three freshmen appointed to the Republican Steering Committee, a leadership-run panel that makes committee assignments. But he showed plenty of independence, especially on legal issues. He won House passage of his bill in 2012 to establish guidelines for the Homeland Security Department’s sharing of information with state and local law enforcement about threats involving chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Strongly opposes expanding Obamacare Committee on Homeland Security Representative, PA-7 • Strongly opposes taxes on the wealthy Elected: 2010 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform • Strongly favors keeping God in the public Education: sphere Bowdoin Col., B.A. 1978; Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Temple Law, U., 1986 • Strongly opposes privatized Social Security Religion: Roman Catholic • Favors stricter punishment to reduce crime Election Results Family: Married (Carolyn), 3 • Voted to pass a bill to increase military and children domestic spending level 2014 General

Contact: (202) 226-0280 Patrick Meehan (R) Votes: 145,869 Percent: 62% CHOB Room 434 Washington, DC 20515 Mary Ellen Balchunis Votes: 89,256 Percent: 38% (D)

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Patrick Meehan, Ballotpedia, 2016.

April 25, 2016 | Katharine Conlon REP.

Rep. Lloyd Smucker

Biography Lloyd K. Smucker was born on January 23, 1964 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He attended Franklin & Marshall College and Lebanon Valley College, and later founded a commercial construction firm called Smucker Company. He served as president of the Smucker Company for 25 years. Smucker also served as a member of the West Lampeter Township Planning Commission for four years, and later as the township supervisor for two terms. He successfully ran for the Pennsylvania State Senate in 2008 representing the state’s 13th district, and won reelection in 2012. During his time in the State Senate, Smucker chaired the Senate Education Committee and advocated for local control over educational standards and policy. He ran for Congress in 2016 after incumbent Joseph Pitts (R) retired and left an open seat for Pennsylvania’s 16th district. Smucker defeated Chet Beiler in the Republican primary and successfully ran against Democrat Christina Hartman and Libertarian Shawn Patrick House.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Strongly supports repealing Obamacare Committee on the Budget Representative, PA-16 • Advocates for a stricter ban on illegal Elected: 2016 Committee on Education & the Workforce immigration and supports ending sanctuary Education: cities Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure Franklin & Marshall College; • Opposes Common Core requirements and Lebanon Valley College supports local control of education policy Election Results Religion: Lutheran • Strongly opposes abortion rights 2016 General Family: Married (Cindy), 3 • Strongly opposes gun regulation Lloyd Smucker (R) Votes: 168,669 Percent: 53.8% children Christina Hartman Votes: 134,586 Percent: 42.9% Contact: (202) 225-2411 (D) CHOB Room 516 Washington, DC 20515 Shawn Patrick Votes: 10,518 Percent: 3.4% House (L)

Sources: Ballotpedia, 2017; National Journal Research, 2017.

February 27, 2017 | Francis Torres, Madelaine Pisani, Yanni Chen South Carolina SEN.

Sen. Lindsey Graham

Biography Republican Lindsey Graham, South Carolina’s senior senator, was elected to the House in 1994 and to the Senate in 2002. He and his close friend, Arizona Republican John McCain, are the Senate’s two high-profile defense hawks; on domestic issues, Graham sometimes confounds conservatives by collaborating with Democrats, but he also can be a lacerating critic of the other party. In 1992, he was elected to the state House. Graham was called up to active duty and served stateside during the Gulf War. In 1994, with the retirement of 20-year Democratic U.S. Rep. Butler Derrick, Graham ran for the House. Graham won in a district represented only by Democrats since Reconstruction. In the House, Graham had a solidly conservative voting record but did not always support the Republican leadership. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Graham played a major role in the 1998 impeachment of President . In 2002, Graham ran for the Senate seat of Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond. Graham won 54%-44% and took the place of a senator first elected in the year before he was born. He has had a mostly conservative voting record, though he has shown more centrist tendencies in recent years. He has made some noteworthy breaks with his party, occasionally testing the limits of Republicans’ patience. Graham was the only Judiciary Committee Republican to support President Barack Obama’s choice of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. He and McCain led a successful push to derail U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s chances to become secretary of state after they sharply questioned her role in responding to the terrorist attack on the consulate in Benghazi. Graham parted with the Bush administration on important issues, such as healthcare and terrorism investigations.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports defense spending Committee on Appropriations Senator, South Carolina • Supports strengthening mental health Elected: 2002 Committee on Armed Services provisions in gun background checks Education: Committee on the Budget • Supports tough border security U. of SC, B.A., 1977 Committee on the Judiciary U. of SC, J.D. 1981 • Opposes the DREAM Act

Religion: Baptist • Supports Social Security reform Election Results Family: Single 2014 General Contact: (202) 224-5972 Lindsey Graham (R) Votes: 672,941 Percent: 55.3% 290 Russell Senate Office Bldg. (D) Votes: 456,726 Percent: 37.6% Washington, DC 20510

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

March 03, 2017 | Claire Garney SENATOR

Sen. Tim Scott

Biography

Republican Tim Scott was named South Carolina’s junior senator in January 2013 after GOP Sen. Jim DeMint unexpectedly quit to head the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank. Scott became the Senate’s first black Republican since 1979; he earlier served one term in the U.S. House. He was elected with ease in 2014 to serve the remaining two years of DeMint's term, which expires in 2016, to become the first black GOP lawmaker to be elected statewide in the South since Reconstruction. Scott finished high school and went on to earn a partial football scholarship to Presbyterian College. He eventually transferred to Charleston Southern University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. Scott ran an insurance company and owned part of a real state agency. His first elected office was a seat on the Charleston County Council in 1995. In 2010, Scott won the 1st District House seat that became vacant with GOP Rep. Henry Brown’s retirement. As a House member, Scott’s voting record was only marginally less conservative than the rest of South Carolina’s right-learning House delegation. When DeMint stepped down from the senate after the 2012 elections, South Carolina GOP Gov. appointed Scott. He later won the election in 2014 easily 61%-37%. Scott joined Republicans in cosponsoring a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, saying that President Barack Obama “is committed to spending money we don’t have, our children don’t have, and our grandchildren don’t have.” Biography Stance on Issues Committees

Currently: • Opposes Obamacare expansion Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Senator, South Carolina • Supports absolute right to gun ownership Appointed: 2013 Committee on Aging • Opposes abortion rights Education: Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Charleston Southern • Opposes higher taxes on the wealthy Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs University B.S. ‘88 • Opposes green energy initiatives Committee on Finance Religion: Evangelical • Opposes pathway to citizenship for illegal Election Results Family: Single aliens 2014 Special Election • Favors privatized social security Contact: (202) 224-6121 Hart Senate Office 717 • Favors military expansion Tim Scott (R) Votes: 757,215 Percent: 61.1% Washington, DC 20510 • Opposes marijuana legalization Joyce Dickerson (D) Votes: 459,583 Percent: 37.1%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

May 2, 2016 | Emilia Varrone REP. JAMES CLYBURN PROFILE

Rep. James Clyburn

Biography

The sole Democratic congressman from South Carolina, James Clyburn is the assistant Democratic leader, the number three Democrat in the House of Representatives. Clyburn grew up in Sumter, the son of a minister, and was educated at a private, all-black boarding school. As a young man, he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and was one of seven people who organized the state’s first sit-ins. He met his wife while in jail for three days. Clyburn worked as a teacher, as an employment counselor, and in government antipoverty programs. In 1970, he ran for the South Carolina House and lost narrowly. Democratic Gov. John West appointed Clyburn as state human affairs commissioner, and he served 18 years, under two Democratic and two Republican governors. After the majority-black 6th district was created in 1992, he ran and became the first black congressman to represent South Carolina since 1897. He quickly rose to House leadership and has chaired the Congressional Black Caucus. After serving as the whip when the Democratic Party was in the majority, he was challenged by Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland for the minority whip position. To avoid a divisive outcome, Pelosi created the new job of assistant leader and made it the No. 3 post in the minority hierarchy. Clyburn was named assistant leader, and Hoyer became minority whip.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports the development of nuclear Minority Leadership – Assistant Democratic Leader Representative, SC-6 energy Elected: 1992 • Pro-choice Liaison to the Appropriations Committee Education: • Supports the regulation of CO2 as a South Carolina State pollutant University, B.A. 1962 • Opposes legislation requiring photo- Religion: African Methodist identification at voting places Episcopal Election Results • Opposes block grants of Medicaid Family: Married, 3 children 2016 General • Opposes a border fence along the Mexico- James Clyburn (D) Votes: 177,947 Percent: 70.1% Contact: (202) 225-3315 US border Cannon House Office 242 Washington, DC 20515 Laura Sterling (R) Votes: 70,099 Percent: 27.6%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

January 17, 2017 | Daniel Stublen Tennessee SEN. BOB CORKER PROFILE

Sen. Bob Corker

Biography

Bob Corker, a Republican first elected in 2006, is the junior senator from Tennessee and became chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in 2015. He has a reputation as a pragmatic problem-solver, something that in mid-2014 spurred talk of his running for president. He didn't discourage such speculation, but he also didn't pursue the idea, preferring to use his new status to try to shape his party's often-fractious approach on international affairs. In the Senate, Corker's voting record is conservative, but not overly so. While he was a reliable vote for Republicans on issues such as opposing embryonic stem cell research and troop withdrawal timetables in Iraq, Corker broke with the party on some high-profile issues such as energy and healthcare. In 2008, Corker got a seat on the Banking Committee and was unusually active for a junior member on financial regulation, mortgage market reform and federal spending. In taking on his former assignment as ranking minority member on Foreign Relations in 2012, he met with an assortment of Republican foreign policy figures, in part to allay concerns that he was insufficiently hawkish. In the 113th Congress, Corker drew attention for a number of iconoclastic moves. He was the only Senate Republican in April 2013 to vote with Democrats in favor of considering a minimum-wage increase. Corker is also known for his blunt op-ed for The Washington Post blasting the president as unreliable on foreign affairs. He is popular with reporters and is a regular guest on Sunday television talk shows.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Opposes embryonic stem cell research Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Sen., Tennessee • Supports offshore drilling and renewable Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Elected: 2006 energy sources Senate Special Committee on Aging Education: • Supports reduction of federal spending U. of TN, B.S. 1974 Senate Committee on the Budget • Supports a private mortgage market Religion: Presbyterian • Opposes abortion Family: Married (Elizabeth), Election Results • Supports maintaining American 2 children independence from the UN 2012 General Contact: (202) 224-3344 • Supports market-led financial recovery Dirksen Senate 425 Bob Corker (R) Votes: 1,506,443 Percent: 64.9% Washington, DC 20510 Mark Clayton (D) Votes: 705,882 Percent: 30.4%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

January 05, 2017 | Claire Garney SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER PROFILE

Sen. Lamar Alexander

Biography

Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander was born on July 3, 1940 in Maryville, Tennessee. He earned his BA from Vanderbilt University and his JD from New York University. After clerking and working on Republican campaigns, Alexander ran for governor of Tennessee in 1974. He lost the election, but ran again successfully in 1978 and was reelected in 1982. In 1988 he became the president of the University of Tennessee and was appointed as George H.W. Bush’s Education secretary in 1991. Alexander ran in the Republican presidential primaries twice – in 1994 and 2000 – but failed to earn the party’s nomination both times. After Tennessee Senator Fred Thomson announced that he would not seek reelection in 2002, Alexander campaigned for and won the state’s empty Senate seat, beating moderate Democrat Bob Clement 54%-44%. In his time in the Senate, he has served as Republican Conference chairman – though he famously resigned from the position in 2011 in order to dedicate more time to the legislative projects he cared about. He became the chairman of the HELP committee in 2015, and has been a proponent of reduced federal involvement in state education requirements.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports school choice vouchers Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee (Chair) Senator, TN • Supports withholding federal funding for Elected: 2002 Senate Rules & Administration Committee sanctuary jurisdictions Senate Appropriations Committee Education: • Supports state-level education standards Vanderbilt U., B.A. 1962, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee N.Y.U., J.D. 1965 • Supports free trade deals Religion: Presbyterian • Strongly supports charter schools Family: Wife (Leslee Election Results Buhler) 4 children 2014 General 6 grandchildren Contact: (202) 224-4944 Lamar Alexander (R) Votes: 849,748 Percent: 61.89% Dirksen Office 455 Washington, DC 20510 Gordon Ball (D) Votes: 437,175 Percent: 31.84%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017, Ballotpedia, 2017.

January 19, 2017 | Francis Torres REP.

Rep. Jim Cooper

Biography

Jim Cooper, a Democrat elected in 2002 who also served from 1983 to 1994, is a brainy moderate with a tart tongue— especially when it comes to his own party’s leadership. Despite the polarized political climate, he persistently seeks bipartisanship on fiscal matters. In his first stint in Congress, he spoke out against tobacco use and opposed the National Rifle Association in a state where both were popular. In recent years, Cooper has focused on being a leader of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition and a consensus-builder within the national Democratic Party. New York Times columnist Joe Nocera, in a 2011 column titled “The Last Moderate,” praised Cooper as “the House’s conscience, a lonely voice for civility in this ugly era.” He has introduced numerous measures with GOP support. A longtime proponent of increased government oversight, his bill to strengthen the independence of federal inspectors passed Congress and, despite a veto threat from President George W. Bush, became law in 2008. During the health care debate, Cooper was among the Blue Dogs who worked with Waxman, the Energy and Commerce chairman, to moderate some provisions that conservative Democrats considered government overreach.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports: Obamacare, clean energy, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Representative, TN-5 absolute right to gun ownership, Iran Elected: 2002 nuclear deal House Armed Services Committee • Opposes: Americans with Disabilities Act of Education: 1990, Hurricane Sandy disaster aid fund U. of NC, B.A.’75, Oxford U., B.A./M.A. ‘77, Harvard U., J.D. ‘80 Religion: Episcopalian Election Results Family: Married , 3 children 2016 General

Jim Cooper (D) Votes: 171,111 Percent: 62.6% Contact: (202) 225-4311 Longworth Office 1536 Stacy R. Snyder (R) Votes: 102,433 Percent: 37.4% Washington, DC 20515

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017; Ballotpedia, 2017.

April 7, 2017 | Emilia Varrone Texas SENATOR PROFILE

Sen. John Cornyn

Biography

Republican John Cornyn, the senior senator from Texas, was elected to the Senate in 2002 and reelected in 2008. He rose quickly through the party ranks and became minority whip—the second-ranking GOP leadership post—in 2013 after two terms as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. When his party retook control of the Senate, he retained the whip job behind Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a similarly savvy inside operator. Cornyn was born in and spent much of his childhood in . His father was an oral pathologist in the Air Force stationed in Japan, where Cornyn went to high school. After his father retired from the service, the family settled in San Antonio. He practiced law for five years with a firm that defended doctors and insurance companies in medical malpractice cases. In 1984, he ran for district court judge and, at age 32, upset a strong favorite in the race. In 1990, Cornyn was elected to the state Supreme Court. When GOP Sen. announced that he would not seek reelection in 2002, Cornyn got into the contest to succeed him, he won 55%-43%. Cornyn often is described as “genial,” and generally favors reasoned language over angry rhetoric. In a sign of his formidability, Cornyn was named in January 2015 to chair the Finance Committee's panel on international trade, an issue expected to be one of the main areas in which the two parties can find common ground. Cornyn in 2015 also took over as chairman of Judiciary’s Constitution Subcommittee.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Cornyn is strongly opposed to staying out Committee on Judiciary Senator, Texas of Iran, he signed onto a letter saying that Elected: 2002 without congressional approval any Committee on Finance agreement signed by Iran with the U.S. was Education: an executive agreement Trinity U., B.A. 1973, St. Mary’s Law School, J.D. • Cornyn is conservative on immigration 1977, U. Of VA, L.L.M. 1995 issues including supporting a bill to expedite the deportation of Religion: Church of Christ undocumented children from countries Election Results other than Mexico and Canada Family: Married (Sandra 2014 General Hansen) , 2 children • Has consistently worked on a bipartisan basis to strengthen the Freedom of John Cornyn (R) Votes: 2,861,531 Percent: 61.6% Contact: (202) 224-2934 Information Act Hart Office 517 • Supports the repealing of Obamacare David Alameel (D) Votes: 1,597,387 Percent: 34.4% Washington, DC 20510 Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

May 3, 2016 | Claire Carter SENATOR PROFILE

Sen. Ted Cruz

Biography

Cuban-American Ted Cruz is Texas’ junior senator. His successful bid in 2012 to succeed retiring Sen. — which came after he easily dispatched a primary opponent who had the strong backing of Texas’s Republican establishment—was seen as an affirmation of the tea party movement’s power. He became the movement's standard- bearer, dominating national politics as swiftly as another intellectually driven but far less ideological Senate freshman, Barack Obama, managed to do a few years earlier. Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta, where his parents worked in the Canadian oil business. His father’s life story figures prominently into Cruz’s political narrative. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1995, he clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Cruz joined the George W. Bush’s campaign in 2000 as a domestic policy adviser. It was on the campaign trail he met his wife, Heidi Nelson Cruz, another member of the policy team. Both were dispatched to Florida in the chaos of the recount, which then led to jobs in the Bush administration. Cruz served first as associate deputy general at the Justice Department and then as director of the Office of Policy Planning for the Federal Trade Commission. Cruz was in private practice when he decided to run for the Senate. Cruz immediately established himself during his early months in office as a strong intellectual voice for the far right in the Senate, following in the iconoclastic mold of Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky, who became a frequent ally.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Opposed a pathway to citizenship for illegal Joint Economic Committee Senator, Texas immigrants and worked to block extension Elected: 2012 of program to keep undocumented Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation children from deportation Education: Committee on Rules and Administration Princeton University, B.A., • Opposes the Affordable Care Act including 1992, Harvard, J.D., 1995 a resolution that made passing a federal Committee on Judiciary budget contingent on not funding ACA Committee on Armed Services Religion: Southern Baptist • Supports the absolute right to gun ownership and supported the fight against Family: Married (Heidi expanded background checks on gun sales Election Results Nelson) , 2 children • Strongly opposes same sex marriages and 2012 General Contact: (202) 224-5922 is strongly opposed to the idea of abortion Ted Cruz (R) Votes: 4,440,137 Percent: 56.5% Russell Office 404 as an unrestricted right of a woman Washington, DC 20510 Paul Sadler(D) Votes: 3,194,927 Percent: 40.6%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

May 4, 2016 | Claire Carter REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL

Rep. Michael McCaul

Biography

Republican Michael McCaul was first elected in 2004. McCaul grew up in and worked as a federal prosecutor and then moved to Austin in 1999 to be a deputy to then-Attorney General Cornyn. In 2002, he joined the U.S. attorney’s office and was Chief of the Terrorism and National Security Section for West Texas. In the House, McCaul has a conservative voting record, but supported requiring insurers to treat mental illness the same as other health conditions in 2008 and allowing the FDA to regulate tobacco products in 2009. Since 2011, however, he has grown more conservative, particularly on fiscal matters. He has repeatedly introduced legislation banning so-called “monuments to me,” landmarks honoring incumbent lawmakers. Taking over as Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security in 2013, he blasted a Homeland Security decision in February 2013 to release hundreds of immigrants from around the country for budgetary reasons as “indicative of the department’s weak stance on national security. In March 2011, he introduced legislation to have six Mexican drug cartels designated as foreign terrorist organizations, which could lead to much stiffer penalties for drug traffickers. Later, he pressed Obama administration officials over the lack of a definition of “spill-over violence” from the drug wars in Mexico. McCaul co-sponsored a cyber security bill with Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill, that would develop standards for dealing with cyber threats; it passed the House in 2012 but fell in the Senate.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees

Currently: • Opposes expanding Obamacare Committee on Homeland Security Representative, TX-10 • Strongly opposes same-sex marriage Elected: 2004 Committee on Foreign Affairs • Strongly favors absolute right to gun Education: Trinity U., B.A. ownership 1984, St. Mary’s U., J.D. 1987 • Voted in favor of defense spending authorization and trade promotion authority Religion: Catholic Election Results • Voted in favor of the suspension of Iran Family: Married (Linda sanctions relief 2016 General Mays), 5 children • Voted in favor of healthcare reform rules Michael McCaul (R) Votes: 179,221 Percent: 57.3% Contact: (202) 225-2401 requiring Congressional approval of all RHOB Room 2001 changes to the Patient Protection and Tawana Cadien (D) Votes: 120,170 Percent: 38.4% Washington, DC 20515 Affordable Care Act

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017; Michael McCaul, Ballotpedia, 2017.

April 7, 2017 | Emilia Varrone REP.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee

Biography

Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat first elected in 1994, is known as one of Congress’s most difficult members. A native of Queens, N.Y., Jackson Lee was educated at Yale University and the University of Virginia’s law school. She practiced law in Houston, where she was a local judge and won two terms as an at-large member of the Houston City Council. After a local term-limits law took effect in 1994, she ran for Congress. The incumbent was Democratic Rep. Craig Washington, a talented but iconoclastic legislator who voted against funding for the space station, a source of many local jobs, and against the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, which was a boon to Houston’s port traffic. Jackson Lee supported NAFTA and raised a lot of money from business interests that favored it. She won the primary, 63%-37%, and she prevailed in the general election. In the House, Jackson Lee has a liberal voting record, although she has leaned toward the center on economic issues. She is prolific in proposing bills and offering amendments on the floor. Typically, her measures call for studies on one topic or another, add small amounts to spending bills, or are non-controversial, such as one that called on Afghanistan to prohibit the use of children as soldiers. Her more substantive proposals usually have been defeated.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees

Currently: • Strongly favors expanding the Affordable Committee on Homeland Security Rep., Texas (18) Care Act Elected: 1994 • Strongly opposes vouchers for school Committee on the Judiciary Education: choice Yale U, B.A., 1972 • Strongly favors gun control proposals U. of Virginia, J.D., 1975 • Strongly opposes efforts to support and Religion: Seventh-Day expand free trade Adventist • Strongly opposes efforts to privatize Social Election Results Family: Married (Elwyn C. Security 2016 General Lee), 2 children Contact: (202) 225-3816 Sheila Jackson Lee (D) Votes: 150,157 Percent: 73.5% 2187 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 Lori Bartley (R) Votes: 48,306 Percent: 23.6%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

April 17, 2017 | Hunter Hamrick and Claire Garney U.S. Virgin Islands DEL.

Del. Stacey Plaskett

Biography Democrat Stacey Plaskett represents the United States Virgin Islands’ at-large congressional district. She is a graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall, earned her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and her Juris Doctorate from American University. Prior to serving as the delegate for USVI, Plaskett was a U.S. Justice Department official, general counsel for United Health Group and then worked for the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority. Plaskett currently serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. She is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, the New Democrat Coalition and the Congressional Caribbean Caucus. As a member of the Committee on Agriculture, Plaskett advocates for funding for programs aimed at rural development and supplemental assistance to constituents in the Virgin Islands and other rural communities. As a member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Plaskett employs her skills as a former prosecutor to fight for accountability and transparency both within government and private sector entities whose operations impact the Virgin Islands community. She won the election to represent the Virgin Islands in 2014, when she defeated Republican Vince Danet 91% to 9%.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports government transparency and Committee on Agriculture Delegate, Virgin Islands accountability Elected: 2014 Committee on Oversight & Government Reform • Supports rural development and assistance Education: • Supports equal voting rights Georgetown U., B.S.F.S., 1984 • Supports public-private partnerships American U., J.D., 1994 Religion: Lutheran Election Results Family: Married (Jeremy 2016 General Buckney Small), 5 children Stacey Plaskett (D) Votes: 8,931 Percent: 100% Contact: (202) 225-1790 331 Cannon HOB Unopposed Washington, DC 20515

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016; plaskett.house.gov, 2017; plaskettforcongress.com, 2016.

March 01, 2017 | Claire Garney Virginia SEN. MARK WARNER PROFILE

Sen. Mark Warner

Biography

Warner was born in Indianapolis, where his father was a safety evaluator for Aetna Life & Casualty Inc. and his mother stayed at home with their two children. The family moved to Vernon, Conn., when Warner was in the eighth grade. He later recalled that he was influenced by a social studies teacher who encouraged his students to pay attention to the turbulent social change unfolding in the late 1960s. He graduated from George Washington University, the first college graduate in his family, and from Harvard Law School. Although he has emphasized his business experience in his campaigns, his first love seems to have been politics. After law school, he worked in fundraising for the Democratic National Committee and in 1989, managed Douglas Wilder’s successful campaign to become Virginia’s first African-American governor. By 1999, he had an eye on running for governor in 2001 as an entrepreneur who could bring savvy business methods to government. Warner won, but not resoundingly, by 52%-47%, a reversal of the numbers in the 1996 Senate race. He carried all major regions of the state, albeit by narrow margins. Then, when Sen. announced in August 2007 that he would retire from the Senate after five terms, Mark Warner’s next career move seemed obvious. It turned out not to be a seriously contested campaign. Warner argued that the previous governor, Jim Gilmore, left the state in poor fiscal shape and that he had been able to turn things around. Warner won 65%-34%. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Originally opposed new gun control laws Senate Committee on Rules and Administration Senator, Virginia but has since changed his stance in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Elected: 2008 wake of recent shootings Senate Committee on the Budget Education: • Participated in bipartisan efforts to prevent George Washington U., B.A. financial institutions from becoming “too Senate Committee on Finance 1977; Harvard U., J.D. 1980 big to fail” Senate Intelligence Committee Religion: Presbyterian • Favors expanding and strengthening Obamacare Election Results Family: Married (Lisa Collis), 3 children 2014 General

Contact: (202) 224-2023 Mark Warner (D) Votes: 1,073,667 Percent: 49.1% Hart Senate Office 703 Washington, DC 20510 Ed Gillespie (R) Votes: 1,055,940 Percent: 48.3%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.

May 6, 2016 | Justin C. Brown SEN. PROFILE

Sen. Tim Kaine

Biography

Time Kaine is the Democratic junior senator from Virginia having been elected to that position in 2012. Kaine was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, but grew up in Overland Park, Kansas. Kaine attended the University of Missouri graduating with a B.A. in economics. Soon afterwards, he left for Harvard where he obtained a J.D. While attending Harvard Law, he took a nine month break to participate in a Jesuit mission trip to Honduras. When he returned to law school, he met and married Anne Houlton, his wife and mother of his three children. After serving as a civil rights lawyer for ten years, Kaine was elected to Richmond’s city council. Four years later, he was elected Mayor of Richmond where he presided over a dramatic drop in crime rates. In 2001, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. In 2005, he was elected Governor of Virginia where he pushed for increased transportation spending. Kaine was the first governor outside of Illinois to endorse Barrack Obama for president. Kaine’s good relationship with Obama led President Obama to appoint him head of the Democratic National Committee, a position he held from 2009-2011. In 2012, he ran for Sen. Jim Webb’s open seat and won against George Allen. While in the Senate, Kaine has been vocal about Congress having a greater role on foreign policy issues pressuring Congress to take up an authorization for the use of force against ISIL. Kaine is the founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Career and Technical Education Caucus sponsoring better technical training programs for students. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports ending sequestration believing it Senate Committee on the Armed Services Junior US Senator undermines security and key investments from Virginia Senate Committee on the Budget • Supports ACA and efforts to expand Elected: 2012 healthcare choice Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Education: • Supports immigration reform and DAPA U. of MO, B.A. 1979, Senate Special Committee on Aging Harvard U., J.D. 1983 Major Milestones Religion: Roman Catholic Elected Mayor of 1998 Election Results Richmond, VA Family: Married (Anne 2012 General Bright Holton) , 3 children Elected Lieutenant Governor 2001 of Virginia Tim Kaine (D) Votes: 2,010,023 Percent: 52.9% Contact: (202) 224-4024 Russell Senate Office 231 Elected Governor of Virginia 2005 George Allen (R) Votes: 1,785,487 Percent: 47.0 % Washington, DC 20510 Elected to US Senate 2012 Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016.

April 11, 2016 | Ben Booker REP. BOBBY SCOTT PROFILE

Rep. Bobby Scott

Biography

Bobby Scott, a Democrat first elected in 1992, is an influential civil libertarian, an intellectual force in the Congressional Black Caucus, and an important figure in Virginia state politics. He became the Education and Workforce Committee's top Democrat in 2015. Scott grew up in Newport News, the son of a doctor. He went to Harvard University and then on to Boston College’s law school. He served in the National Guard and Army Reserves and returned home to practice law. In 1977, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, and in 1983, to the state Senate, representing a multi-racial district in a community. In 1992, with his base on the Peninsula, Scott won the crucial Democratic primary with 67% of the vote against two Richmond-based candidates. He won the general election easily to become the first African-American elected from Virginia since 1891. He has been reelected by overwhelming margins. Scott has a solidly liberal voting record, with occasional exceptions on economic and defense issues, and he is one of the House’s most outspoken civil libertarians. Scott has had a longtime interest in K-12 education, with a special focus on equity. He introduced a bill in 2014 to officially authorize the Obama administration's "Promise Neighborhood" program, augmenting K-12 classes with health and arts programs. Scott hosts an annual Labor Day picnic that has become a required stop for Democratic candidates for state and federal office.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Strongly supports boosting funding to House Education and the Workforce Committee (Ranking Member) Representative, VA-3rd reduce juvenile crime Elected: 1992 • Strong supporter for education equity and Education: affirmative action programs Harvard U., B.A. 1969, • Strongly favors social-safety net programs Boston Col., J.D. 1973 • Opposes USA Patriot Act and wants better Religion: Episcopalian oversight of drone program Election Results Family: Divorced • Strong social liberal supporting same-sex marriage and women’s right to access to 2016 General Contact: (202) 225-8351 abortions Longworth House Bobby Scott (D) Votes: 208,337 Percent: 66.7% Office 1201 Washington, DC 20515 Marty Williams (R) Votes: 103,289 Percent: 33.1%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, “Bobby Scott,” June 14, 2016.

April 7, 2017 | Francis Torres REP. DONALD MCEACHIN

Rep. Donald McEachin

Biography Donald McEachin was born in 1961 in Nuremberg, Germany, to an Army veteran and a public school teacher and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. McEachin graduated from American University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and government and then went on to the University of Virginia School of Law for his J.D. From 1996 to 2002 and 2006 to 2008, McEachin served in the Virginia House of Delegates, the lower house of Virginia’s state legislature. Since 2008, McEachin has been a member of the Virginia Senate, representing the state’s 9th District. While in the state senate, McEachin has served on the Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, Courts of Justice Committee, Privileges and Elections Committee, Commerce and Labor Committee, and General Laws and Technology Committee. He worked on efforts to create jobs in Virginia, invest in public schools and increase health care coverage. In addition to his legislative work, McEachin is a partner at the Virginia law firm he co-founded, McEachin & Gee. He received his master of divinity from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University in 2008. He has been married to his wife, Colette, for 28 years, and they have three children. McEachin defeated his opponent in the race to represent Virginia’s 4th congressional district, Mike Wade, in November 2016, winning by 57% to 43%.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Favors expanding Medicaid Committee on Natural Resources Representative, VA-4 • Strongly favors reforming the criminal Elected: 2016 Committee on Armed Services justice system Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards Education: • Strongly opposes replacing Medicare with American University, B.A. 1982; a voucher system University of Virginia, J.D. 1986; Election Results Virginia Union University, M.Div, • Strongly supports prioritizing green energy 2008 2016 General Religion: Baptist Donald McEachin Votes: 200,136 Percent: 57.7% (D) Family: Married (Collette Wallace), 3 children Mike Wade (R) Votes: 145,731 Percent: 42.0% Contact: (202) 225-6365 CHOB Room 314 Washington, DC 20515 Sources: Ballotpedia, 2017; National Journal Almanac, 2017.

February 27, 2017 | Jessica Grischkan, Madelaine Pisani, Yanni Chen REP.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito

Biography Republican Shelley Moore Capito was elected West Virginia's junior senator in 2014. Her ascension from the House to the Senate was seen as such a certainty that, by July, friends and colleagues reportedly began addressing her as “senator." She is a popular centrist who is unwavering in her advocacy of West Virginia's coal industry. Capito grew up in northern West Virginia and in the Washington, D.C., area, where her father, Arch Moore, served in the House from 1957 to 1969. Her opportunity to follow in her father's footsteps came when Democratic Rep. ran for governor in 2000. She benefited from a divisive Democratic primary that was won by Jim Humphreys, a former state senator and a lawyer. Capito, who supported abortion rights, started as the underdog, but Humphreys proved to be a poor candidate. In the House, Capito had a largely moderate voting record, though she became more inclined to side with her party after President Obama took office. She broke from conservatives over programs important to her state, supporting continued funding of rural air service and opposing drastic cutbacks in food stamps. After winning reelection in November 2012, she announced she would challenge Sen. for his seat when it came up in 2014. Conservative groups grumbled about her centrism, but Rockefeller, in his mid-70s, clearly wanted no part of a tough race against Capito and announced his retirement after a poll showed her with a slight lead in a head-to-head matchup. Her opponent became , West Virginia's secretary of state and a former television reporter. But Obama's deep unpopularity among West Virginians put Tennant at a severe disadvantage and Capito won easily. Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports the repeal and replacement of Committee on Environment and Public Works Senator, West Virginia the Affordable Care Act Elected: 2014 Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation • Supports the review of the regulatory Education: power of the Environmental Protection Committee on Appropriations Duke U., B.S. 1975; Agency UVA., M.Ed. 1976 • Supports Second Amendment rights Committee on Rules and Administration Religion: Presbyterian • Opposes same-sex marriage Election Results Family: Married (Charles), • Opposes the federal regulation of 3 children; 4 grandchildren greenhouse gases 2014 General Contact: (202) 224-6472 • Supports building a fence on the U.S.- Shelley Capito (R) Votes: 281,820 Percent: 62.1% Russell Senate Building 172 Mexico border Washington, DC 20510 Natalie Tennant (D) Votes: 156,360 Percent: 34.5%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, “Glenn Thompson,” April 26, 2016.

March 2, 2017 | Claire Carter SEN.

Sen. Joe Manchin

Biography Democrat Joe Manchin is one of the most conservative members of the caucus, much like his predecessor Senator whom Manchin replaced in a 2010 special election following his death. Trump’s overwhelming victory in West Virginia raises the likelihood Manchin will have a contentious 2018 re-election. Manchin grew up in Farmington, where his grandfather and father both served as mayor. His uncle, A. James Manchin, was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates and was also secretary of state and state treasurer. After graduating from , Manchin went to work in the carpet and furniture business, then he started a coal brokerage company and eventually moved to Fairmont. Manchin was elected to the House of Delegates in 1982 and the state Senate in 1986. He then ran for governor, only to lose in the Democratic primary to legislator . When Secretary of State ran for the U.S. House in 2000, Manchin ran to succeed him. He beat Pritt in the primary and went on to win the general election. Manchin worked successfully to get support from both unions and business. His stands on cultural issues were impeccably conservative: opposed to abortion rights, gun control, and same sex marriage. In 2003, he primaried the sitting Democratic governor Bob Wise, beat him, and went on to win the general election with 64% of the vote. After the 2008 death of Sen. Byrd, Manchin appointed a replacement and then ran for the seat in the 2010 special election. He won re- election in 2012, with 60% of the vote.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Position Elected: • Supports reforming but not repealing the Committee on Appropriations Senator, West Virginia Affordable Care Act Elected: 2010 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources • Critical of the EPA’s regulation of Education: greenhouse gases and coal Select Committee on Intelligence WV Univ, B.A. 1970 • Opposes gay marriage Committee on Veterans Affairs Religion: Catholic • Opposes marijuana legalization Election Results Family: Married (Gayle Connelly); • Anti-abortion 3 children; 8 grandchildren 2012 General Contact: Joe Manchin (D) Votes: 399,898 Percent: 60.6% (202) 224-3954 HSOB 306 John Raese (R) Votes: 240,787 Percent: 36.5% Washington, D.C., 20510

Sources: Ballotpedia, 2017; National Journal Almanac 2016. March 13, 2017 | Daniel Stublen REP. EVAN JENKINS

Rep. Evan Jenkins

Biography Republican Evan Jenkins beat 19-term Democratic Rep. in 2014 by convincing voters he would be a better protector of the 3rd District's most precious and defining resource: coal. He was first elected to office as a Democrat in 1994, serving three terms in the state House of Delegates, and he won a state Senate seat in 2002 after besting the Democratic incumbent in the primary. Jenkins went on to win two more terms in the Senate. In 2013, he announced he was changing his party registration from Democrat to Republican so he could challenge Rahall, the most senior member of West Virginia's congressional delegation. Jenkins and Rahall had similar views on issues such as gun control and gay marriage (both of which they oppose). But it was Jenkins's repeated mentions of two highly charged issues in West Virginia— President Obama and coal—that gave the GOP a key pickup in the increasingly conservative state. Jenkins has pledged to lead the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a law Rahall supported. And while Rahall emphasized the value his seniority could bring to the state, Jenkins dismissed the longtime incumbent as just another vote for a president who did not win a single county in West Virginia in 2012. The fight came down to which man voters believed was more committed to reversing the decline of the state's coal industry. Obama's unpopularity, combined with more than $1.1 million in help from the National Republican Congressional Committee, put the Republican on top.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Supports the coal industry Committee on Appropriations Rep., West Virginia (3) • Opposes gun control Elected: 2014 • Opposes gay marriage Education: U. of Florida, B.S. 1983 • Opposes the Affordable Care Act Cumberland School of Law, J.D., 1987 Religion: Presbyterian Election Results Family: Married (Elizabeth 2016 General Weiler), 3 children Evan Jenkins (R) Votes: 140,741 Percent: 67.9% Contact: (202) 225-3452 1609 Longworth HOB Matt Detch (D) Votes: 49,708 Percent: 24.0% Washington, DC 20515

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

February 27, 2017 | Claire Garney REP.

Rep. Alex Mooney

Biography Republican Alex Mooney, a onetime Marylander, found a receptive home in West Virginia in 2014 when veteran GOP Rep. Shelley Moore Capito decided to run for the Senate. Mooney, who has run for office in three states, beat Democrat Nick Casey in West Virginia's sprawling 2nd District, which shares a border with Maryland, Ohio, and Virginia. Mooney was born in Washington, D.C., to a Cuban refugee mother and a father who hailed from an Irish immigrant family. He received his bachelor's in philosophy from Dartmouth College; during his time there, he ran for the New Hampshire House of Representatives, finishing last, with just 8 percent of the vote. After college, he was an aide to then-GOP Rep. Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland. Mooney got into office with a 1998 win for a Maryland Senate seat, and was made Maryland Republican Party chairman in 2010. He set his sights on Bartlett's House seat and started raising money for a potential run in 2011. But he abandoned the effort after Bartlett announced he would run for reelection. Mooney kept the money on hand, saying he would run in 2014, and went back to work for Bartlett part-time in 2012. Mooney renounced his Maryland candidacy because House ethics rules bar people from working for a congressman they aim to succeed in office. He then moved to West Virginia, won a seven-way GOP primary with 36% of the vote and then the second district 47%-44%.

Biography Stance on Issues Committees Currently: • Opposes the Affordable Care Act, especially Committee on Financial Services Rep., West Virginia (2) the employer mandate Elected: 2014 • Opposes government overreach Education: • Supports the coal industry Dartmouth College, B.A., 1993 • Opposes abortion rights Religion: Roman Catholic Election Results Family: Married (Grace Gonzalez), 3 children 2016 General

Contact: (202) 225-2711 Alex Mooney (R) Votes: 140,807 Percent: 58.2% 1232 Longworth HOB Washington, DC 20515 Mark Hunt (D) Votes: 101,207 Percent: 41.8%

Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016. Ballotpedia 2016.

February 24, 2017 | Claire Garney