David Cicilline (D-RI-1st)
David Nicola Cicilline (born July 15, 1961) is the U.S. Representative for Rhode Island’s 1st congressional district. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He is formerly the Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, and was the first openly gay mayor of a U.S. state capital. [Read more...]
John Charles Carney, Jr. (D-DE-AL) Rep.
Born May 20, 1956, John Charles Carney, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for Delaware’s At-large congressional district and a member of the Democratic Party. He was the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware from 2001 to 2009. Prior to that, he served as Delaware’s Secretary of Finance. [Read more...]
Richard Blumenthal (D - CT) Senate
Richard M. Blumenthal (born February 13, 1946) is the junior United States Senator from Connecticut. He is a member of the Democratic Party and served as Attorney General of Connecticut from 1991 to 2011. Read more
Karen Bass (D-CA-33rd) Rep.
Karen Bass (born in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, on October 3, 1953) graduated from Hamilton High School, Los Angeles, Calif.; B.S., California State University, Dominguez Hills, Calif., 1990; P.A., U.S.C. Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Calif.; physician’s assistant; faculty, U.S.C. Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Calif.; member of the California state assembly, 2005-2010, and speaker of the assembly, 2008-2010; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Twelfth Congress (January 3, 2011-present). Read more
Giffords with Disabled Veterans
Currently: Mrs Giffords is in critical condition after being targeted in a politically motivated shooting (2011 Tucson shooting). Our hearts and prayers are with her family and the families of all the victims. Currently the death toll from this horrible event stands at 6, including one nine year old girl.
Bio: On November 4, 2008, Gabrielle Giffords was re-elected by the people of Arizona’s Eighth Congressional District – a diverse area that covers 9,000 square miles including a 114 mile border with Mexico. For almost ten years, Giffords has dedicated herself to public service as an elected official. A third generation Tucsonan, she represented her hometown in the Arizona Legislature from 2000-2005 where she was the youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona State Senate.
Upon entering Congress, Giffords quickly became a leading champion of solar energy, immigration reform, and the needs of military families and veterans. Consistently ranked as one of the most centrist legislators in Congress, she is a strong supporter of fiscal responsibility, bipartisanship and government accountability.
Involving southern Arizonans in shaping policies and strategically solving community problems is the cornerstone of her work. Giffords’ inclusive and collaborative approach allows her to bring all viewpoints to the table and the best ideas to Washington. Read More
Currently: The U.S. House of Representatives voted to censure Rangel today (Dec. 2, 2010) for ethics violations and bringing discredit to the House. Rangel (former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee) was recently found guilty for 11 of 13 ethics charges, including misusing his office to raise money for a public policy center bearing his name and failure to pay taxes on rental income from a Dominican villa. Read more from USA Today
Bio: Charles Bernard “Charlie” Rangel (born June 11, 1930) has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1971, representing the Fifteenth Congressional District of New York, and is the most senior member of that state’s congressional delegation. He is a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. In January 2007, Rangel became chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, the first African-American to do so.
Recently: Carter returned from North Korea with 31-year-old Aijalon Mahli Gomes who was jailed on suspicion of spying. Read more…
Bio: James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) in Plains, Georgia. As a member of the Democratic Party, Carter served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977-1981. Carter graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1946. Following graduation he married Rosalynn Smith. Carter served as a Naval Officer for seven years before entering the political arena. He served one term as the Democratic Governor of Georgia and two terms as the Democratic Senator for Georgia. In 2002 Carter was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his tireless efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts. Read his bio on Wikipedia…
An ethics report released Monday found that Rep. Maxine Waters probably broke conflict-of-interest rules in urging federal aid for a bank where her husband had served on the board and owned hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock. Read the rest of the story from The Washington Post…
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Carte P. Goodwin served as Governor Joe Manchin’s chief counsel during his first term in office from 2005-2009 and was at one time the chairman (designated by Gov. Manchin) of the West Virginia School Building Authority. In 2009, Manchin appointed him chair of the Independent Commission on Judicial Reform, which studied the need for judicial reforms in West Virginia. In 2008, Goodwin was named one of the “Ten Most Successful Young Executives in West Virginia” by Executive magazine. Read his bio on Wikipedia
Currently: The country is mourning the passing the late great Senator Byrd, President Obama delivered the eulogy, “As I reflect on the full sweep of his 92 years, it seems to me that his life bent toward justice…” Read more from the Washington Post.
Bio: The Late Senator Robert Carlyle Byrd from West Virginia (born Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr. on November 20, 1917) was the longest-serving senator and the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Congress. He was a member of the Democratic Party and served as a Senator from 1959 to 2010. Read his bio on Wikipedia.
Albert Arnold “Al” Gore, Jr. (born March 31, 1948) served as the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He is currently an author, businessperson, and American environmental activist who starred in the 2006 documentaryAn Inconvenient Truth, which won an Academy Award in 2007.
Mark Critz (born January 5, 1962) is the Congressman-elect for Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district. He was regional director for United States Representative John Murtha. Following Murtha’s death, Critz won the May 2010 special election with 53% of the vote to complete Murtha’s term as the Democratic candidate for the 12th congressional district.
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Currently: On May 18, 2010, Specter was defeated by Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania’s Democratic Primary election 54% to 46% (Sestak 564,444 votes to Specter’s 481,566). His senate career is scheduled to end in January, 2011. Read more…
Previously: “I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary,” said Specter in a statement. “I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election.” Read the rest of the story from The Huffington Post
Currently: Announced his retirement, “I have served in the House longer than anyone in Wisconsin history. God and my constituents have been incredibly good to me…” read the full statement
Bio: As a junior Member of the House, he threw his support behind efforts to open committee hearings to the public (when Dave first went to Congress, many of those public hearings were held behind closed doors). In addition, Dave sponsored and pushed through rules changes which required powerful Appropriations Subcommittee Chairs to be voted on by the full Caucus rather than simply becoming Chairman, in order to make certain that they were not arbitrary or out of touch. [Read more...]
In late 2009, Deutch declared himself a candidate in a special election to fill the 19th congressional district seat formerly held by Robert Wexler, who left Congress to lead the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation. He won the Democratic primary with 85% of the vote, and on April 13, 2010, won the special election, defeating Republican Edward J. Lynch.
Currently: Pelosi is denouncing the threats and violence that has ensued so far over the recent health care reform bill passage. She is also trying to get the GOP to speak out against these incidents and stop fanning the flames with rhetoric. Read the rest of the story…
About: Nancy Patricia D’Alesandro Pelosi (born March 26, 1940) is the current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before being elected Speaker in the 110th Congress, she was the House Minority Leader from 2003 to 2007, holding the post during the 108th and 109th Congresses. [Read more...]
Patrick Joseph Kennedy II (born July 14, 1967) is currently representing Rhode Island’s 1st congressional district since 1995. The district includes all of Bristol County and Newport County, and parts of Providence County. On February 11, 2010, Kennedy announced he would not seek re-election in 2010.
Currently: Massa is doing damage control in light of allegations of sexual misconduct with at least one member of his staff… read more
Bio: Congressman Eric Massa, a Naval Academy graduate (class of ’81), is a 24-year retired Navy Commander. While in the Navy, he served during several global conflicts including Beirut and Operation Desert Storm. His capstone military assignment was serving as the Special Assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, General Wesley Clark, during the Bosnian conflict. [Read more...]
David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is the 55th and current Governor of New York. He is the first governor of New York of African American heritage and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state. When Spitzer resigned in the wake of a prostitution scandal, Paterson was sworn in as governor of New York on March 17, 2008. Paterson initially intended to run for a full term in the 2010 gubernatorial election, but announced on February 26, 2010, that he would not be a candidate in the Democratic primary.
[Read more...]
Birch Evans “Evan” Bayh III (born December 26, 1955) is the junior U.S. Senator from Indiana since 1999. He earlier served as the 46th Governor of Indiana. On February 15, 2010, Bayh announced he would not seek reelection to the Senate in 2010. “There is too much partisanship and not enough progress — too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving…”
John Patrick “Jack” Murtha, Jr. (June 17, 1932 – February 8, 2010) represented Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district from 1974 until his death in 2010. A former Marine Corps officer, Murtha was the first Vietnam War veteran elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Murtha has been best known for his calls for a withdrawal of American forces in Iraq, as well as questions about his ethics.[7]
photo credits: Jonathan Walczak & John Edwards 2008 -
Currently: Edwards and his wife have split, this comes a week after John said, “I am Quinn’s father. I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves. I have been able to spend time with her during the past year and trust that future efforts to show her the love and affection she deserves can be done privately and in peace….” Read the rest of his statement.
Bio: Johnny Reid “John” Edwards from (born June 10, 1953) is an American politician who served one term as U.S. Senator for North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination through the January primaries. [Read more...]
Currently: Dodd announces retirement, “I will not be a candidate for re-election this November… my deepest gratitude to the people of Connecticut for the remarkable privilege of being elected eight times over the past four decades to our national assembly.”
Bio: Dodd was elected to the Senate in the 1980 election and was subsequently reelected in the 1986, 1992, 1998, and 2004 elections. He is the first Senator from Connecticut to serve five consecutive terms. From 1995 to 1997, he served as General Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. As General Chairman, Dodd was the DNC’s spokesman. Donald Fowler served as National Chairman, running the party’s day to day operations. Dodd has also involved himself in children’s and family issues, founding the first Senate Children’s Caucus[10] and authoring the Family and Medical Leave Act. [Read more...]
Currently: U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie on December 11, 2009 announced that he will resign as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the 1st District of Hawaii. Read more from: http://www.house.gov/abercrombie/
Bio: Abercrombie first participated in a political campaign in 1970, seeking the Democratic nomination to the United States Senate. Unsuccessful, Abercrombie ran for the Hawaii State House of Representatives where he served from 1975 to 1979. He moved to the Hawaii State Senate, where he served from 1980 to 1986. After Representative Cecil Heftel resigned from the United States Congress in July 1986 to run for Governor of Hawaii, Abercrombie was elected to the House in a September 1986 special election to complete Heftel’s unexpired term. However, on the same day Abercrombie lost the Democratic primary for a full two-year term to Mufi Hannemann, who went on to lose to Republican Pat Saiki in the general election.[3] [Read more...]
On January 8, 2007, John Garamendi became the 46th Lieutenant Governor of California, bringing to the office more than 32 years of public service. He is committed to building the Lieutenant Governor’s office into a powerful advocate for families and hard-working Californians, improving higher education, health care, and the environment, and boosting job creation. [Read more...]
Bill Owens has devoted his life to creating jobs, bringing economic development to Upstate New York, and serving his country. Bill Owens is an Air Force veteran who served as a Captain at the Plattsburgh Air Force Base. He comes from a family with a long military tradition. His great grandfather served in the Civil War, his uncle in World War I and his father served in World War II. [Read more...]
photo credit: Center for American Progress Action Fund –
Currently: Reid is trying to do damage control after statements he made about Obama being “light-skinned” and having no “Negro dialect” came to light in the new book “Game Change” by journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31340.html#ixzz0cKgBjO4g
Bio: Today Harry Reid is the Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate, a man who commands the respect of colleagues from both parties, and a powerful advocate for Nevada’s middle-class families. Every day Sen. Reid puts his leadership position to work to deliver meaningful results for Nevadans.
Our condolences go out to his family and friends. Here is the family statement posted on Ted’s official senate site, ““Edward M. Kennedy—the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply—died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port. We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever…” [Read more...]
photo credit: ktylerconk –
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) — Former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana was convicted Wednesday on 11 of the 16 corruption charges against him in a case that included the discovery of $90,000 in his freezer. Read the rest of the story from CNN
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