Diane Black
| Diane Black | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 6th district |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Bart Gordon |
| Member of the Tennessee Senate from the 18th district |
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| In office 2005–2010 |
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| Preceded by | Jo Ann Graves |
| Succeeded by | Kerry Roberts |
| Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from the 45th district |
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| In office 1998–2005 |
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| Succeeded by | Debra Young Maggart |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 16, 1951 Baltimore, Maryland |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | David Lee Black |
| Children | Jill Black Stoyshich Katie Black Shiver Steve Black |
| Residence | Gallatin, Tennessee |
| Occupation | Nurse Politican Real estate investor |
| Religion | Lutheran |
| Website | Official website |
Diane Lynn (nee: Warren) Black[1] (born January 16, 1951) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 6th congressional district since 2011. The district includes several suburban and rural areas east of Nashville. She is a member of the Republican Party. Previously she was a member of the Tennessee Senate for the 18th district, which encompasses Robertson County and part of Sumner County. She was floor leader of the State Senate Republican Caucus.
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Early life, education, and nursing career [edit]
Born in Baltimore, Maryland to Joseph and Audrey Warren, Black graduated from Andover High School in Linthicum, Maryland, in 1969. She then graduated from Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland with an associate's degree in nursing in 1971. In 1985 she moved to Tennessee to attend Belmont University.[2] She graduated with a bachelor's degree in nursing in 1991 and worked as a Registered Nurse until 1998 when she decided to run for the Tennessee House of Representatives. Later she has also served as an educator at Volunteer State Community College.[3] She lives with her husband David (himself a graduate of Loyola College and the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore)[4] in Gallatin, Tennessee, the seat of a neighboring county of Metro Nashville.[5] Her net worth is almost $29 million because of her husband's stake in Aegis Sciences Corporation, a "...forensic chemical and drug-testing laboratory specializing in the Zero-Tolerance Drug Testing® testing programs for businesses, professional and amateur sports drug testing, pain management physicians, and medical examiners".[6][7]
Tennessee legislature [edit]
Before becoming a state senator in 2004, she had previously served as a state representative for six years from 1998. Black was the Assistant Floor Leader of the Senate Republican Caucus, a member of the Senate Government Operations Committee, and the Vice-Chair of the Senate General Welfare, Health and Human Resources Committee. She was elected the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus Chairman in 2006.[3]
Aide's email controversy [edit]
In May 2009, Sherri Goforth, a legislative aide in Black's office, circulated a racially charged email depicting a collection of portraits of United States Presidents showing current President Barack Obama as a black frame with only eyeballs visible. The email was denounced as blatant racism. Senator Black's response of reprimanding her employee, Goforth, gained national attention and condemnation.[8] Black opted only to reprimand Goforth, a response which drew heated criticism from local[9] and national[10] blogs, as well as Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Chip Forrester, who called on Black to denounce the email and fire the staffer.[11] Black did denounce the email, said the email did not reflect her views and stated her reprimand was in following with human resources' policy for email guideline violations.[12]
U.S. House of Representatives [edit]
2010 election [edit]
In December, 2009, she became a candidate for Tennessee's 6th congressional district to succeed Bart Gordon, who was not running for reelection.[13] Her biggest competitions in the Republican primary came from former Rutherford County GOP chairwoman Lou Ann Zelenik and State Senator Jim Tracy. On August 5, 2010, Diane narrowly won the Republican primary with 31% of the vote, over Zelenik and Tracy, who earned 30% each.[14] Brett Carter was nominated by the Democrats after well-known elected officials declined the candidacy, which resulted in CQ Politics rating this race as "Safe Republican".[15]
In the November election, Black won handily, taking 67 percent of the vote. However, this was not considered an upset. The 6th had been trending Republican for some time as Nashville's eastern suburbs bled into the district. National Democrats had all but written off the seat as a Republican pickup after no well-known local Democrats expressed interest.
Committee assignments [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ "Campaign contributions". OpenSecrets.org. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ^ "Diane Black (R-Tenn.)". Retrieved May 23, 2012.
- ^ a b "About Diane". Diane Black for Congress. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ^ http://health.state.tn.us/licensure/Practitioner.aspx?ProfessionCode=5005&LicenseNumber=13146&FileNumber=13146 Practitioner Profile Data - Tennessee Department of Health
- ^ "Biography". Diane Black for State Senate. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ^ http://www.rollcall.com/news/-202702-1.html
- ^ http://www.aegislabs.com/About_Aegis About Aegis Science Corporation.
- ^ The GOP's Minority Outreach?
- ^ Racist and Ridiculous
- ^ Latest Republican Racist Email Features Hilarious Summary of 44 American Presidents
- ^ Forrester Demands Sen. Diane Black Fire Staffer Who Sent Racist Email
- ^ Black says she followed HR rules on Senate staffer email
- ^ "Diane Black Joins Race To Succeed Gordon In Congress". WTVF. Associated Press. December 18, 2009. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ^ "Tennessee 6th District Race Profile - Election 2010". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-07.[dead link]
- ^ McArdle, John (March 31, 2010). "Gordon’s Tennessee Seat All But Gone for Democrats". CQ Politics. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Diane Black |
- U.S. Congresswoman Diane Black official U.S. House site
- Diane Black for Congress official campaign site
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Congressional profile at GovTrack
- Congressional profile at OpenCongress
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Financial information (federal office) at OpenSecrets.org
- Staff salaries, trips and personal finance (federal office) at LegiStorm.com
- Financial information (state office) at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
- Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
- Voting record at The Washington Post
- Appearances on C-SPAN programs
- Aegis Science Corporation - Science in Defense of Justice
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bart Gordon |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 6th congressional district January 3, 2011 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Dan Benishek R-Michigan |
United States Representatives by seniority 280th |
Succeeded by Mo Brooks R-Alabama |
| Representatives to the 112th–113th United States Congresses from Tennessee (ordered by seniority) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 112th | Senate: L. Alexander | B. Corker | House: J. Duncan, Jr. | J. Cooper | M. Blackburn | S. Cohen | P. Roe | D. Black | S. DesJarlais | S. Fincher | C. Fleischmann |
| 113th | Senate: L. Alexander | B. Corker | House: J. Duncan, Jr. | J. Cooper | M. Blackburn | S. Cohen | P. Roe | D. Black | S. DesJarlais | S. Fincher | C. Fleischmann |
