John B. Larson

"John Larson" redirects here. For other persons named John Larson, see John Larson (disambiguation).

John Larson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1999
Preceded by	Barbara Kennelly
Democratic Caucus Chairman of the United States House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office January 2009
Preceded by	Rahm Emanuel
Democratic Caucus Vice-Chairman of the United States House of Representatives
In office February 2006 – January 2009
Preceded by	James Clyburn
Succeeded by	Xavier Becerra
Member of the Connecticut Senate
In office 1983–1995
Personal details
Born	July 22, 1948 ( 1948-07-22) Hartford, Connecticut
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Leslie Larson
Residence	East Hartford, Connecticut
Alma mater	Central Connecticut State University
Profession	high school teacher, insurance agent
Religion	Roman Catholic

John Barry Larson (born July 22, 1948) is the U.S. Representative for Connecticut's 1st congressional district, serving since 1999. He is a member of the a Democratic Party. The district is based in the state capital, Hartford. Larson is the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.

Early life, education, and teaching/business career

Larson was born in Hartford, but has spent most of his life in nearby East Hartford. He grew up in a public housing project. He was educated at East Hartford High School and Central Connecticut State University. He worked as a high school history teacher and an assistant athletics coach at George J. Penney High School (later Penney High merged with East Hartford High School). Larson was also the co-owner of an insurance agency in East Hartford before entering public service. In 1971, he was selected as a Senior Fellow to the Yale University Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy by the Head Start Program founder, Edward Zigler.

Early political career

Larson began his political career in 1977, when he served one term on the East Hartford Board of Education. He then served two terms on the East Hartford Town Council.

In 1982, Larson was elected to the Connecticut Senate from the 3rd district, based in East Hartford. He served six terms in that body, the last four as president pro tempore.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In 1994, Larson left the state senate and sought the Democratic nomination for Governor of Connecticut but was defeated by Bill Curry in the primary. After being defeated for Governor, Larson entered private business for several years but was able to maintain his political credentials. Due in part to service in the Democratic Party and his local connections in the state, he narrowly defeated Secretary of State Miles Rappaport in the Democratic primary for the 1st District when 17-year incumbent Barbara Kennelly gave up the seat to run for governor in 1998. This was tantamount to election in this heavily Democratic district. He has been re-elected six times with no substantive opposition.

Tenure

Larson is a member of the New Democrat Coalition. On February 1, 2006 he was elected Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus. The previous vice chairman, Jim Clyburn, moved up to chairman when Bob Menendez was appointed to the United States Senate. After the Democrats won control of Congress in the 2006, Larson opted not to run for caucus chairman—a post that went to former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Rahm Emanuel, instead running unopposed for re-election as vice chairman. After being re-elected in 2008, Larson was elected chairman of the Caucus for the 111th Congress, after Emanuel was named White House Chief of Staff.

On March 5, 2009, Larson introduced a bill entitled "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the United States domestic energy supply" in an effort to begin a national tax on carbon dioxide emissions.

In 2011, Rep. Larson became a co-sponsor of Bill H.R.3261 otherwise known as the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Oversight
  • Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures
• Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming

Caucus memberships

• Democratic Caucus Chairman, the fourth-ranking position among House Democrats
• Congressional Shellfish Caucus (Co-Chair)
• House Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Coalition (Co-Chair)

Personal life

Larson married Leslie Best, one of his former students from his high school teaching days at George J. Penney High School (now East Hartford High School). They now have three children and reside in East Hartford.

External links

• Congressman John B. Larson official U.S. House site
• John B. Larson for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Profile at SourceWatch

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Barbara Kennelly	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's 1st congressional district 1999–present	Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Rush D. Holt D-New Jersey	United States Representatives by seniority 153rd	Succeeded by Gary Miller R-California
Party political offices
Preceded by Jim Clyburn	Democratic Caucus Vice-Chairman of the United States House of Representatives 2006-2009	Succeeded by Xavier Becerra
Preceded by Rahm Emanuel	Democratic Caucus Chairman of the United States House of Representatives 2009–present	Incumbent