Maria Cantwell

Maria Cantwell
Junior Senator, Washington
In office January 2001–Present
Preceded by	Slade Gorton
Succeeded by	Incumbent (2007)
Personal details
Nationality	american
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	none

Maria E. Cantwell (born October 13, 1958) is the junior United States Senator from Washington state and is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life

Cantwell was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was raised in a predominantly Irish neighborhood on the south side of Indianapolis. Her father, Paul, served as county commissioner, city councilman, state legislator, and Chief of Staff for U.S. Representative Andrew Jacobs, Jr.. Her mother, Rose, was an administrative assistant.

After high school, Cantwell went to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration. She moved to Seattle, Washington in 1983 to campaign for Alan Cranston in his unsuccessful bid for the 1984 Democratic Presidential nomination. She then moved to Seattle suburb Mountlake Terrace because it reminded her of Indianapolis, and led a successful campaign to build a new library there.

Early political career

In 1986, Cantwell was elected to the Washington State Legislature at the age of 28. In her campaign, she had knocked on every door in her district [1]. As a state representative, she helped write the Growth Management Act of 1990, which required cities to develop comprehensive growth plans, and she negotiated its passage. She also worked on legislation regulating nursing homes.

In 1992, Cantwell became the first Democrat elected to the United States House of Representatives from Washington's first congressional district in 40 years. During her first term, she helped convince the Clinton Administration to drop its support of the Clipper Chip, she voted in support of NAFTA, and she supported President Clinton's 1993 budget. Republican Rick White used that vote to narrowly defeat her in the Republican landslide year of 1994.

In the private sector

After her defeat, Cantwell vowed to leave politics. Political ally Rob Glaser offered her a job as vice president of marketing of RealNetworks. Among her accomplishments was the live (Internet streaming) broadcast of a Mariners-Yankees baseball game in 1995. (Cantwell is an avid Mariners fan.)

In 1998, the company faced heavy criticism because privacy groups alleged that the RealJukebox software program incorporated spyware to track unsuspecting users' listening patterns and download history. In response, RealNetworks amended its privacy policy to fully disclose its privacy practices regarding user listening patterns. privacy policy Subsequently, RealNetworks submitted to independent outside audits of its privacy practices. Several lawsuits regarding the alleged privacy violations were settled out of court.

Cantwell became a multimillionaire with the stock options from RealNetwork. In August of 2000, during her Senate campaign, Cantwell sold 110,000 shares of RealNetworks stock at about $44/share.

2000 campaign

At the urging of party activists and officials, Cantwell formed an exploratory committee in October 1999 to consider a run for United States Senate against Democrat Deborah Senn and incumbent Republican Slade Gorton. She committed to running on January 19, 2000.

Primary

Cantwell was behind Senn by a year in getting into the race. She quickly lost the Washington State Labor Council and NARAL endorsements to Senn.

Early on, privacy became an issue. Senn cited her record protecting medical privacy as insurance commissioner. Cantwell promoted Internet privacy and cited her opposition to the Clipper Chip.

In her television advertising late in the campaign, Senn accused Cantwell of ducking debates. Cantwell had agreed to two debates; Senn preferred more. They ended up having three debates, during which the candidates harshly attacked each other. Senn attacked RealNetworks and Cantwell's role in the company. Cantwell accused Senn of wanting to run against RealNetworks and said that Senn was uninformed on Internet issues.

Cantwell secured the endorsements of The Seattle Times, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Spokesman-Review, and the News Tribune. She easily won her party's nomination, defeating Senn 3-to-1 in the primary. Although he won renomination, Slade Gorton got fewer votes than Cantwell and Senn's combined total. Cantwell cited this as evidence that Washington was ready for a change.

General election

Social security, prescription drugs, dams, and campaign finance reform were among the most important issues in Cantwell's race against Gorton. Cantwell also adopted the slogan, "Your voice for a change," a veiled reference to Gorton's campaign theme in 1980, challenging incumbent Warren Magnuson's age. She claimed Gorton supported "19th century solutions to 21st century problems."

Cantwell won the endorsements of The Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the state's two biggest newspapers. Gorton won the Tri-City Herald and the News Tribune.

At times the campaign was accused of pettiness. After a Cantwell campaign worker deep-linked to a humorous photo on the Gorton website, Gorton accused Cantwell's campaign of hacking his website, and Senn accused Cantwell of hypocrisy because of the incident. "Fiddling with people's websites and calling it good fun ... adds a very childish and unworthy character to the race," said Senn's campaign spokeswoman Barbara Stenson. [2]

The election results were extremely close. Early on, Cantwell enjoyed a lead, and TV networks projected a Cantwell victory. As absentee ballots streamed in, Gorton overtook Cantwell and achieved a lead of 15,000 votes. When the liberal Puget Sound area finished counting ballots and the county totals were certified on November 23, Cantwell had regained the lead; she was ahead by 1,953 votes out of 2.5 million cast, about .08%. A mandatory recount increased her lead to 2,229 votes, or .09%.

Cantwell spent over $10 million of her own money on her campaign, pledging not to accept money from PACs. However, when RealNetworks stock declined at the end of 2000, she spent time raising funds for debt retirement, although she kept her pledge not to accept PAC money, as documented by the non-partisan Center For Responsive Politics.

U.S. Senator

Cantwell sponsored a bill that officially presumes American men are abusers even in te absence of a criminal record Bill Declares American Men Abusers. Cantwell’s bill mandates that all foreign fiancés be given a warning that “use of K non-immigrant visas by United States citizens who have a history of committing domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, or other crimes and an explanation that such acts may not have resulted in a criminal record for such a citizen.” International Marriage Brokers Regulation Act Critics point out that the bill does not take any actual step to prohibit a convicted criminal from marriage. The bill was in response to three murders of mail order brides in the past 20 years in contrast to about 1500 murders a year of spouses in general in the United States [http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/intimates.htm#intgender Homicide trends in the U.S. - ] and an estimated 14,000 murders of wives a year in Russia 14,000 Russian Wives in Russia Killed Eacxh Year. Two lawsuits have been filed and a temporary restraining order has been granted European Connections vs. Gonzales. In violation of the restraining order, USCIS has implemented the new requirements and Cantwell's law has successfully blocked 10,000 couples from getting married Marriages Put on Hold Because of Cantwell Bill. Cantwell responded by blaming the immigration service for the problem caused by her bill. "Security and safety should be their top consideration but their long visa process delays are putting a lot of people's lives on hold," Cantwell said in a statement Homeland Security paperwork glitch delays thousands of weddings.

Cantwell serves on the Indian Affairs Committee, the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. She also served on the Judiciary Committee during her first two years (2001-2002).

While she scores high on most progressive charts[3], Cantwell has made several controversial votes during her time in the Senate that have created friction between her and members of the Democratic Party.

She has voted with the Senate Democratic leadership most of the time, including her 2002 vote in favor of the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq, and in 2005 for resolutions urging the administration to make 2006 a year of significant transition in Iraq.

On the issue of abortion, Cantwell calls herself "100% pro-choice," and she consistently supports the positions of the pro-choice movement. She was one of 34 Senators to vote against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, which passed and was signed into law by President Bush November 5, 2003, and has been ruled against by multiple federal courts. She also voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which made it a crime to kill or harm a fetus during a criminal assault upon the mother. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 61-38, and was signed into law by President Bush April 1, 2004.

Cantwell is the chair of the Senate Democrats 20/20 Energy Independence campaign and is a founder of the Apollo Alliance. One of Cantwell's main accomplishments was the passage of an amendment "To prevent energy market manipulation," which passed 57-40 in the Senate; a previous effort was defeated by a vote of 50-48.

In the summer of 2005, Cantwell voted for CAFTA, which angered many who opposed free trade agreements. Others argued that due to the state's unique economy, any senator from Washington almost had to vote for free trade pacts. Her votes on CAFTA and Iraq prompted a third party challenge from Aaron Dixon, the former captain of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party.

Cantwell did support the view of many left-wing groups when, citing his potential views on abortion and the environment, she was one of 22 senators to vote against United States Supreme Court nominee John Roberts.

In December 2005 Cantwell scored what many perceived as one of the strongest victories of her first term when she blocked Alaska senator Ted Stevens' efforts to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Stevens attached the measure to a bill which provided money for defense spending and Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. Cantwell managed to round up the votes of 41 Democrats and 2 Republicans, enough to block a final vote. [4] Stevens removed the ANWR measure from the larger bill, but promised to bring the matter up at a later date.

In January 2006, after publicly announcing her opposition to Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, Cantwell, along with 18 other Democrats and all 53 present Republicans, voted for the cloture motion.[5] The success of this motion ended an unlikely attempt to filibuster the confirmation of Judge Alito that was being led by Senator John Kerry and Senator Ted Kennedy. [6] Alito was confirmed the next day by a vote of 58-42, with most Democrats, including Cantwell, voting against.

In May 2006, Cantwell, along with 38 of 44 Senate Democrats, voted in favor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S. 2611).[7] The controversial bill includes provisions to improve border security, increases fines and other punishments for employers of illegal immigrants, creation of a guest worker program (which includes an almost doubling of the number of H1-B visas[8]), and creates a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country.[9]. The bill, with support from GOP leadership, passed 62-36.

2006 re-election campaign

Main article: Washington United States Senate election, 2006

At the end of 2005, Cantwell had $5 million in the bank after raising $6.7 million for her 2006 campaign.

Due to the close gubernatorial contest between Democrat Christine Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi in November 2004, Republicans believe they can win state-wide electoral contests in Washington State. In early hypothetical matchups compiled by conservative Strategic Vision [10], Rossi led Cantwell. Republican leadership reportedly pleaded with Rossi to jump into the ring. Rossi declined.

Speculation next centered on Rick White (who had taken Cantwell's House seat in 1994), state GOP chair Chris Vance, former Seattle television reporter Susan Hutchinson, and former 8th district Congressional candidate and Republican National Committee member Diane Tebelius. None of those chose to enter the race.

Three Republicans have filed to run against Cantwell. Mike McGavick, who resigned from his job as CEO of Safeco Insurance, is considered the frontrunner. The other two are C. Mark Greene, chairman of the Commoner Committee for Political Affairs, and Brad Klippert.

Cantwell also has opposition from the progressives in the Democratic primary. She will face Mark Wilson, the Green Party candidate for Senate in 2004 who is running in 2006 as a Democrat, and Hong Tran, a North Seattle fair housing lawyer who announced her candidacy on April 22, 2006.

In the November general election, there will also be a Green Party opponent: Aaron Dixon, former captain of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party and longtime community activist, who secured the Green Party's nomination for U.S. Senate on May 13, 2006. Dixon plans to challenge Cantwell on her continued support for the U.S. presence in Iraq and the USA PATRIOT Act.

Electoral history

• 2000 Race for U.S. Senate
  • Maria Cantwell (D), 49%
  • Slade Gorton (R) (inc.), 49%
  • Jeff Jared (L), 2%

• 1994 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 1st District
  • Rick White (R), 52%
  • Maria Cantwell (D) (inc.), 48%

• 1992 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 1st District
  • Maria Cantwell (D), 55%
  • Gary Nelson (R), 42%

See also

• Washington U.S. Senate election, 2006

External links

• Official website
• 2006 campaign site
• About.com Profile of Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington
• Strongman of the North - Article on Cantwell's tangles with Senator Ted Stevens

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