Marilyn Musgrave
Marilyn Neoma Musgrave (born January 27, 1949), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003, representing the 4th District of Colorado (map). The district takes up most of eastern Colorado outside the Denver and Colorado Springs-Pueblo metropolitan areas, but most of its vote is cast in Fort Collins and Greeley. She is best known nationally as the main sponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment.
Background and early political career
She was born in Greeley and was educated at Colorado State University. Her career in elective office began in 1991, when she served one term on the school board of Fort Morgan. She served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1993 to 1997 and in the Colorado Senate from 1997 until her election to Congress.
Musgrave is an conservative Republican in the mold of Ronald Reagan. She spent much of her time as a state legislator working on agricultural issues, specifically authoring bills exempting farm implement dealers from sales taxes and to lower taxes on family farmers. She also worked hard to defend citizens civil and constitutional rights including, but not limited to, 2nd Amendment rights and privacy rights.
Congressional career
After Congressman Bob Schaffer retired, Musgrave ran for and won the Republican nomination to succeed him. She received a big boost in the primary when she gained the endorsements of Schaffer and former Senator William Armstrong. She was quickly labeled as far too conservative even for the 4th, which has not elected a Democrat since 1972. However, that label has been applied to her three most recent predecessors--Hank Brown, Wayne Allard and Schaffer--without much success. Due to the strong Republican lean of the district, a large campaign war chest and popular Republican governor Bill Owens' reelection bid, she defeated Democratic state senate president Stan Matsunaka by double digits. At least one observer suggested that had Musgrave lost, it would have been a sign that the Republicans had lost everything in Colorado.
In 2004, she faced Matsunaka again. Despite outspending him by over a million dollars, she only defeated him by six percentage points. Musgrave lost in Larimer County, home to Fort Collins and the biggest whole county in the district. She also lost the district's share of Boulder County, including Longmont. However, she swamped Matsunaka in Weld County, home to Greeley, by a margin far larger than the actual margin of victory. Many observers were surprised at the closeness of the race, which wasn't decided until the last returns arrived.
Musgrave was the subject of negative ads during the 2004 election season funded by Colorado gay philanthropists such as Tim Gill, featured an actress dressed up like Musgrave picking a corpse's pocket, and stealing from a soldier. Certain network television stations refused to run the ads.
In late August 2005, former Ronald Reagan appointee Eric Eidsness said he might run against Musgrave in the 2006 Republican primary. State representative Angie Paccione is campaigning for the Democratic nomination, and is being backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Musgrave is not a supporter of President Bush's Guest-Worker Program for Mexican Immigrants.
Election History
- 2002 - Defeated Stan Matsunaka 55%-42%
- 2004 - Defeated Matsunaka 51%-45%
Congressional Committees
- U.S. House Committee on Agriculture
- U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce
- U.S. House Committee on Small Business
External links