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2006 Virginia United States Senate Election
The 2006 United States Senate election in Virginia was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Senator George Allen ran for reelection to a second term but was narrowly defeated by Democrat Jim Webb, who earned 49.6% of the vote to Allen's 49.2%. With a margin of just 0.4%, this election was the closest race of the 2006 Senate election cycle. Webb declined to run for reelection in 2012. Background Allen, who previously served as Governor of Virginia and was considered a possible candidate for president in 2008, was running for his second term. Webb, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, writer and former Secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan won the Democratic nomination after being drafted by netroots activists, such as those at the blog Raising Kaine. Polls clearly favored Allen through mid-August, but on August 11, he was filmed using the ethnic slur Macaca in reference to a Webb campaign volunteer, S.R. Sidarth, who is of Indian ancestry. He also told Sidarth, "Welco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Mason University
George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was originally founded in 1949 as a Northern Virginia regional branch of the University of Virginia. Named after Founding Father of the United States George Mason in 1959, it became an independent university in 1972. The school has since grown into the largest public university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mason operates four campuses in Virginia ( Fairfax, Arlington, Front Royal, and Prince William), as well as a campus in Incheon, South Korea. The flagship campus is in Fairfax. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". Two professors were awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics during their time at George Mason University: James M. Buchanan in 1986 and Vernon L. Smith in 2002. Ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kate Michelman
Kate Michelman (born August 4, 1942) is an American political activist. She is best known for her work in the United States abortion rights movement, particularly as a long-time president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. Career From 1985 to 2004, Michelman served as president of NARAL, a major abortion rights advocacy organization in the United States. Following her departure from NARAL, she worked as a political consultant and published her memoir, ''With Liberty and Justice for All: A Life Spent Protecting the Right to Choose'', with Hudson Street Press in 2006. She also testified against Supreme Court justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas at their confirmation hearings. In 2003, Michelman was named on the PoliticsPA list of "Pennsylvania's Most Politically Powered Women." In 2012, she and Carol Tracy were selected to be co-chairs of WomenVotePA, a nonpartisan political campaign focused on raising women voter turnout in the state of Pennsylvania and advancing the idea that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gail Parker
Gail Denise Parker is a South African politician and public servant who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature from 2014 to 2019. During that time, she served briefly as the Northern Cape's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism from May to June 2017: she was appointed in a controversial cabinet reshuffle which the ANC later obliged Premier Sylvia Lucas to reverse. Parker trained as a teacher and entered politics through the South African Democratic Teachers Union. Early life and education Parker was the second of three siblings – she has two brothers – and as an infant was raised in Greenpoint, Khayelitsha by her grandparents. At the age of four, she moved to Cape Town, where her parents lived and worked. She grew up on the Cape Flats and completed a bachelor's degree from the University of Cape Town. Much later in life, she also completed a doctorate in business leader ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
OpenSecrets
OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). History The ''Center for Responsive Politics'' was founded in 1983 by retired U.S. Senators Frank Church of Idaho, of the Democratic Party, and Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania, of the Republican Party. It was officially incorporated on February 1, 1984. In the 1980s, Church and Scott launched a "money-in-politics" project, whose outcome consisted of large, printed books. Their first book, published in 1988, analyzed spending patterns in congressional elections from 1974 through 1986, including 1986 soft money contributions in five states. It was titled ''Spending in Congressional Elections: A Never-Ending Spiral.'' In 2021, the CRP announced its merger with the National Institute on Money in Politics. The combined organization is known as O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act, the commission describes its duties as "to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of Presidential elections." The commission was unable to function from late August 2019 to December 2020, with an exception for the period of May 2020 to July 2020, due to lack of a quorum. In the absence of a quorum, the commission could not vote on complaints or give guidance through advisory opinions. As of May 19, 2020, there were 350 outstanding matters on the agency's enforcement docket and 227 items waiting for action. In December 2020, three commissioners were appointed to restore a quorum; however, deadlocks arising ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuck Robb
Charles Spittal Robb (born June 26, 1939) is an American politician from Virginia and former officer in the United States Marine Corps. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the List of governors of Virginia, 64th governor of Virginia from 1982 to 1986 and a United States Senate, United States senator from 1989 until 2001. In 2004, he co-chaired the Iraq Intelligence Commission. Early life and education Charles Robb was born in Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona, the son of Frances Howard (Woolley) and James Spittal Robb. He grew up in the Mount Vernon, Virginia, Mount Vernon area of Fairfax County, Virginia, Fairfax County, Virginia and graduated from Mount Vernon High School (Virginia), Mount Vernon High School. He attended Cornell University before earning a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1961, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity. A United States Marine Corps veteran and honor graduate of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wesley Clark
Wesley Kanne Clark (born December 23, 1944) is a retired United States Army officer. He graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1966 at West Point and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, where he obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He later graduated from the Command and General Staff College with a master's degree in military science. He spent 34 years in the U.S. Army, receiving many military decorations, several honorary knighthoods, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Clark served as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000, commanding Operation Allied Force during the Kosovo War. In 2003, Clark launched his candidacy for the 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries. After winning only the Oklahoma state primary, he withdrew from the race in February 2004, endorsing and campaigning for the eventual Democratic nominee, John Kerry. Clark leads a political action committee, "WesPAC", which he fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Owen Pickett
Owen Bradford Pickett (August 31, 1930 – October 27, 2010) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia. Early life Pickett was born in Richmond, Virginia on August 31, 1930. He graduated from Virginia Tech in 1952 and the University of Richmond School of Law in 1955. Pickett was admitted to the Virginia State bar in 1955, and practiced law in Virginia Beach, Virginia. State political career Pickett served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1972 until 1986, representing a district centered on Virginia Beach. During this time, he also served as chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia from 1980 until 1982. Pickett was considered the unopposed favorite for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in 1982 to run for the seat of retiring Democratic-turned-independent U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd Jr. In announcing his candidacy, Pickett paid tribute to the Byrd Organization, the political "machine" led by Senator ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leslie Byrne
Leslie Larkin Byrne (born October 27, 1946) is an American businesswoman and politician. In 1992, she became the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives from the Commonwealth of Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, she served for one term (1993–1995) in the 103rd Congress. Early life and career Byrne grew up in Salt Lake City and attended both the University of Utah and Mount Vernon College in Ohio. After her family moved to Northern Virginia in 1971, she became active with several community organizations, including the Parent Teacher Association for her children's schools, the Fairfax Area League of Women Voters and the Fairfax County Commission on Fair Campaign Practices. In 1985, Byrne co-founded Quintech Associates, Inc., a human resources consulting firm. She served as president of Quintech until her election to Congress in 1992. Virginia House Byrne served in the Virginia House of Delegates for six years, having defeated two-term Repub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Murtha
John Patrick Murtha Jr. (; June 17, 1932 – February 8, 2010) was an American politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Murtha, a Democrat, represented Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1974 until his death in 2010. He is the longest-serving member ever of the United States House of Representatives from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A former Marine Corps officer, Murtha was the first Vietnam War veteran elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. A member of the Pennsylvania House from 1969 to 1974, he narrowly won a special election to Congress in 1974 and was successively reelected every two years until his death. In the first decade of the 21st century, Murtha had been best known for his calls for a withdrawal of American forces in Iraq, as well as questions about his ethics. In 2006, after the Democrats won control of Congress in the 2006 midterm elections he made a failed bid to be elected House Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as the List of secretaries of state of the United States, 68th United States Secretary of State, United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 under Barack Obama and as a United States Senate, United States senator from Massachusetts from 1985 to 2013. He was the Democratic nominee for president of the United States in the 2004 United States presidential election, 2004 election, losing to incumbent President George W. Bush. Kerry grew up as a child of military personnel in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., before attending boarding school in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In 1966, after graduating from Yale University, he enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve, ultimately atta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Kerrey
Joseph Robert Kerrey (born August 27, 1943) is an American politician who served as the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1989 to 2001. Before entering politics, he served in the Vietnam War as a United States Navy SEAL officer and was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in combat. During the action for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor, he was severely wounded, precluding further naval service. Kerrey was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992. He retired from the Senate in 2000 and was replaced by former Governor and fellow Democrat Ben Nelson. From 2001 to 2010, he served as president of The New School, a university in New York City. In May 2010, he was selected to become the head of the Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAA, however, could not reach an agreement with him and chose former Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd instead. In 2012, Kerrey sought election to his old ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
