Andrew Monroe Rice (born April 23, 1973) is an American civic leader and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
from
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
. He represented Senate District 46 in the
Oklahoma State Senate. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
in 2008, losing to incumbent U.S. Senator
Jim Inhofe
James Mountain Inhofe ( ; born November 17, 1934) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Oklahoma, a seat he was first elected to in 1994. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the U.S. Senate Commit ...
.
Rice worked as Foundation Fundraising Director of Variety Care health systems in Central Oklahoma, a non-profit group which serves moderate income families with health care.
He resigned from his Senate seat January 15, 2012, citing an out-of-state career opportunity for his wife.
In 2020, Rice published a novel, ''Ghosts of Ursino'', and a collection of poems, ''Luminosity.''
Early life
Born and raised in
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
, Rice attended
Casady School
Casady School is an independent, coeducational, college-preparatory school located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, founded in 1947 by Bishop Thomas Casady and the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma. Casady serves children in grades pre-kindergarten throug ...
and graduated from
Christchurch School
Christchurch School is a private college-preparatory coed boarding school in Christchurch, Virginia, founded in 1921 by the Episcopal Church Diocese of Virginia. Near the colonial port town of Urbanna, Virginia and located on a 125-acre waterf ...
. In 1996, he graduated from
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanthr ...
with a bachelor's degree in
Religious Studies and in 1999 he earned his masters in
Theological Studies from
Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...
in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
.
[Oklahoma Senate Biography](_blank)
Oklahoma Senate.
From 1996 to 1997 Rice studied drug addiction problems and treatment in urban
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. During graduate school, Rice produced a documentary entitled ''From Ashes'' which focused on the AIDS epidemic in India.
In 2001, Rice's brother, David Harlow Rice, died in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
State Senate
After winning the Democratic party's three-way primary for Senate district 46 on July 25, 2006, Rice won the general election garnering 69.5 percent of the vote. He was sworn into office on November 16, 2006.
Rice's Senate district encompasses downtown and the urban core of
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
and covers approximately 71,000 people.
In 2010, Rice was re-elected to the
Oklahoma State Senate with 68 percent of the vote. For the 2011 & 2012 legislation sessions, Rice was elected by his colleagues to serve as the Senate Democratic Leader making him the highest ranking Democrat in state government.
On October 18, 2011, Rice announced his resignation effective January 15, 2012, citing an out-of-state career opportunity for his wife.
Sponsored Legislation
![AndrewTalking](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/AndrewTalking.JPG)
*Cosponsored and helped pass legislation called the "All Kids Act" to add 38,000 Oklahoma children to those eligible for government-sponsored health insurance.
*Led a successful effort to make it easier for local governments to donate abandoned properties for use by Habitat for Humanity to construct affordable housing, especially in rural Oklahoma.
*Co-author of the legislation creating the Hunger Task Force to tackle the problem of hunger in Oklahoma.
*Authored legislation creating a state Veterans Health Insurance Program that provides coverage to uninsured Oklahoma veterans. The legislation was passed by the senate with 45–1 vote.
2008 U.S. Senate Election
Rice officially filed as a candidate for the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
from
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
on Monday, June 2, 2008. He won the Democratic primary against Jim Rogers on July 29, 2008 but was defeated in the general election on November 4, 2008 by incumbent
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Jim Inhofe
James Mountain Inhofe ( ; born November 17, 1934) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Oklahoma, a seat he was first elected to in 1994. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the U.S. Senate Commit ...
, who won reelection to a fourth term in a
landslide
Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...
.
Personal
In 2004, Rice founded of the Progressive Alliance Foundation which worked throughout the state of
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
advancing progressive, fair-minded and constitutional solutions to public policy problems. He also launched the Red River Democracy Project and was on the board of The People's Opinion Project. For 3 years, Rice was the Executive Director of Teen Recovery Solutions in Oklahoma City, which operates Oklahoma's only accredited recovery High School for teens dealing with addiction, Mission Academy. On September 11, 2001, Rice lost a brother in the
9/11
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
attacks.
Rice is also a writer. He has published a novel
Ghosts of Ursino and a collection of poems
Luminosity
Rice is married to Dr. Apple Newman Rice who practices medicine in
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
. They have two sons and reside in
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
.
Electoral history
References
External links
Senator Andrew Riceat the ''Oklahoma State Senate''
Andrew Rice for U.S. Senate''official campaign website''
*
Campaign contributionsat
OpenSecrets.org
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). ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Andrew
Democratic Party Oklahoma state senators
Politicians from Oklahoma City
1973 births
Living people
Colby College alumni
Harvard Divinity School alumni
21st-century American politicians