Emanuel Cleaver

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Emanuel Cleaver II
Emanuel Cleaver
In office
2005 - present
Preceded by Karen McCarthy
Succeeded by Incumbent
Born October 26, 1944
Waxahachie, Texas
Political party Democratic
Spouse Diane Cleaver
Religion Methodist

The Reverend Emanuel Cleaver II (born October 26, 1944) is a United Methodist pastor and a Democratic politician from the state of Missouri. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in November 2004 to represent the Fifth Congressional District of Missouri (map), which primarily consists of the Kansas City-Jackson County metro area.

Cleaver took his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives at the start of the 109th Congress on January 4, 2005. Born in Waxahachie, Texas, Cleaver grew up in public housing in Wichita Falls, Texas. After his graduation from Prairie View A&M University, Cleaver moved to Kansas City, Missouri. He founded a branch of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Kansas City and received a Master of Divinity degree from St. Paul School of Theology. Cleaver served a city councilman in Kansas City from 1979 to 1991, and was the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri for two terms, from 1991 until 1999. He was the first African American mayor of that city.

During the last days of his tenure as Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, Reverend Cleaver agreed to an international visit to London, UK. On the invitation of UK NGO Operation Black Vote he assisted in campaigning for increased electoral particpation in the elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. His visit culminated in a keynote speech at Westminster City Hall alongside figures including Ken Livingstone, Simon Hughes and Lee Jasper.

For ten years, the Fifth Congressional District of Missouri had been represented in the U.S. House by Democrat Karen McCarthy, who announced in late 2003 that she would not be seeking another term. Despite having served in city government for 20 years, including eight years as mayor, Cleaver posted weak numbers in the primary and general elections. Cleaver defeated political neophyte and former Clinton Administration official Jamie Metzl in the Democratic primary by 60% to 40%. In the general election, Republican Jeanne Patterson used her own fortune to fund her candidacy, and made the race far more competitive than many expected. The Fifth District is heavily Democratic (McCarthy won 65% of the vote in 2002), and Cleaver is arguably the best-known politician in Kansas City, but Cleaver's 55% victory was considered weak by most observers.

Cleaver is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.

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Preceded by:
Richard Berkley		 Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri
1991—1999		 Succeeded by:
Kay Waldo Barnes
Preceded by:
Karen McCarthy		 U.S. Representative for the 5th District of Missouri
2005 — Present		 Succeeded by:
incumbent


Missouri's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators: Christopher Bond (R), Jim Talent (R)

Representative(s): William Lacy Clay, Jr. (D), W. Todd Akin (R), Russ Carnahan (D), Ike Skelton (D), Emanuel Cleaver (D), Sam Graves (R), Roy Blunt (R), Jo Ann Emerson (R), Kenny Hulshof (R)

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