Jim Marshall (U.S. politician)

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Jim Marshall

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 8th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 7, 2003–
Preceded by	Lynn Westmoreland
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	March 31, 1948 (age 59) Ithaca, New York
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Camille Hope
Religion	Roman Catholic

James Creel "Jim" Marshall (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, and has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003, representing the 8th District (formerly numbered as the 3rd District) of Georgia (map). The district is based in Macon and includes much of rural Middle Georgia.

1 Background
2 Career in the U.S. House of Representatives
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Background

The son and grandson of army generals, Marshall was born in Ithaca, New York, but moved frequently during his childhood and graduated from high school in Mobile, Alabama. He entered Princeton University in 1966, but left college in 1968 to enlist in the United States Army. He served in Vietnam as an Airborne Ranger reconnaissance platoon sergeant and earned two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. (Marshall was recently inducted into the Army Ranger Hall of Fame.) He returned to Princeton in 1970 and graduated in 1972. Marshall worked various jobs for two years before entering law school at Boston University, where he earned his J.D. in 1977. He practiced law, taught at Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law in Macon, and from 1995-1999 served as mayor of Macon before running for Congress.

Marshall lives in Macon with his wife Camille Hope [1] and his two children Mary and Robert.

[edit] Career in the U.S. House of Representatives

[edit] 2000, 2002, and 2004 campaigns

Marshall first ran for Congress in 2000 as the Democratic candidate for the 8th District, giving now-Senator Saxby Chambliss his closest contest ever. The state legislature renumbered the 8th as the 3rd after the 2000 Census, making it much more Democratic. Despite this, Marshall barely defeated Republican Calder Clay in 2002 due to the Republican wave that swept through Georgia. Marshall thus became the first white Democrat to represent Georgia in the House since Nathan Deal switched parties in 1995. Marshall handily defeated Clay in their 2004 rematch, winning 63% of the vote.

[edit] 2006 campaign

In 2006, Marshall faced a tougher reelection fight. Early in 2005, the Georgia state legislature approved a new map of congressional districts; a Republican mid-decade redistricting made the Macon-based district, renumbered the 8th, somewhat more Republican. Less than 60 percent of the population in Marshall’s present 3rd District was retained in the new 8th District. The new district closely resembles the area Chambliss represented for eight years.

Marshall's Republican opponent was former Congressman Mac Collins. The 8th District includes Collins' birthplace in Butts County (Collins represented a district in the Atlanta suburbs during his first stint in Congress) but also includes all of Macon. [2]

Marshall won a close election 51%-49%, although Collins benefited from two visits by President George W. Bush and massive amounts of national party and PAC funding. It was the second-closest any Democratic incumbent came to losing his seat to a member of the opposing party.

[edit] Positions

Marshall

Marshall is a social conservative. He opposes abortion, gay marriage and gun control, and supports a constitutional amendment to ban flag-burning. He has cited the concerns of people who have ethical objections to embryonic stem-cell research as influencing his votes on federal funds for such research: he supports allowing cell extraction only if embryos are not destroyed. He is a member of Blue Dog Coalition, a group of conservative congressional Democrats.

However, Marshall leans pro-labor and pro-environment. He opposed repealing the estate tax and opposed reducing environmental regulations on the construction of new oil refineries ("Gasoline for America's Security Act"). He voted against bankruptcy reform, for American withdrawal from the World Trade Organization, and against tort reform.

Marshall has consistently been a vocal advocate of larger benefits for military servicemen and veterans. In December 2005, Marshall was the sole Democrat to vote against HR 2863. This defense appropriations bill, which passed 308-122, included language supporting increased protections for detainees held in U.S. custody.[3] In February 2007, he was one of two Democrats to vote against H CON RES 63 which expressed opposition to a troop surge in the Iraq War. [4]

[edit] Future

Marshall is a possible candidate in the open for Governor of Georgia in 2010 or for the United States Senate in 2008 or 2010 against Republicans Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson. Given Georgia's conservative voting history, Marshall is one of the few Democrats who would be considered competitive in a statewide race.

[edit] References

Jim Marshall, Macon Telegraph, 11 June 2005 Sat., "The reality of stem cell research".
Linda S. Morris, Macon Telegraph,12 March 2005 Sat., "Marshall vows to fight ag cuts".

[edit] External links

U.S. Representative Jim Marshall official House site
Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Federal Election Commission - Jim Marshall campaign finance reports and data
On the Issues - Jim Marshall issue positions and quotes
OpenSecrets.org - Jim Marshall campaign contributions
Project Vote Smart - Representative James 'Jim' Marshall (GA) profile
SourceWatch Congresspedia - Jim Marshall profile
Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: Jim Marshall voting record
Jim Marshall for Congress official campaign site

Political offices
Preceded by Saxby Chambliss (8th District, which was renumbered as the 3rd District)	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 3rd congressional district 2003-2007	Succeeded by Lynn Westmoreland
Preceded by Lynn Westmoreland	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 8th congressional district 2007-Present	Incumbent