Ginny Brown-Waite
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| Ginny Brown-Waite | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2003– |
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| Preceded by | Karen Thurman |
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| Born | October 5, 1943 Albany, New York |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Harvey Waite |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Virginia "Ginny" Brown-Waite (born October 5, 1943), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003, representing Florida's 5th congressional district (map). The district stretches along several counties in western and central Florida, including territory in the metropolitan areas of Tampa Bay and Orlando.
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[edit] Early life, education, and early career
Brown-Waite was born in Albany, New York and educated at the State University of New York at Albany. She earned a master's degree in public administration from Russell Sage College. She served as a staffer in the New York State Senate, eventually rising to legislative director. She moved to Brooksville, Florida in the 1980s, where she still lives.
[edit] Florida legislature
After serving one term as a county commissioner in Hernando County, Florida, Brown-Waite was elected to the Florida State Senate as a Republican from Hernando County. She served as Senate Majority Whip from 1999–2000, and was elected president pro tem of the State Senate in 2000.
Brown-Waite has expressed support for the death penalty. She says she believed she saw "a message" in a nosebleed suffered by death row inmate Allen Lee Davis during his execution on July 8, 1999. Brown-Waite, who saw in the blood the shape of a cross, believes that it either indicated Davis had made peace with God, or it was a message from God giving his blessing to the execution.[1]
[edit] U.S. House of Representatives
[edit] 2002 election
The 5th District had been represented by Democrat Karen Thurman since its formation in 1993. After the 2000 Census, the Republican-controlled Florida legislature redrew the 5th to be more friendly to Republicans. The new 5th was virtually coextensive with Brown-Waite's state senate district.[2] Brown-Waite won a narrow victory in November 2002 over Thurman despite the unfavorable publicity that came in October when police caught her husband, former New York state trooper Harvey Waite, stealing pro-Thurman lawn signs.[3]
[edit] 2004 Re-election
Brown-Waite was re-elected in 2004 with 66% of the vote against attorney Robert Whittel.
[edit] 2006 Re-election
Brown-Waite was re-elected to a third term in 2006, receiving 59% of the vote against Democrat John Russell.
[edit] Political positions
Since entering Congress, Waite has garnered a reputation as a party loyalist, despite representing a marginal district. She has a lifetime rating of 90 from the American Conservative Union.[4].
However, she has broken with her party on several occasions. She criticized George W. Bush for fielding questions from hand-picked crowds. "Let me tell you the difference between a GWB town-hall meeting — George W. Bush — and a GBW — Ginny Brown-Waite — town-hall meeting: I don't load the audience with just the choir," she once said.[5]She was one of five Republicans who voted against a bill to give Terri Schiavo's parents the right to sue in federal court to keep her alive (Schiavo's home was located in the 5th).[6] She is a member of Republican groups such as Christine Todd Whitman's Its My Party Too, Mike Castle's Republican Main Street Partnership, and The Wish List.
Brown-Waite's district has one of the highest concentrations of retirees in the country.[7] In early 2005, she referred to the current Social Security system as a "Ponzi scheme".[8] However, she was skeptical of the president's proposal for personal accounts, saying that he hadn't done a good job of selling it to seniors.[5]
On Iraq, after reports that Brown-Waite supports the withdrawal of U.S. troops within a year, Charlie Keller, her spokesman, said in an e-mail in early October that "it was taken out of context" and that "she said that if the Iraqis did not work toward troop and police deadlines, then Congress would put pressure on them to do so with the threat of denying funds for reconstruction and possibly withdrawing some troops." He also said that Brown-Waite would support "a properly-worded resolution" that would put forth a no-confidence vote in Congress for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (who resigned in 2007).[9]
An ardent opponent of gun control, Brown-Waite is known for proudly carrying a gun when she is home living in the 5th district.[5] She proposed the American Heroes Repatriation Act, to move American soldiers buried in France and Belgium back to the United States.[10][11], in the process angereing French officials and constituents. [12].
She also caused a minor controversy when, commenting on the economic-stimulus package proposed by President Bush in early 2008, she referred to the peoples of Puerto Rico and Guam as "foreign citizens"[13] (when they are, in fact, American citizens and nationals, respectively). She has since clarified those comments with an article on the Orlando Sentinel[14].
[edit] Mark Foley scandal
In September 2006, Brown-Waite was told about an incident from 2003 or 2004 when an apparently inebriated Mark Foley had tried to gain access to the pages' dormitory. On September 28, 2006, an inappropriate e-mail that Foley sent was posted on ABCNEWS.com's "The Blotter". Brown-Waite launched her own investigation and alerted Republican leadership on September 29 both about the dorm incident and about pages who had been made to feel uncomfortable by Foley. Foley resigned that day and the scandal erupted that evening with news of the lurid instant messages he had sent former pages.[15]
[edit] Committee Assignments
- Financial Services Committee
- Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises
- Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
- Committee on Homeland Security
- Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection
- Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology
- Committee on Veterans' Affairs
- Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (Ranking Member)
- Co-Chair of the Unexploded Ordinances Caucus
- Co-Chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute
[edit] 2008 Re-election Campaign
In Brown-Waite's campaign for a fourth term, Land O' Lakes Republican Jim King has joined the race as a conservative candidate, attacking the moderate Congresswoman from the right on matters of national security, immigration, taxation, and supporting the troops, which is one of Brown-Waite's signature issues.[16] He is also making an appeal to conservative Christian primary voters. In the first three fundraising quarters, King raised $40,000, an amount dwarfed by the $176,000 Brown-Waite raised during that period, yet still large enough for King's campaign to have begun running local radio ads nine month in advance of primary day.[17][18] Two Democrats have declared their candidacies with the State Board of Elections; David Werder and Carol Castagnero. Castagnero placed third in the Democratic primary for Governor in 2006[19] and took 40% of the vote against State Senator Paula Dockery in 2004.[20]
On November 26, 2007, it was reported that after years of hosting town hall meetings on the issue and calling for full hearing on the implications of the FAIR Tax[21], Brown-Waite had endorsed the FairTax proposal on September 24. King accused her of only changing her stance because of his support for it.[22]
[edit] Notable House Floor Utterances
February 15, 2007: "Git-R-Done" During a February 15th floor debate on US participation in Iraq, Brown-Waite invoked Larry the Cable Guy and professed the following: "In the South, we have a wonderful saying and it goes like this: Get ‘er done. Our soldiers want to get it done and come home, and our President wants the same thing, and this Congress should demand the exact same thing. Let’s get out there and get ‘er done."
[edit] References
- ^ A switch is thrown, and God speaks 1B. St. Petersburg Times (1999-07-13). Retrieved on 2006-06-10.
- ^ Solochek, Jeffrey S. (2002-11-07). How Brown-Waite ousted Thurman. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
- ^ Hamilton, Greg (2002-12-29). This all happened — really. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved on 2006-06-10.
- ^ American Conservative Union 2006 ratings
- ^ a b c GOP stalwarts wary on Social Security - The Boston Globe
- ^ [Roll call vote at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll090.xml]
- ^ Table P23. Households by Presence of People 65 Years and Over, Household Size, and Household Type [11] — Universe: Households, United States Census 2000
- ^ William M. Welch, "Seniors skeptical of Bush proposal", USA Today, February 10, 2005
- ^ Tony Marrero, "Brown-Waite Clarifies Her Stance On Iraq", Tampa Tribune, October 8, 2006
- ^ Don't Refuse Me. Urban Legends Reference Pages (2003). Retrieved on 2006-06-10.
- ^ American Heroes Repatriation Act of 2003 (Introduced in House). Library of Congress (2003-03-13). Retrieved on 2006-06-10.
- ^ Hernando: The 'foreign citizens' fallout
- ^ "Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite Needs a History Lesson", Vivirlatino.com, February 7, 2008
- ^ Ginny Brown-Waite, "Ginny Brown-Waite: I know Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens", Orlando Sentinel, February 10, 2008
- ^ Jake Tapper, John Yang, and Avery Miller, "Foley's Reputed Visit to the Page Dormitory: New Testimony May Pose Problems for GOP Leadership", ABC News, October 10, 2006
- ^ Hernando: Land O'Lakes vet hopes to unseat Brown-Waite
- ^ Congressional Races
- ^ Hernando: Early rival launches new tack for seat
- ^ Florida Department of State - Election Results
- ^ Florida Department of State - Election Results
- ^ Motives Aside, Brown-Waite Is Fair On Tax
- ^ Pasco: Brown-Waite supports conservative tax plan
[edit] External links
- Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite official U.S. House site
- Ginny Brown-Waite for U.S. Congress official campaign site
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
- Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Karen Thurman |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 5th congressional district 2003–Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
