Mary Bono Mack

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Mary Bono Mack
Mary Bono Mack
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 45th district
Incumbent
Assumed office 
April 7, 1998
Preceded by Sonny Bono
Born October 24, 1961 (1961-10-24) (age 46)
Cleveland, Ohio
Political party Republican
Spouse Sonny Bono (1986–1998) (deceased)
Glenn Baxley (2001–2005) (divorced)
Connie Mack IV (2007–present)
Residence Palm Springs, California
Religion Protestant
Website Congresswoman Mary Bono

Mary Bono Mack (born October 24, 1961) is an American politician, and since 1998 has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 45th District of California (map), which includes most of central and eastern Riverside County. The district was previously the 44th District before redistricting occurred in 2000.

Contents

[edit] Personal life

She was born in Cleveland, Ohio but has lived in Southern California since 1963. She worked her way through the University of Southern California, graduating in 1984. Two years later, she married singer and actor Sonny Bono and moved to Palm Springs. Soon after, Sonny Bono became interested in politics, serving as mayor of Palm Springs from 1988 to 1992 and being elected to Congress in 1994.

Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident on 5 January 1998. Mary easily won the Republican nomination for the special election to succeed him, which is tantamount to election in the heavily Republican district. She took office on 7 April 1998. She won a full term in November and has been re-elected three times with no serious opposition. As of 2007, Bono was one of five representatives to be elected to their seats following the deaths of their husbands, along with Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs (D-LA), Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), Lois Capps (D-CA), and Doris Matsui (D-CA).

Sonny Bono was a member of the Church of Scientology (although he continued to state that he was a Roman Catholic on most official documents). The church has its large Gold Base headquarters in her district. Mary Bono took courses in Scientology in 1989 and 1990, but she has since distanced herself from the organization and said that she does not believe in their tenets.[1]

She was married to Palm Springs businessman Glenn Baxley (2001 to 2005). She has a son, Chesare Elan Bono (born 1988), and a daughter, Chianna Maria Bono (born 1991) from her marriage to Sonny Bono. Mary Bono was romantically linked to married Congressman Connie Mack IV from Florida for two years, and on September 7, 2007, Bono and Mack announced their engagement to the general public. The wedding took place on December 15, 2007, in Asheville, North Carolina[2].

[edit] Congressional career

Unlike Sonny Bono, who was a loyal supporter of Newt Gingrich, Bono Mack has a moderate voting record. The 45th District leans slightly Republican with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of +3 Republican; it includes more Democratic Moreno Valley and parts of Palm Springs area as well as the very conservative Temecula Valley. She chose not to attend the 2004 Republican National Convention because she felt her district and state were not in strong contention and her objection to the platform's opposition to any legal benefits for same-sex couples as well as opposition to gays in the military. Her district includes the highest percentage of gays and lesbians of any district represented by a Republican. [3]. She is a member of The Republican Main Street Partnership, The Republican Majority For Choice, Republicans For Choice, The Wish List, and Christine Todd Whitman's It's My Party, Too. However, her voting records show that she has a pro-life voting record.[4]

Bono Mack usually votes conservatively, following the Republican Party 89% of the time and President Bush 79% of the time, according to Congressional Quarterly. She has an 84% approval rating from the Christian Coalition.[5] In 1999, she voted in favor of the Largent amendment,[6] to ban adoption by same-sex couples in Washington, DC.[7] Bono has, however, voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment twice.

Bono Mack voted for a pay raise for members of Congress in 2005. In May 2006, she stated in a subcommittee hearing on the extension of copyright law that her regular $165,200 congressional salary was not enough to pay for her son Chesare's college expenses. She said that were it not for her late husband Sonny's royalties, she "could not afford college for [her] son." Along with college expenses, she had to pay for new cars for both her and Chesare. Chesare, Chez for short, planned to attend USC in the fall of 2006; the school estimates yearly expenses to be $46,966.[8] In 2006, it was reported that she had received $30,000 from the later-indicted Jack Abaramoff.[9][10] In her official 2005 filing, Bono Mack stated that her income from royalties and dividends was between US$402,000 and US$3.3 million. [11]

Bono Mack was a leading proponent of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, the so-called "Mickey Mouse Law", which extended the terms of copyright. Giving a speech on the floor of Congress in favor of the bill, Bono said:

Actually, Sonny wanted the term of copyright protection to last forever. I am informed by staff that such a change would violate the Constitution. . . . As you know, there is also [Motion Picture Association of America president] Jack Valenti's proposal for the term to last forever less one day. Perhaps the Committee may look at that next Congress.[12]

Led by her campaign team, Bono Mack was reelected with 60.7% of the vote in 2006.[13][14]

[edit] Committee Assignments

  • House Committee on Energy and Commerce
    • Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection
    • Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality
    • Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet

[edit] References

  1. ^ Proud Mary Bono, George, August 1999
  2. ^ The News-Press, news-press.com, Local & State, Congressman Mack weds Congresswoman Bono
  3. ^ http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/publications/SameSexCouplesandGLBpopACS.pdf Same-sex Couples and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Population: New Estimates from the American Community Survey]|2.07 MiB}}. The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy, UCLA School of Law October, 2006. Retrieved February 15, 2007
  4. ^ Mary Bono on the Issues
  5. ^ http://www.cc.org/2004scorecard.pdf
  6. ^ http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1999/roll346.xml
  7. ^ Human Rights Campaign
  8. ^ Bono Says She Doesn't Get Paid Enough Money, Roll Call, May 4, 2006
  9. ^ Poor Lawmakers
  10. ^ The Raw Story | Congresswoman, Bono widow claims Reps can't afford college
  11. ^ http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050616/NEWS10/506160332/1024
  12. ^ 144 Congressional Record H9952.
  13. ^ Bono Election Day Schedule
  14. ^ CA Secretary of State - Statement of Vote - 2006 General Election

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Sonny Bono		 U.S. Representative from California's 44th Congressional District
1998–2003		 Succeeded by
Ken Calvert
Preceded by
Dana Rohrabacher		 U.S. Representative from California's 45th Congressional District
2003–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
v • d • e
California's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Representative(s)
Mike Thompson (D) · Wally Herger (R) · Dan Lungren (R) · John T. Doolittle (R) · Doris Matsui (D) · Lynn C. Woolsey (D) · George Miller (D) · Nancy Pelosi (D) · Barbara Lee (D) · Ellen Tauscher (D) · Jerry McNerney (D) · Jackie Speier (D) · Pete Stark (D) · Anna Eshoo (D) · Mike Honda (D) · Zoe Lofgren (D) · Sam Farr (D) · Dennis Cardoza (D) · George Radanovich (R) · Jim Costa (D) · Devin Nunes (R) · Kevin McCarthy (R) · Lois Capps (D) · Elton Gallegly (R) · Howard McKeon (R) · David Dreier (R) · Brad Sherman (D) · Howard Berman (D) · Adam Schiff (D) · Henry Waxman (D) · Xavier Becerra (D) · Hilda Solis (D) · Diane Watson (D) · Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) · Maxine Waters (D) · Jane Harman (D) · Laura Richardson (D) · Grace Napolitano (D) · Linda Sánchez (D) · Ed Royce (R) · Jerry Lewis (R) · Gary Miller (R) · Joe Baca (D) · Ken Calvert (R) · Mary Bono Mack (R) · Dana Rohrabacher (R) · Loretta Sanchez (D) · John Campbell (R) · Darrell Issa (R) · Brian Bilbray (R) · Bob Filner (D) · Duncan Hunter (R) · Susan Davis (D)
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