Barbara Mikulski
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Incumbent | |
Assumed office January 6, 1987 Serving with Ben Cardin |
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Preceded by | Charles Mathias, Jr. |
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In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1987 |
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Preceded by | Paul Sarbanes |
Succeeded by | Ben Cardin |
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Born | July 20, 1936 Baltimore, Maryland |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | None |
Residence | Baltimore, Maryland |
Alma mater | Mount Saint Agnes College |
Profession | Social worker |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Barbara Ann Mikulski (born July 20, 1936) is an American politician of the Democratic Party, and the Senior Senator from the state of Maryland. She is Maryland's first female senator. She is currently the most senior female Senator, having served since 1987, and ranking 22nd (out of 100) in seniority. She received 1,504,691 votes in her 2004 reelection campaign, the largest number of votes to date for a candidate in Maryland.
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The great-granddaughter of Polish immigrants who owned a local bakery, Barbara is the oldest of three daughters of Christine Kutz and William Mikulski.[1] She was born and raised in historic and ethnically diverse East Baltimore. During her high school years at the Institute of Notre Dame, she worked in her parents' grocery store, delivering groceries to seniors in her neighborhood who were unable to leave their homes.
After graduating from Mount Saint Agnes College (now a part of the Loyola College in Maryland), she obtained her masters degree in social work (MSW) from the University of Maryland School of Social Work. She worked as a social worker for Catholic charities and Baltimore's Department of Social Services, helping at-risk children and educating seniors about the Medicare program. Mikulski became an activist social worker when she heard about plans to build a 16-lane highway through Baltimore's Fells Point neighborhood. She helped organize communities on both sides of the city and stopped the construction of the road, saving Fells Point and Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
Mikulski received her first national attention in 1970 as a result of a conference at Catholic University regarding “Ethnic Americans” convened by Msgr. Geno Baroni. Her message became one of the major documents of the “ethnic movement”.
Mikulski's activism led to a seat on the Baltimore City Council in 1971.
In 1974 she ran for the U.S. Senate for the first time, but was defeated by the Republican incumbent, Charles Mathias, Jr. It turned out to be the only time that Mikulski ever lost an election.
In 1976, she won the Democratic nomination for the 3rd Congressional District of Maryland after the incumbent, Paul Sarbanes, made a successful run for the Senate. She was easily elected in November, winning 76% of the vote. She was re-elected four more times, never facing substantive opposition in the heavily Democratic district.
In 1986 Mikulski announced her retirement from politics. At the time of this announcement, it was expected that then-Governor Harry Hughes would run for the seat being vacated by retiring Senator Mathias. However, Hughes became caught up in the aftermath of the Maryland savings and loan crisis. He lost popularity with voters, opening the door for Mikulski's bid for the Senate. During the campaign, her opponent, Linda Chavez, made comments that Mikulski's supporters interpreted as an attempt to draw attention to the issue of Mikulski's sexual orientation. Mikulski never directly responded to the issue and eventually won the race with 61 percent of the vote.[3] She was the first female Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in her own right (not appointed or filling a seat of a deceased husband). Mikulski is one of 11 senators to vote against both the 1991 and 2002 resolutions authorizing the use of force in Iraq[4][5].
Mikulski, popularly known as "Senator Barb," was re-elected with large majorities in 1992, 1998 and 2004. Her next reelection will be in 2010. Many Democrats vow to oppose her reelection[6] based on her vote in favor of the FISA bill, which granted immunity to the telecom companies who cooperated with the warrentless wiretapping of U.S. citizens.
As of April 2007, Mikulski serves on the following Senate committees:
Mikulski is presently the most senior member of the Democratic Senate majority not to chair a full committee, although this may well change in the 111th Congress.
Senator Mikulski has taken a strong stance against predatory lending, even going so far as to take personal action against Fairbanks Capital, which is claimed to have illegally foreclosed on over 100 homes in Maryland. Senator Mikulski is also a strong supporter of NASA and expanding space exploration.
In 2007, Mikulski endorsed her colleague, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) for president of the United States, noting Clinton's leadership qualities and cited her desire to break the "glass ceiling" by electing the first woman president.
In 2008, Mikulski voted in favor of the FISA bill, allowing the telecom companies to achieve immunity for the warrantless wiretapping cooperation they provided.
On October 1st, 2008, Mikulski voted in favor of HR1424, the Senate version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, providing a $700 billion bail out to the United States financial market.
Year | Office | Election | Subject | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | ||
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1976 | Congress, MD 3rd district | General | Barbara Mikulski | Democratic | 143,461 | 74.59% | Samuel Culotta | Republican | 36,447 | 25.41% | ||
1978 | Congress, MD 3rd district | General | Barbara Mikulski | Democratic | 91,189 | 100% | Unopposed | |||||
1980 | Congress, MD 3rd district | General | Barbara Mikulski | Democratic | 134,367 | 76.13% | Russell Schaffer | Republican | 32,074 | 23.87% | ||
1982 | Congress, MD 3rd district | General | Barbara Mikulski | Democratic | 110,042 | 74.2% | Robert Scherr | Republican | 38,259 | 25.8% | ||
1984 | Congress, MD 3rd district | General | Barbara Mikulski | Democratic | 133,189 | 68.21% | Ross Pierpont | Republican | 59,493 | 30.47% | ||
1986 | MD Senator, Class 3 | General | Barbara Mikulski | Democratic | 675,225 | 60.69% | Linda Chavez | Republican | 437,411 | 39.31% | ||
1992 | MD Senator, Class 3 | General | Barbara Mikulski | Democratic | 1,307,610 | 71% | Alan Keyes | Republican | 533,688 | 28.98% | ||
1998 | MD Senator, Class 3 | General | Barbara Mikulski | Democratic | 1,062,810 | 70.5% | Ross Pierpont | Republican | 444,637 | 29.5% | ||
2004 | MD Senator, Class 3 | General | Barbara Mikulski | Democratic | 1,504,691 | 64.77% | E. J. Pipkin | Republican | 783,055 | 33.71% |
United States House of Representatives | ||
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Preceded by Paul Sarbanes |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 3rd congressional district 1977-1987 |
Succeeded by Ben Cardin |
United States Senate | ||
Preceded by Charles Mathias, Jr. |
United States Senator (Class 3) from Maryland 1987 – present Served alongside: Paul Sarbanes, Benjamin Cardin |
Incumbent |
Party political offices | ||
Preceded by David Pryor |
Secretary of the Senate Democratic Conference 1995 – 2005 |
Succeeded by Debbie Stabenow |
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Representatives to the 95th–110th United States Congresses from Maryland | ||
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95th | Senate: C. Mathias | P. Sarbanes | House: C. Long | G. Byron | P. Mitchell | M. Holt | R. Bauman | G. Spellman | B. Mikulski | N. Steers |
96th | Senate: C. Mathias | P. Sarbanes | House: C. Long | P. Mitchell | M. Holt | R. Bauman | G. Spellman | B. Mikulski | M. Barnes | B. Byron |
97th | Senate: C. Mathias | P. Sarbanes | House: C. Long | P. Mitchell | M. Holt | G. Spellman | B. Mikulski | M. Barnes | B. Byron | R. Dyson |
98th | Senate: C. Mathias | P. Sarbanes | House: C. Long | P. Mitchell | M. Holt | B. Mikulski | M. Barnes | B. Byron | R. Dyson | S. Hoyer |
99th | Senate: C. Mathias | P. Sarbanes | House: P. Mitchell | M. Holt | B. Mikulski | M. Barnes | B. Byron | R. Dyson | S. Hoyer | H. Bentley |
100th | Senate: P. Sarbanes | B. Mikulski | House: B. Byron | R. Dyson | S. Hoyer | H. Bentley | B. Cardin | C. T. McMillen | K. Mfume | C. Morella |
101st | Senate: P. Sarbanes | B. Mikulski | House: B. Byron | R. Dyson | S. Hoyer | H. Bentley | B. Cardin | C. T. McMillen | K. Mfume | C. Morella |
102nd | Senate: P. Sarbanes | B. Mikulski | House: B. Byron | S. Hoyer | H. Bentley | B. Cardin | C. T. McMillen | K. Mfume | C. Morella | W. Gilchrest |
103rd | Senate: P. Sarbanes | B. Mikulski | House: S. Hoyer | H. Bentley | B. Cardin | K. Mfume | C. Morella | W. Gilchrest | R. Bartlett | A. Wynn |
104th | Senate: P. Sarbanes | B. Mikulski | House: S. Hoyer | B. Cardin | K. Mfume | C. Morella | W. Gilchrest | R. Bartlett | A. Wynn | R. Ehrlich |
105th | Senate: P. Sarbanes | B. Mikulski | House: S. Hoyer | B. Cardin | C. Morella | W. Gilchrest | R. Bartlett | A. Wynn | R. Ehrlich | E. Cummings |
106th | Senate: P. Sarbanes | B. Mikulski | House: S. Hoyer | B. Cardin | C. Morella | W. Gilchrest | R. Bartlett | A. Wynn | R. Ehrlich | E. Cummings |
107th | Senate: P. Sarbanes | B. Mikulski | House: S. Hoyer | B. Cardin | C. Morella | W. Gilchrest | R. Bartlett | A. Wynn | R. Ehrlich | E. Cummings |
108th | Senate: P. Sarbanes | B. Mikulski | House: S. Hoyer | B. Cardin | W. Gilchrest | R. Bartlett | A. Wynn | E. Cummings | D. Ruppersberger | C. Van Hollen |
109th | Senate: P. Sarbanes | B. Mikulski | House: S. Hoyer | B. Cardin | W. Gilchrest | R. Bartlett | A. Wynn | E. Cummings | D. Ruppersberger | C. Van Hollen |
110th | Senate: B. Mikulski | B. Cardin | House: S. Hoyer | W. Gilchrest | R. Bartlett | A. Wynn | E. Cummings | D. Ruppersberger | C. Van Hollen | J. Sarbanes |