Mike Capuano

Mike Capuano
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Ed Markey
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 8th district
In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Joseph P. Kennedy II
Succeeded by	Stephen Lynch
33rd Mayor of Somerville
In office January 1, 1990 – January 3, 1999
Preceded by	Eugene Brune
Succeeded by	William M. Roche (Acting)
Personal details
Born	Michael Everett Capuano (1952-01-09) January 9, 1952 Somerville, Massachusetts
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Barbara Teebagy
Children	Michael Joseph
Alma mater	Dartmouth College (B.A.) Boston College (J.D.)
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Website	www.house.gov/capuano/

Michael Everett "Mike" Capuano (/ˌkæpjuːˈɑːnoʊ/; born January 9, 1952) is an American politician who serves as the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district. A member of the Democratic Party, his district includes the northern three-fourths of Boston, as well as Somerville and Cambridge. Prior to being elected to Congress he served as an Alderman and later Mayor of Somerville.

He was born and raised in Somerville, and after graduating from Dartmouth College and Boston College Law School, he worked as an attorney and Somerville alderman. After losing two elections for Mayor in 1979 and 1981, he went to work as legal counsel for the Massachusetts General Court. He ran for a Mayor a third time in 1989 and won, serving from 1990 to 1999.

In 1998 he navigated a crowded Democratic primary and to replace Joseph Kennedy II in Congress and has since been re-elected six times. He represented the state's 8th district until it was redrawn in 2013 into the 7th district. In Congress he is a staunch liberal and member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He ran in the 2010 special election to fill the seat in the United States Senate made vacant by the death of Ted Kennedy, his predecessor's uncle, but lost the primary to Martha Coakley, who in turn lost the general election to Republican Scott Brown.

Early life and education

Capuano was born January 9, 1952 in the Spring Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, to Rita Marie (née Garvey) and Andrew Capuano. His father left to serve in World War II shortly after getting married, and after returning ran for the Somerville Board of Aldermen, and became the first Italian American elected to the board. His mother was of Irish descent.^[1][2]

Capuano graduated from Somerville High School in 1969, and later attended Dartmouth College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1973. Capuano later went on to earn his Juris Doctor in 1977 from Boston College Law School, specializing in tax law.^[3]

Early political career

In 1976, Capuano was elected to the Somerville Board of Aldermen representing Ward 5, once served in by his father.^[3][4] Capuano served one term, stepping down in 1979 to run for Mayor of Somerville.^[5] In the 1979 mayoral election he faced Eugene Brune, Paul Haley, and incumbent, Thomas August. He lost the nomination to Brune, who went on to defeat August.^[6] Capuano ran again in 1981 to challenge Brune, placing second in a three-person runoff election.^[7] Capuano promoted his opposition to the state ballot question Proposition 2½ and criticized Brune for expanding the mayoral staff in the face of tight city budgets, while Brune touted his prevention of service cuts after the proposition passed.^[8] Capuano lost in the general election with 40% of the vote.^[9]

From 1978 to 1984 Capuano served as chief legal counsel for the Massachusetts General Court's Joint Committee on Taxation.^[10] Capuano left the committee in 1984 to join the Beacon Hill law firm and lobbying group Joyce & Joyce.^[5] In 1985 he returned to the Somerville Board of Aldermen as an at-large member.^[10]

Mayor of Somerville

In 1989 Capuano ran for Mayor a third time in and won.^[3] Capuano served as Mayor from 1990 to 1999, where he earned a reputation as a hands-on administrator.^[11][12] One of his priorities was to lower the city's population density, which at time was the highest of any New England municipality, by using state grants to demolish several buildings and replace them with playgrounds and parking spaces.^[13] As Mayor he oversaw the reduction of school class sizes to a maximum of 19 students.^[11]

U.S. House of Representatives

Capuano with actor and activist George Clooney in Darfur.

Elections

In 1998, Joseph Kennedy II announced his retirement after six terms in what was then the 8th District. Capuano entered a crowded 10-way primary for the seat. The early front-runner was former Boston Mayor and US Vatican Ambassador Raymond Flynn. However, Capuano won the primary with 23%, largely due to large turnout in Somerville. The district is so heavily Democratic that Capuano's primary victory all but assured him of election in November.^[11][12] He easily won the general election in November, taking 81 percent of the vote. He has been reelected seven times, never dropping below 80% of the vote. Since his initial run for the seat, Capuano has been unopposed in all but two reelection bids; he faced a minor-party candidate in 2006 and an independent in 2012. To date, he has only faced a Republican once, during his initial run in 1998.

Tenure

During his tenure, Capuano has helped found five congressional caucuses, on: Community Health Centers;^[15] Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities;^[16] Sudan;^[17] and Korea;^[18] as well as one for former Mayors.^[19]

Capuano voted against the War in Iraq and supported immediate withdrawal of troops. In 2005 Capuano visited Iraq to and met with military leaders to assess the future of the region.^[20] Capuano is considered to be one of the biggest supporters in Congress for increasing international aid funding,^[21] and has advocated bringing attention to the crisis in Sudan and helped secure funding aimed at assisting developing African nations.^[22]

Capuano is pro-choice and supports open access to abortions. In 2012 a fundraiser hosted by Pope John XXIII High School where Capuano and fellow Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey were to receive awards was cancelled due to their "positions [being] inconsistent with church doctrine;" both were humble in response to the news.^[23] During the 2010 Senate Democratic primary Capuano criticized his opponent Martha Coakley, claiming she wouldn't have voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with Stupak–Pitts Amendment which would have barred federal funding of abortions; which Capuano said he only did to "keep the health care debate alive."^[24] Capuano's comments were characterized by WBUR political analyst as "an empty charge against her since he has the same position as she does."^[25]

After the 2006 election that created a Democratic majority in the House, he was appointed Chairman of the Speaker's Task Force on Ethics Enforcement by Nancy Pelosi, with whom he has a close relationship. After serving as the Chairman of the Task Force on Ethics Enforcement, in 2008 Capuano introduced H.R. 895 which established the Office of Congressional Ethics.^[26] Capuano has an long relationship with former Congressman Anthony Weiner, whom he shared a Washington, D.C. apartment with for 12 years. Following Weiner's sexting scandal Capuano did not call on him to resign, saying: "I am not the guy who likes to judge other people. I figure that is between them and the people who are appropriately named to do that – and that is the Ethics Committee."^[27]

Capuano is a strong supporter of labor rights and unions; in February 2011 during a rally at Beacon Hill in Boston, in support of the 2011 Wisconsin budget protests, Capuano told the crowd, "I’m proud to be here with people who understand that it’s more than just sending an email to get you going. Every once and awhile you need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody when necessary". Following criticism, Capuano expressed regret for his "choice of words."^[28]

Following the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent bank bailouts, at a House Financial Services Committee hearing Capuano berated the bank CEO's for their practices, saying at one point: "You come to us today on your bicycles after buying Girl Scout cookies and helping out Mother Teresa and telling us, 'We're sorry, we didn't mean it, we won't do it again, trust us.' Well, I have some people in my constituency that actually robbed some of your banks and they say the same thing."^[29] Capuano's speech was included in the 2010 documentary film Inside Job, described by director Charles H. Ferguson as being about "the systemic corruption of the United States by the financial services industry and the consequences of that systemic corruption."^[30]

A self-described "fiscal conservative,"^[31] in 2013 Capuano joined Senator Elizabeth Warren and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino in a rally against the then-upcoming sequester, with Capuano calling it "stupid."^[32] In 2012 Capuano along with fellow Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank introduced legislation to combine the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission into the "Securities and Derivatives Commission."^[33]

Higher office aspirations

1994 Secretary nomination

Capuano ran for Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth in the 1994 election, running against former State Representatives Augusto Grace and William F. Galvin for the Democratic nomination. During the race he framed himself as an advocate for the poor and urban communities, and criticized aid formulas which he argued left less-wealthy municipalities with less per-capita revenue. To appear on the Democratic primary required the support of at least 15% of delegates in the state party convention. In what the Boston Globe deemed "an embarrassing defeat," he was disqualified from the race with only 13% of delegate votes. When asked why he staged the difficult race to begin with, he responded, "Because I wasn't ready to run for Governor."^[13]

2010 Senate campaign

Wikinews has related news: Brown, Coakley win Massachusetts Senate seat primaries amid low voter turnout

After the death of incumbent Senator Ted Kennedy, a special election to succeed him was scheduled. On September 8, 2009, Capuano collected nomination papers to run for the seat^[34] and on September 18, he announced his candidacy.^[35] Capuano ran as a "Washington insider," comparing himself to Kennedy saying: "was [Kennedy] not the ultimate insider ... I think that’s probably one of the best things that we share.”^[36] In his campaign Capuano received several high-profile endorsements, including House Speaker Pelosi and former Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, Michael Dukakis.^[37][38]

Consistently polling below incumbent Massachusetts Attorney General, Martha Coakley, on December 8, 2009 Capuano lost the Democratic primary to Coakley, winning only 28% of the vote to Coakley's 47%, amongst a field of four candidates.

2014 Gubernatorial election

Capuano is a speculated candidate to run for Governor of Massachusetts in 2014.^[39] On January 21, 2013 former Mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts and member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council Michael Albano endorsed Capuano to run, posting on his Facebook page: "while the Congressman has not made a decision to compete for the nomination at this time, it is not too early to make the case and encourage his candidacy."^[40] Although Capuano has not announced if he will run or not, when asked about his prospects he responded: "Part of me thinks that some of the more interesting, more important fights over the next several years might be conducted at statehouses around the country and not necessarily on Capitol Hill."^[41] In a statement, however, Capuano announced he would not run for Governor, and would instead focus on running for re-election to Congress. His decision was attributed to his loss against Martha Coakley in the Democratic primary for Senate, virtually closing any possibility for running for higher office.^[42]

Personal life

Capuano was named after his two grandfathers,^[2] and has seven siblings, one of whom died in childbirth and another died of polio at the age of 5.^[1] Capuano married Barbara Teebagy in 1974, and together they have two boys, Michael and Joseph.^[3] He is the uncle of actors Chris Evans of the Fantastic Four and Captain America film series, and Scott Evans of the soap opera One Life to Live.^[43] In 2003 the City of Somerville dedicated a new school in Capuano's honor; the Michael E. Capuano Early Childhood Center officially opened in September that year.^[44]

References

External links

• Congressman Michael E. Capuano official U.S. House site
  • Committees and Caucuses memberships
• Capuano for Senate
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress
• Profile at SourceWatch