Blanche Lincoln
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| Blanche Lincoln | |
| | |
| 1999–Present | |
| Political party: | Democratic |
|---|---|
| Preceded by: | Dale Bumpers |
| Succeeded by: | Incumbent (2011) |
| Born: | September 30, 1960 Helena, Arkansas |
| Spouse: | Dr. Steve Lincoln |
| Religion: | Episcopalian |
Blanche Lambert Lincoln (born September 30, 1960) is a Democratic United States Senator from the State of Arkansas. She was the youngest woman ever to be elected to the Senate when she was elected in 1998 at the age of 38.
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[edit] Early life
Lincoln was born in Helena, Phillips County, Arkansas. She attended Arkansas public schools and graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1982. She studied law at the University of Arkansas. Lincoln's sister, Mary Lambert, went on to be a movie director.
[edit] Early career
Immediately after graduating she took a job as staff assistant to Congressman Bill Alexander and served in his office until 1984. Lincoln defeated Alexander in the Democratic primary of 1992 and took his seat in the House. Lincoln won reelection to a second term and served in the House of Representatives until 1997. Lincoln did not stand for reelection in 1996 because she was pregnant.
[edit] The Senate
In 1998, Lincoln returned to politics and ran for the US Senate seat being vacated by incumbent Democrat Dale Bumpers. She defeated her Republican opponent, Fay Boozman, by a margin of 55%-42%.
Lincoln serves on the Senate Finance Committee; Special Committee on Aging; Select Committee on Ethics; Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; Senate Social Security Task Force; Rural Health Caucus; Senate New Democrat Coalition.
Lincoln has concentrated primarily on issues involving farmers, and rural issues. She is one of the primary advocates of the Delta Regional Authority (DRA), which is designed to spur development in the lower Mississippi Delta region. She is also the Chair of Rural Outreach for the Senate Democratic Caucus.
She is considered by many observers to be a moderate or Centrist Democrat. Lincoln was among the minority of Democrats to support CAFTA and she is opposed to most protectionist measures. She has voted in favor restricting class action lawsuits and tightening rules on personal bankruptcy. She was one of the few Democrats in Congress to vote in favor of the tax cut passed in 2001, though she now advocates scaling back or eliminating the portions of that tax cut, and other tax cuts, that benefit those tax payers with incomes over $300,000. She supports the permanent elimination of the estate tax. Lincoln voted to ban partial-birth abortions and strongly supported the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to ban lawsuits against gun manufacturers and distributors.
As of 2003, after fellow Democrat Mark Pryor defeated Senator Tim Hutchinson, Lincoln has been Arkansas' senior senator.
In 2004, Lincoln was reelected 56%-44% over Jim Holt.
In May 2006 Lincoln voted in favor of S. 2611, a controversial immigration bill which would almost double the number of H1-B visas (see H1B visa), yet is seen as a compromise between those who would seek deportation of undocumented immigrants, and those activists who would seek amnesty for millions.
[edit] Miscellaneous
Some experts and pundits initially considered Lincoln to have been a possible running mate for presidential candidate John Kerry in the 2004 election.
Lincoln co-authored the book Nine and Counting with eight other female Senators relating their experiences in public service. Lincoln is married to Dr. Steve Lincoln and is the mother of twin boys, Reece and Bennett.
Looking ahead to 2008, a Democratic party movement has already begun to draft Lincoln as the Presidential nominee for 2008. Despite her attractiveness as a Southerner and a woman, if a female candidate were to be nominated it seems overwhelmingly likely it would be Lincoln's congressional colleague, New York Senator Hillary Clinton. It does not appear that Lincoln is considering a bid at this time. She is up for re-election to the Senate in 2010.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: William Alexander, Jr. | United States Representative for the 1st Congressional District of Arkansas 1993–1997 | Succeeded by: Marion Berry |
| Preceded by: Dale Bumpers | United States Senator (Class 3) from Arkansas 1999- | Succeeded by: Incumbent |
[edit] External links
- Blanche Lincoln on the issues
- Senate homepage
- Lincoln 2008 - a campaign to "draft" Blanche Lincoln to run for President in 2008
- Voting record maintained by the Washington Post
| Arkansas's current delegation to the United States Congress |
|---|
| Senators: Blanche Lincoln (D), Mark Pryor (D)
Representative(s): Marion Berry (D), Vic Snyder (D), John Boozman (R), Michael Avery Ross (D) All delegations: Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming — American Samoa • District of Columbia • Guam • Puerto Rico • U.S. Virgin Islands |
no:Blanche Lincoln pl:Blanche Lincoln sv:Blanche Lincoln
Categories: 1960 births | Alumnae of women's colleges | American Episcopalians | Chi Omega sisters | United States Senators | Living people | Members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas | United States Senators from Arkansas | People from Arkansas | People associated with the University of Arkansas
