Kent Conrad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kent Conrad | |
| | |
| 1987–Present | |
| Political party: | Democratic-NPL |
|---|---|
| Preceded by: | Mark Andrews |
| Succeeded by: | Incumbent (2013) |
| Born: | March 12, 1948 Bismarck, North Dakota |
| Spouse: | Lucy Calautti |
| Religion: | Unitarian Universalist |
Kent Conrad (born Gaylord Kent Conrad on March 12 1948) is a United States senator from North Dakota. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, the North Dakota affiliate of the Democratic Party. He is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee.
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Early years and education
Conrad was born in Bismarck, North Dakota to German-American parents and lived much of his early life in Bismarck. Orphaned at a young age, he was raised by his grandparents. He attended Roosevelt Elementary and Hughes Junior High, and several years of high school in Tripoli, Libya. He graduated in 1966 from Phillips Exeter Academy, like his opposite on the Senate Budget Committee, Chairman Judd Gregg. He went to college at Stanford and received an MBA from George Washington University.
He has one daughter, Jessamyn, from a previous marriage. His wife, Lucy Calautti, is a lobbyist for Major League Baseball.
Initial career
After graduating college, he became an assistant to the North Dakota tax commissioner, Byron Dorgan, who later became his colleague in the Senate. In 1980, Conrad succeeded Dorgan as tax commissioner. Conrad was state tax commissioner until 1986, when he ran for Senate.
Senate career
Elections
In the 1986 election, Conrad defeated the Republican incumbent, Mark Andrews. During the campaign, Conrad pledged that he would not run for re-election if the Federal budget deficit had not fallen by the end of his term. By 1992 it became obvious that this would not be the case, and although polls showed that the electors would have welcomed him going back on his pledge, Conrad considered his promise binding and did not run for re-election. Dorgan won the Democratic primary election.
Conrad got an unusual opportunity to remain in the Senate when the other North Dakota senator, long-serving Dem-NPLer Quentin N. Burdick, died on September 8, 1992. Burdick's widow, Jocelyn Birch Burdick, was appointed to that seat temporarily, but a special election was needed to fill the rest of the term. As this was not running for re-election, Conrad ran for and secured the Democratic-NPL nomination. He won the election and was sworn in December 5, 1992, resigning his other seat the same day. (The first seat was then filled by Dorgan, who was appointed by the governor to fill the seat for the brief interim until he would have been sworn in under normal circumstances.)
Conrad was elected to another full term in 1994 and re-elected in 2000.
Political positions
Conrad has been very vocal in his opposition to the spending policies of the Bush Administration. He contends that they have worsened the problems of national debt. Conrad is opposed to most free-trade measures and is a strong supporter of farming subsidies.
Conrad is more moderate than many in his own party on the issues of abortion and gun control. He is one of the few members of the Democratic Party to have voted consistently in favor of banning the procedure commonly referred to as "partial-birth" abortion. He also opposes public funding of abortion. However, Conrad voted in favor of lifting the ban on military base abortions [1]. On January 31, 2006, Conrad was one of only four Democrats to vote in favor of confirming Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.
Conrad voted against approving use of military force in Iraq in 1991 and was one of only 23 senators to vote against the war resolution of 2002.
In April 2006, he was selected by Time as one of "America's 10 Best Senators."
2006 re-election campaign
Conrad is up for re-election in 2006. The Republicans tried to recruit popular Governor John Hoeven to face Conrad. Hoeven was considered by some to be the only Republican able to pose a threat to Conrad; Hoeven declined to run.
The only Republican to file by the deadline was Dwight Grotberg, an Anderson town councilman and farmer from Sanborn in Barnes County.
As of August 2006, Conrad had the highest approval rating among his constituents of any U.S. Senator, at 74% approval to only 21% disapproval, despite his being a Democrat in a historically Republican state.[2]
Trivia
- Conrad is widely known for being very detailed in his analysis of monetary policies and budget issues. He almost always uses charts, graphs, and other visuals at press conferences as well as on the Senate floor.
- Conrad is the only person ever to hold two U.S. Senate seats on the same day.
- He is the only Unitarian in the U.S. Senate.
External links
- Senator Kent Conrad official website
- Kent Conrad campaign website
- About.com's Profile of US Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
| Preceded by: Byron Dorgan | Tax Commissioner of North Dakota 1981–1986 | Succeeded by: Heidi Heitkamp |
| Preceded by: Mark Andrews | United States Senator (Class 3) from North Dakota 1987-1992 | Succeeded by: Byron Dorgan |
| Preceded by: Jocelyn Burdick | United States Senator (Class 1) from North Dakota 1992 – present | Incumbent |
| North Dakota's current delegation to the United States Congress |
|---|
| Senators: Kent Conrad (D), Byron Dorgan (D)
Representative(s): Earl Pomeroy (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 |
