Mary Landrieu
Encyclopedia
Mary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator
from the State of Louisiana
and a member of the Democratic Party
.
Born in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana
. She is the daughter of former New Orleans mayor and Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
, Moon Landrieu
, and the sister of the current Mayor of New Orleans and former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
Mitch Landrieu
. She received her baccalaureate degree from Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge
. After working as a real estate agent for several years, she was elected as a state representative
(1980–1988) and state treasurer
(1988–1996). She won a close race for the U.S. Senate in 1996; she was re-elected by increasing margins in competitive races in 2002 and 2008.
Landrieu is one of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate, often opposing her party's positions. Her opposition to the public option
played a major role in the crafting of the health insurance reform bills of 2010
. She became a spokeswoman for federal emergency relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
in 2005, which devastated her state. She chairs the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
. In 2005, she sponsored an unprecedented Senate resolution by which the US Senate apologized for its failure to enact anti-lynching
legislation during the early 20th century, when it was very much needed.
, and raised in New Orleans. She was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended Ursuline Academy
of New Orleans. She graduated from Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge in 1977 where she was a member of Delta Gamma
sorority.
Before entering politics, she worked as a real estate agent. She was elected as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
, serving from 1980 to 1988 and representing a New Orleans district.
She was elected as Louisiana state treasurer from 1988–1996. In the 1987 primary for treasurer, she defeated two legislative colleagues, Kevin P. Reilly, Sr.
, chief executive officer
at the time of Lamar Advertising Company
in Baton Rouge, and Claude "Buddy" Leach, a former U.S. representative and the current chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party. Landrieu gave up the treasurer's office to run for governor of Louisiana in 1995, but finished third in the state's jungle primary
. The eventual winner was Democrat-turned-Republican
Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
Landrieu and her husband, attorney Frank Snellings (born 1949), who grew up in Monroe
, have two children, Connor and Mary Shannon.
Landrieu was elected in 1996 to the U.S. Senate seat previously held by John Bennett Johnston, Jr.
of Shreveport
after winning a close and controversial runoff election
. This is called the general election
in Louisiana. She defeated Louisiana State Representative
Woody Jenkins
of Baton Rouge.
Landrieu narrowly won re-election in the 2002 mid-term election. She defeated Suzanne Haik Terrell
of New Orleans. Some experts and pundits had considered Landrieu as a possible running mate for presidential candidate John Kerry
in the 2004 election before he selected then- Senator John Edwards
of North Carolina
. In 2004 Landrieu became Louisiana's senior senator upon the retirement of John Breaux
, who was replaced by Republican David Vitter
.
In 2005 Landrieu sponsored a resolution, which the Senate passed in an unprecedented action, to formally apologize for its repeated failure in the early twentieth century to pass anti-lynching
legislation. The Senate Southern white Democrats had filibustered the Dyer bill
in 1922 and two other bills that passed the House. At the time, African Americans suffered a high rate of lynchings in the South; this coincided with their disfranchisement in the South from 1890-1910, which persisted until after passage of federal civil rights
legislation of the 1960s.
Landrieu has worked to secure funding for Louisiana projects as one of her top priorities. She held high-profile hearings on the mistakes of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. In 2008, she won a relatively comfortable 52% to 46% re-election to a third term in a race against her challenger, Louisiana State Treasurer John Neely Kennedy. He was a former Democrat who switched to the Republican Party in 2007.
On December 15, 2008, it was announced that Landrieu would become Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship for the 111th Congress when former Chairman John Kerry
left to lead the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, previously headed by Vice President-elect Joe Biden
.
In September 2010 Landrieu announced she would hold up OMB director Jacob Lew
’s confirmation until the administration lifted or eased a federal freeze on deepwater oil-and-gas drilling
. Her delay of Lew’s nomination came despite broad bipartisan support for appointing him to OMB. The Senate Budget Committee recommended that Lew be confirmed on a 22-1 vote.
Source:
s in the U.S. Senate, and is a member of the New Democrat Coalition
.
Landrieu supports eliminating the estate tax permanently, and voted for the tax cut
passed in 2001. On November 17, 2005, she was one of only four Democrats to vote against repealing the portions of the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 that more Democrats have charged unfairly benefit the wealthy. She voted for the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005
and the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act
. In 2004, Landrieu was one of only six Democrats to vote against renewing the ban
on semi-automatic firearm
s. She has also been one of the few Democrats to support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
.
Landrieu voted for the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005, but in 2006, she opposed Samuel Alito
, though she did vote in favor of cloture
to send the nomination to an up-or-down vote.
Subsequent to the 2006 midterm election, in which the Democratic Party gained control of both houses of Congress, Landrieu announced (along with Republican Olympia Snowe
of Maine) the formation of the "Common Ground Coalition", a group of moderate senators of both parties, with the goal of finding bipartisan consensus on legislative matters.
On December 18, 2010, Landrieu voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
.
in the America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009
(HR 3200) until the bill was rewritten to send a $300,000,000 payment to Medicaid for her home state. When two pages were added to the bill to place $300 million in Louisiana's Medicaid system, she changed her web page
in order to reflect her support of the program. Conservative figures referred to the deal as the "Louisiana Purchase". As a result, prominent conservative figures Glenn Beck
and Rush Limbaugh
called her a "high-priced prostitute".
On November 21, 2009, Landrieu voted with fifty-nine other Senators to bring the health care bill up for debate. On December 8, 2009, she voted against the Nelson-Hatch-Casey amendment which proposed to ban federal funding for private plans that covered elective abortions but allowed individuals to purchase separate individual riders that would cover abortions.
Prior to a concession of $300 million being added to the bill, Landrieu responded to a question on popular support of the public option, and asserted that the option has popular support because “when people hear ‘public option’ they hear ‘free health care.’ Everybody wants free health care. Everybody wants health care they don’t have to pay for.”
After Senator Harry Reid
added the concession to the bill which sent $300 million to Medicaid recipients in Louisiana, she described the bill as 'imperfect, but taking many steps to improve our broken health care system.'
Hurricane Katrina
destroyed Landrieu's lakeside New Orleans home. The senator has become a national spokeswoman for victims of the hurricane, and has complained of "the staggering incompetence of the national government."
In the weeks following Katrina, Landrieu and fellow Senator David Vitter
co-sponsored the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief and Economic Recovery Act of 2005 (S.1765), a 440-page aid package worth an estimated $250 billion (roughly $550,000 per resident) in order to rebuild New Orleans, a city of 453,726 pre-Katrina. The bill was read twice by Congress, then referred to the United States Senate Committee on Finance
.
sided with Republicans and the Bush Administration in voting for the Protect America Act, an amendment to the USA Patriot Act
further expanding wiretap powers.
2 million for a reading program whose founder supported her campaign for reelection. Randy Best, founder of the Voyager Expanded Learning literacy program, had hosted a fundraising event that raised $30,000 for Landrieu's reelection campaign days before she proposed his reading program in the earmark. Best and his company's top associates were among those who donated to Landrieu's campaign. This earned her a spot on the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington advocacy group's "Top 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" report.
In 2007, Landrieu was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
in Winnfield
.
conservative activists, including Stan Dai, Joseph Basel, both 24; Robert Flanagan, son of Bill Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney in Louisiana; and conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe
, were arrested by US Marshals for their role in a plot to hack the phone system of Landrieu's New Orleans office to record her and her staff's conversations. Two of the alleged co-conspirators posed as telephone repair technicians in order to gain access to the telephone system. O'Keefe admitted to secretly "recording" the interactions with the staff with his cell phone and aiding in the "planning, coordination, and preparation of the operation."
On March 27, 2010, the four were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses, a misdemeanor charge. On May 26, 2010 all four pled guilty before Magistrate Daniel Knowles III in a New Orleans federal court. Three of the four received two years' probation, 75 hours of community service and $1,500 fines; while James O'Keefe received a sentence of three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine.
Threshold > 50%
First ballot, September 21, 1996
Second ballot, November 5, 1996
United States Senate, 2002
Threshold > 50%
First ballot, November 5, 2002
Second ballot, December 7, 2002
United States Senate, 2008
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from the State of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
.
Born in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. She is the daughter of former New Orleans mayor and Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
, Moon Landrieu
Moon Landrieu
Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu is a Democratic politician from Louisiana who served as Mayor of New Orleans from 1970–1978. He also is a former judge...
, and the sister of the current Mayor of New Orleans and former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
The Office of Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana is the second highest state office in Louisiana. The current Lieutenant Governor is Jay Dardenne, a Republican...
Mitch Landrieu
Mitch Landrieu
Mitchell Joseph "Mitch" Landrieu is the Mayor of New Orleans, former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, and a member of the Landrieu family. Landrieu is a member of the Democratic Party and a Roman Catholic. He is the son of former New Orleans mayor and Secretary of the United States Department of...
. She received her baccalaureate degree from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
. After working as a real estate agent for several years, she was elected as a state representative
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
(1980–1988) and state treasurer
State Treasurer
In the state governments of the United States, 49 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. Texas abolished the position of Texas State Treasurer in 1996....
(1988–1996). She won a close race for the U.S. Senate in 1996; she was re-elected by increasing margins in competitive races in 2002 and 2008.
Landrieu is one of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate, often opposing her party's positions. Her opposition to the public option
Public health insurance option
The public health insurance option is a proposed government-run health insurance agency which competes with other health insurance companies. It is not the same as Publicly-funded health care. Called the public insurance option or public option, for short, it was a proposed health insurance plan...
played a major role in the crafting of the health insurance reform bills of 2010
Health care reform in the United States
Health care reform in the United States has a long history, of which the most recent results were two federal statutes enacted in 2010: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , signed March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 , which amended the PPACA and...
. She became a spokeswoman for federal emergency relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
in 2005, which devastated her state. She chairs the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
The U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over the Small Business Administration and is also charged with researching and investigating all problems of American small business enterprises.-History:The...
. In 2005, she sponsored an unprecedented Senate resolution by which the US Senate apologized for its failure to enact anti-lynching
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
legislation during the early 20th century, when it was very much needed.
Personal life
Landrieu was born in Arlington, Virginia to Verna Satterlee and former New Orleans mayor Moon LandrieuMoon Landrieu
Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu is a Democratic politician from Louisiana who served as Mayor of New Orleans from 1970–1978. He also is a former judge...
, and raised in New Orleans. She was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended Ursuline Academy
Ursuline Academy (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Ursuline Academy is a private, Roman Catholic, all-girls high school and elementary school in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans...
of New Orleans. She graduated from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge in 1977 where she was a member of Delta Gamma
Delta Gamma
Delta Gamma is one of the oldest and largest women's fraternities in the United States and Canada, with its Executive Offices based in Columbus, Ohio.-History:...
sorority.
Before entering politics, she worked as a real estate agent. She was elected as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
, serving from 1980 to 1988 and representing a New Orleans district.
She was elected as Louisiana state treasurer from 1988–1996. In the 1987 primary for treasurer, she defeated two legislative colleagues, Kevin P. Reilly, Sr.
Kevin Reilly (Louisiana politician)
Kevin Patrick Reilly, Sr. , a retired businessman and active philanthropist from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is the former executive officer of the Lamar Advertising Company who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 68 between 1972 and 1988...
, chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
at the time of Lamar Advertising Company
Lamar Advertising Company
The Lamar Advertising Company , based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a provider of billboards, transit advertising, and highway logo signs. Founded in 1902, Lamar currently operates over 150 outdoor advertising companies in more than 40 states and Puerto Rico...
in Baton Rouge, and Claude "Buddy" Leach, a former U.S. representative and the current chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party. Landrieu gave up the treasurer's office to run for governor of Louisiana in 1995, but finished third in the state's jungle primary
Jungle primary
A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for elected office run in the same primary regardless of political party. Under this system, the top two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the next round, as in a runoff election...
. The eventual winner was Democrat-turned-Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
Murphy J. Foster, Jr.
Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...
Landrieu and her husband, attorney Frank Snellings (born 1949), who grew up in Monroe
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
, have two children, Connor and Mary Shannon.
U.S. Senate
Bennett Johnston Jr.
John Bennett Johnston, Jr., known as J. Bennett Johnston , is an American lobbyist who was a Democratic Party politician and United States Senator from Louisiana from 1972 to 1997.-Early life:...
of Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
after winning a close and controversial runoff election
Two-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
. This is called the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
in Louisiana. She defeated Louisiana State Representative
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
Woody Jenkins
Woody Jenkins
Louis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972–2000 and waged three unsuccessful races for the United States Senate....
of Baton Rouge.
Landrieu narrowly won re-election in the 2002 mid-term election. She defeated Suzanne Haik Terrell
Suzanne Haik Terrell
Suzanne Haik Terrell is a Louisiana lawyer who failed in a high-profile Republican bid for the U.S. Senate in 2002 and for state attorney general in 2003. She was the state's last commissioner of elections, having served from 2000 to 2004. In 2005, President George W...
of New Orleans. Some experts and pundits had considered Landrieu as a possible running mate for presidential candidate John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
in the 2004 election before he selected then- Senator John Edwards
John Edwards
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. In 2004 Landrieu became Louisiana's senior senator upon the retirement of John Breaux
John Breaux
John Berlinger Breaux is a former United States senator from Louisiana who served from 1987 until 2005. He was also a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1972 to 1987. He was considered one of the more conservative national legislators from the Democratic Party...
, who was replaced by Republican David Vitter
David Vitter
David Vitter is the junior United States Senator from Louisiana and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, he served in the United States House of Representatives, representing the suburban Louisiana's 1st congressional district. He served as a member of the Louisiana House of...
.
In 2005 Landrieu sponsored a resolution, which the Senate passed in an unprecedented action, to formally apologize for its repeated failure in the early twentieth century to pass anti-lynching
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
legislation. The Senate Southern white Democrats had filibustered the Dyer bill
Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill
The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, introduced by Representative Leonidas C. Dyer, a Republican from Saint Louis, Missouri, in the US House of Representatives in 1918, was directed at punishing lynchings and mob violence....
in 1922 and two other bills that passed the House. At the time, African Americans suffered a high rate of lynchings in the South; this coincided with their disfranchisement in the South from 1890-1910, which persisted until after passage of federal civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
legislation of the 1960s.
Landrieu has worked to secure funding for Louisiana projects as one of her top priorities. She held high-profile hearings on the mistakes of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders...
(FEMA) in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. In 2008, she won a relatively comfortable 52% to 46% re-election to a third term in a race against her challenger, Louisiana State Treasurer John Neely Kennedy. He was a former Democrat who switched to the Republican Party in 2007.
On December 15, 2008, it was announced that Landrieu would become Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship for the 111th Congress when former Chairman John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
left to lead the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, previously headed by Vice President-elect Joe Biden
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...
.
In September 2010 Landrieu announced she would hold up OMB director Jacob Lew
Jacob Lew
Jacob "Jack" J. Lew is the Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget a position he previously held from 1998 to 2001.-Early life and education:...
’s confirmation until the administration lifted or eased a federal freeze on deepwater oil-and-gas drilling
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...
. Her delay of Lew’s nomination came despite broad bipartisan support for appointing him to OMB. The Senate Budget Committee recommended that Lew be confirmed on a 22-1 vote.
Committee assignments
- Committee on AppropriationsUnited States Senate Committee on AppropriationsThe United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate....
- Subcommittee on Energy and Water DevelopmentUnited States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water DevelopmentThe U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development is one of twelve subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
- Subcommittee on Homeland SecurityUnited States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland SecurityU.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security is one of twelve subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. It was formally established in 2003 in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to oversee national security programs and the newly created...
- Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related ProgramsUnited States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related ProgramsUnited States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs is one of twelve subcommittees of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
- Committee on Energy and Natural ResourcesUnited States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural ResourcesThe United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has jurisdiction over matters related to energy and nuclear waste policy, territorial policy, native Hawaiian matters, and public lands....
- Subcommittee on EnergyUnited States Senate Energy Subcommittee on EnergySenate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy is one of four subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on National ParksUnited States Senate Energy Subcommittee on National ParksSenate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks is one of four subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Public Lands and ForestsUnited States Senate Energy Subcommittee on Public Lands and ForestsSenate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests is one of four subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Energy
- Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental AffairsUnited States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental AffairsThe United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has jurisdiction over matters related to the Department of Homeland Security and other homeland security concerns, as well as the functioning of the government itself, including the National Archives, budget and...
- Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia
- Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration
- Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery (Chairwoman)
- Committee on Small Business and EntrepreneurshipUnited States Senate Committee on Small Business and EntrepreneurshipThe U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over the Small Business Administration and is also charged with researching and investigating all problems of American small business enterprises.-History:The...
(Chairwoman)
Source:
Positions
By national standards, Landrieu is among the most conservative DemocratConservative Democrat
In American politics, a conservative Democrat is a Democratic Party member with conservative political views, or with views relatively conservative with respect to those of the national party...
s in the U.S. Senate, and is a member of the New Democrat Coalition
New Democrat Coalition
The New Democrat Coalition is a Congressional Member Organization within the United States Congress made up of Democrats who support an agenda that the organization describes as moderate and pro-growth. A July 2009 Press release described the organization as "the largest moderate coalition in the U.S...
.
Landrieu supports eliminating the estate tax permanently, and voted for the tax cut
Tax cut
A tax cut is a reduction in taxes. The immediate effects of a tax cut are a decrease in the real income of the government and an increase in the real income of those whose tax rate has been lowered. Due to the perceived benefit in growing real incomes among tax payers politicians have sought to...
passed in 2001. On November 17, 2005, she was one of only four Democrats to vote against repealing the portions of the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 that more Democrats have charged unfairly benefit the wealthy. She voted for the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005
Class Action Fairness Act of 2005
The U.S. Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, 28 U.S.C. Sections 1332, 1453, and 1711–1715, expanded federal jurisdiction over many large class-action lawsuits and mass actions taken in the United States....
and the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act
Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act was passed by the U.S. Senate on July 29, 2005, by a vote of 65-31. On October 20, 2005, it was passed by the House of Representatives 283 in favor and 144 opposed. It was signed into law on October 26, 2005, by President George W...
. In 2004, Landrieu was one of only six Democrats to vote against renewing the ban
Federal assault weapons ban
The Federal Assault Weapons Ban was a subtitle of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a federal law in the United States that included a prohibition on the manufacture for civilian use of certain semi-automatic firearms, so called "assault weapons"...
on semi-automatic firearm
Semi-automatic firearm
A semi-automatic, or self-loading firearm is a weapon which performs all steps necessary to prepare the weapon to fire again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the weapon's feed device or magazine...
s. She has also been one of the few Democrats to support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...
.
Landrieu voted for the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005, but in 2006, she opposed Samuel Alito
Samuel Alito
Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006....
, though she did vote in favor of cloture
Cloture
In parliamentary procedure, cloture is a motion or process aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. It is also called closure or, informally, a guillotine. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. Clôture is French for "ending" or "conclusion"...
to send the nomination to an up-or-down vote.
Subsequent to the 2006 midterm election, in which the Democratic Party gained control of both houses of Congress, Landrieu announced (along with Republican Olympia Snowe
Olympia Snowe
Olympia Jean Snowe , née Bouchles, is the senior United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican Party. Snowe has become widely known for her ability to influence the outcome of close votes, including whether to end filibusters. She and her fellow Senator from Maine, Susan Collins,...
of Maine) the formation of the "Common Ground Coalition", a group of moderate senators of both parties, with the goal of finding bipartisan consensus on legislative matters.
On December 18, 2010, Landrieu voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 is a landmark federal statute that establishes a legal process for ending the Don't ask, don't tell policy , which since 1993 prevented openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the United States Armed Forces.The Act did not immediately repeal the...
.
Health care
Landrieu was opposed to the public health insurance optionPublic health insurance option
The public health insurance option is a proposed government-run health insurance agency which competes with other health insurance companies. It is not the same as Publicly-funded health care. Called the public insurance option or public option, for short, it was a proposed health insurance plan...
in the America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009
America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009
The proposed America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 was an unsuccessful bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 14, 2009. The bill was introduced during the first session of the 111th Congress as part of an effort of the Democratic Party leadership to enact health...
(HR 3200) until the bill was rewritten to send a $300,000,000 payment to Medicaid for her home state. When two pages were added to the bill to place $300 million in Louisiana's Medicaid system, she changed her web page
Web page
A web page or webpage is a document or information resource that is suitable for the World Wide Web and can be accessed through a web browser and displayed on a monitor or mobile device. This information is usually in HTML or XHTML format, and may provide navigation to other web pages via hypertext...
in order to reflect her support of the program. Conservative figures referred to the deal as the "Louisiana Purchase". As a result, prominent conservative figures Glenn Beck
Glenn Beck
Glenn Edward Lee Beck is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks...
and Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
called her a "high-priced prostitute".
On November 21, 2009, Landrieu voted with fifty-nine other Senators to bring the health care bill up for debate. On December 8, 2009, she voted against the Nelson-Hatch-Casey amendment which proposed to ban federal funding for private plans that covered elective abortions but allowed individuals to purchase separate individual riders that would cover abortions.
Prior to a concession of $300 million being added to the bill, Landrieu responded to a question on popular support of the public option, and asserted that the option has popular support because “when people hear ‘public option’ they hear ‘free health care.’ Everybody wants free health care. Everybody wants health care they don’t have to pay for.”
After Senator Harry Reid
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
added the concession to the bill which sent $300 million to Medicaid recipients in Louisiana, she described the bill as 'imperfect, but taking many steps to improve our broken health care system.'
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
destroyed Landrieu's lakeside New Orleans home. The senator has become a national spokeswoman for victims of the hurricane, and has complained of "the staggering incompetence of the national government."
In the weeks following Katrina, Landrieu and fellow Senator David Vitter
David Vitter
David Vitter is the junior United States Senator from Louisiana and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, he served in the United States House of Representatives, representing the suburban Louisiana's 1st congressional district. He served as a member of the Louisiana House of...
co-sponsored the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief and Economic Recovery Act of 2005 (S.1765), a 440-page aid package worth an estimated $250 billion (roughly $550,000 per resident) in order to rebuild New Orleans, a city of 453,726 pre-Katrina. The bill was read twice by Congress, then referred to the United States Senate Committee on Finance
United States Senate Committee on Finance
The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The Committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generally, and those relating to the insular possessions; bonded debt of the United States; customs, collection...
.
Protect America Act
On August 3, 2007, Landrieu broke ranks with Democrats when she and Louisiana Rep. Charlie MelanconCharlie Melancon
Charles Joseph "Charlie" Melancon was the U.S. Representative for , serving from 2005 to 2011, and the unsuccessful 2010 Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican David Vitter.-Early life, education and career:...
sided with Republicans and the Bush Administration in voting for the Protect America Act, an amendment to the USA Patriot Act
USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001...
further expanding wiretap powers.
Voyager reading program
Landrieu earmarked $United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
2 million for a reading program whose founder supported her campaign for reelection. Randy Best, founder of the Voyager Expanded Learning literacy program, had hosted a fundraising event that raised $30,000 for Landrieu's reelection campaign days before she proposed his reading program in the earmark. Best and his company's top associates were among those who donated to Landrieu's campaign. This earned her a spot on the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington advocacy group's "Top 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" report.
In 2007, Landrieu was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
The Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, Louisiana, highlights the careers of more than a hundred of the state’s leading politicians and political journalists. Because three governors, Huey P. Long, Jr., Oscar K...
in Winnfield
Winnfield, Louisiana
Winnfield is a city in and the parish seat of Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,749 at the 2000 census. It has long been associated with the Long faction of the Louisiana Democratic Party and was home to three governors of Louisiana.-Geography:Winnfield is located at ...
.
Plot to compromise Landrieu's phone system
On January 25, 2010, four RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
conservative activists, including Stan Dai, Joseph Basel, both 24; Robert Flanagan, son of Bill Flanagan, acting U.S. Attorney in Louisiana; and conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe
James O'Keefe
James E. O'Keefe III is a conservative American activist who has produced controversial audio and video recordings of public figures and workers in a variety of organizations...
, were arrested by US Marshals for their role in a plot to hack the phone system of Landrieu's New Orleans office to record her and her staff's conversations. Two of the alleged co-conspirators posed as telephone repair technicians in order to gain access to the telephone system. O'Keefe admitted to secretly "recording" the interactions with the staff with his cell phone and aiding in the "planning, coordination, and preparation of the operation."
On March 27, 2010, the four were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses, a misdemeanor charge. On May 26, 2010 all four pled guilty before Magistrate Daniel Knowles III in a New Orleans federal court. Three of the four received two years' probation, 75 hours of community service and $1,500 fines; while James O'Keefe received a sentence of three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine.
Election history
United States Senate, 1996Threshold > 50%
First ballot, September 21, 1996
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woody Jenkins Woody Jenkins Louis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972–2000 and waged three unsuccessful races for the United States Senate.... |
Republican | 322,244 (26%) | Runoff |
| Mary Landrieu | Democratic | 264,268 (22%) | Runoff |
| Richard Ieyoub Richard Ieyoub Richard Phillip Ieyoub, Sr. , is a Baton Rouge lawyer and a Democratic politician who was the attorney general of Louisiana from 1992 to 2004. Ieyoub was the Calcasieu Parish district attorney in Lake Charles from 1984 to 1992, and is presently with the Baton Rouge firm Couhig Partners... |
Democratic | 250,682 (20%) | Defeated |
| David Duke David Duke David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in... |
Republican | 172,244 (12%) | Defeated |
| Others | various | 249,913 (20%) | Defeated |
Second ballot, November 5, 1996
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Landrieu | Democratic | 852,945 (50%) | Elected |
| Woody Jenkins Woody Jenkins Louis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972–2000 and waged three unsuccessful races for the United States Senate.... |
Republican | 847,157 (50%) | Defeated |
United States Senate, 2002
Threshold > 50%
First ballot, November 5, 2002
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Landrieu | Democratic | 573,347 (46%) | Runoff |
| Suzanne Haik Terrell Suzanne Haik Terrell Suzanne Haik Terrell is a Louisiana lawyer who failed in a high-profile Republican bid for the U.S. Senate in 2002 and for state attorney general in 2003. She was the state's last commissioner of elections, having served from 2000 to 2004. In 2005, President George W... |
Republican | 339,506 (27%) | Runoff |
| John Cooksey John Cooksey John Charles Cooksey, M.D. is an ophthalmologist who was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana from 1997 to 2003.-Early life:... |
Republican | 171,752 (14%) | Defeated |
| Tony Perkins Tony Perkins (politician) Anthony Richard "Tony" Perkins is president of the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian think tank and public policy foundation based in Washington, D.C... |
Republican | 119,776 (10%) | Defeated |
| Others | various | 41,952 (3%) | Defeated |
Second ballot, December 7, 2002
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Landrieu | Democratic | 638,654 (52%) | Elected |
| Suzanne Haik Terrell Suzanne Haik Terrell Suzanne Haik Terrell is a Louisiana lawyer who failed in a high-profile Republican bid for the U.S. Senate in 2002 and for state attorney general in 2003. She was the state's last commissioner of elections, having served from 2000 to 2004. In 2005, President George W... |
Republican | 596,642 (48%) | Defeated |
United States Senate, 2008
| Candidate | Affiliation | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Landrieu | Democratic | 988,298 (52%) | Reelected |
| John Neely Kennedy | Republican | 867,177 (46%) | Defeated |
| Richard Fontenasi | Libertarian | 18,590 (1%) | Defeated |
| Others | various | 22,509 (1%) | Defeated |
External links
- United States Senator Mary Landrieu, official U.S. Senate site
- Landrieu for US Senate official campaign site
- Profile at SourceWatchSourceWatchSourceWatch is an internet wiki site that is a collaborative project of the liberal Center for Media and Democracy...