Mike Pompeo
Encyclopedia
Michael Richard Pompeo (born December 30, 1963) is the U.S. Representative
for . He is a member of the Republican Party
. He has also served as a Kansas representative on the Republican National Committee
.
where he majored in Mechanical Engineering
, graduating first in his class. He subsequently graduated from Harvard Law School
, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review
. He then worked as a lawyer for Williams & Connolly
.
Pompeo serves as a trustee on the Koch Industries
-funded Kansas Policy Institute
(originally named the Kansas Public Policy Institute and then the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy), a conservative think tank.
nominee State Representative
Raj Goyle
, Libertarian
nominee Shawn Smith, and Reform Party nominee Susan G. Ducey. Pompeo received 59% of the vote (117,171 votes), to 36% for Goyle (71,866).
, ran for the U.S. Senate (thereby vacating his seat). In the contest to replace him, Pompeo won a five-candidate GOP primary election on August 3, 2010 with 39% of the vote. He bested State Senator Jean Schodorf
(who received 24%), Wichita
businessman Wink Hartman (who received 23%), and small business owner Jim Anderson (who received 13%). State Senator Dick Kelsey also ran for the nomination, but ended his campaign before the August primary and endorsed Pompeo.
on its Facebook
page and Twitter
feed, introducing it as "here's a good read." The linked blog referred to President
Barack Obama
as an "evil Muslim
Communist usurper" and used an ethnic slur (a "turban topper") to refer to Goyle. On August 11, Pompeo discovered that Josh Wells, his campaign's communications director, had "posted the link to the wrong Google alert
then removed it an hour later. Pompeo claimed that the posting was a mistake made with "no malice". The next morning, Pompeo called Goyle and apologized and declared to the press that "the statements of the blogger in no way reflect my views. There is no place in campaigns or in public discourse for language of this nature." Pompeo chose not to fire or punish any of his staff as a result of this incident.
On August 12, 2010, SurveyUSA
and KWCH-TV
released a poll on the Kansas 4th Congressional district campaign between Pompeo and Goyle. According to the poll, in which 604 likely voters were interviewed, Pompeo led Goyle 49% to 42% with a margin of error of 4.1%.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for . He is a member of the Republican Party
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...
. He has also served as a Kansas representative on the Republican National Committee
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
.
Early life, education, and early career
Pompeo attended the U.S. Military AcademyUnited States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
where he majored in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
, graduating first in his class. He subsequently graduated from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review
Harvard Law Review
The Harvard Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School.-Overview:According to the 2008 Journal Citation Reports, the Review is the most cited law review and has the second-highest impact factor in the category "law" after the...
. He then worked as a lawyer for Williams & Connolly
Williams & Connolly
Williams & Connolly LLP is a prominent litigation firm based in Washington, D.C. The firm was founded by trial lawyer Edward Bennett Williams, who left the partnership of D.C. firm Hogan & Hartson to launch his own litigation boutique....
.
Business career
Pompeo founded Thayer Aerospace. He sold his interest in Thayer in 2006 and the company is now known as Nex-Tech Aerospace.Pompeo serves as a trustee on the Koch Industries
Koch Industries
Koch Industries, Inc. , is an American private energy conglomerate based in Wichita, Kansas, with subsidiaries involved in manufacturing, trading and investments. Koch also owns Invista, Georgia-Pacific, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Pipeline, Koch Fertilizer, Koch Minerals and Matador Cattle Company...
-funded Kansas Policy Institute
Kansas Policy Institute
The Kansas Policy Institute is a free-market think tank based in Wichita, Kansas. As a member of the State Policy Network, it primarily focuses on Kansas state and local policy issues, such as education, budget and spending, health care, and property tax...
(originally named the Kansas Public Policy Institute and then the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy), a conservative think tank.
2010 elections
Pompeo defeated DemocraticDemocratic 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...
nominee State Representative
Kansas House of Representatives
The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kansas Legislature, the legislative body of the U.S. State of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for crafting and voting on...
Raj Goyle
Raj Goyle
Rajeev Kumar Goyle is a Democratic politician from Kansas, who represented the 87th District in the Kansas House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011. He was the 2010 Democratic nominee for .-Early life, education and career:...
, Libertarian
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
nominee Shawn Smith, and Reform Party nominee Susan G. Ducey. Pompeo received 59% of the vote (117,171 votes), to 36% for Goyle (71,866).
Republican nomination
The Republican incumbent, Todd TiahrtTodd Tiahrt
Todd Tiahrt is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1995 until 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district encompasses 11 counties in the south central region of the state, including the city of Wichita. He was succeeded by Republican Mike Pompeo.Tiahrt ran...
, ran for the U.S. Senate (thereby vacating his seat). In the contest to replace him, Pompeo won a five-candidate GOP primary election on August 3, 2010 with 39% of the vote. He bested State Senator Jean Schodorf
Jean Schodorf
Jean Kurtis Schodorf is a Republican member of the Kansas Senate, representing the 25th District since 2001. She is currently the Majority Whip. From 1989 to 2000, she was on the Board of Education for Unified School District 259 and was the Board President in 1993, 1997 and 1999...
(who received 24%), Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
businessman Wink Hartman (who received 23%), and small business owner Jim Anderson (who received 13%). State Senator Dick Kelsey also ran for the nomination, but ended his campaign before the August primary and endorsed Pompeo.
General election
Immediately after winning the 2010 primary, Pompeo's campaign posted a link to a racist blogBlog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
on its Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
feed, introducing it as "here's a good read." The linked blog referred to President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
as an "evil Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
Communist usurper" and used an ethnic slur (a "turban topper") to refer to Goyle. On August 11, Pompeo discovered that Josh Wells, his campaign's communications director, had "posted the link to the wrong Google alert
Google Alerts
Google Alerts is content change detection and notification service, offered by the search engine company Google, that automatically notifies users when new content from news, web, blogs, video and/or discussion groups matches a set of search terms selected by the user and stored by the Google...
then removed it an hour later. Pompeo claimed that the posting was a mistake made with "no malice". The next morning, Pompeo called Goyle and apologized and declared to the press that "the statements of the blogger in no way reflect my views. There is no place in campaigns or in public discourse for language of this nature." Pompeo chose not to fire or punish any of his staff as a result of this incident.
On August 12, 2010, SurveyUSA
SurveyUSA
SurveyUSA is a polling firm in the United States. It conducts market research for corporations and interest groups, but is best known for conducting opinion polls for various political offices and questions...
and KWCH-TV
KWCH-TV
KWCH-DT is the CBS-affiliated television station for Wichita, Kansas that is licensed to Hutchinson. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter in Colwich. The station can be seen on Cox cable channel 12 and in high definition on digital channel 2012...
released a poll on the Kansas 4th Congressional district campaign between Pompeo and Goyle. According to the poll, in which 604 likely voters were interviewed, Pompeo led Goyle 49% to 42% with a margin of error of 4.1%.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Energy and CommerceUnited States House Committee on Energy and CommerceThe Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more than 200 years...
- Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade
- Subcommittee on Energy and Power
External links
- Congressman Mike Pompeo official U.S. House site