Barbara Mikulski

	Barbara Mikulski
	U.S. Senate, Maryland
	Incumbent
	In office
	January 3rd, 1987-Present
	Term ends
	January 3, 2017
Years in position	26
Party	Democratic
Predecessor	Charles McC. Mathias, Jr. (R)
	Compensation
Base salary	$174,000/year
	Elections and appointments
Last election	November 2, 2010
First elected	November 4, 1986
Next election	November 8, 2016
Campaign $	$11,939,823
Term limits	N/A
	Prior offices
	U.S. House of Representatives
	1977-1987
	Education
High school	Institute of Notre Dame
Bachelor's	Mount Saint Agnes College
Master's	University of Maryland School of Social Work
	Personal
Birthday	July 20, 1936
Place of birth	Baltimore, MD
Profession	Social Worker
Net worth	$379,008
Religion	Roman Catholic
Websites
	Office website

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Barbara Ann Mikulski (b. July 20, 1936) is an Democratic member of the U.S. Senate from the state of Maryland. Mikulski was first elected to the Senate in 1986.

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Mikulski is a "rank-and-file Democrat".^[1]

Biography

Mikulski was born in 1936 in East Baltimore, MD. She earned her B.A. from Mt. Saint Agnes College (now a part of Loyola Maryland University) in 1958, and went on obtain her Masters from the University of Maryland School of Social Work in 1965. Mikulski worked as a social worker and college professor prior to her career in politics.^[2]

Career

Below is an abbreviated version of Mikulski's political career^[2]:

Baltimore City Council, 1971-1976
U.S. House of Representatives, 1977-1987
U.S. Senate, 1987-Present

Committee assignments

U.S. Senate

2013-2014

Mikulski serves on the following Senate committees^[3]:

Appropriations Committee
- Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
- Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Legislative Branch
- Subcommittee on Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Department of Homeland
- Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Members
- Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
- Subcommittee on Department of Defense
- Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
- Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging
- Subcommittee on Children and Families
Select Committee on Intelligence

2011-2012

Mikulski served on the following Senate committees^[4]:

Issues

Fiscal Cliff

Mikulski voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. The bill was passed in the Senate by a 89/8 vote on January 1, 2013.^[5]

Elections

2010

On November 2, 2010, Barbara Mikulski won re-election to the United States Senate. She defeated Eric Wargotz (R), Richard Shawver (Constitution), Kenniss Henry (Green), Claud L. Ashbury (Write-in, R), Donald Kaplan (Write-in), James T. Lynch, Jr. (Write-in, D), Lih Young (Write-in), Denise L. Whittington (Write-in), Robert J. Evans (Write-in) and Mary Catherine Podlesak (Write-in, R) in the general election.^[6]

U.S. Senate, Maryland General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Barbara Mikulski incumbent	62.2%	1,140,531
	Republican	Eric Wargotz	35.8%	655,666
	Constitution	Richard Shawver	0.8%	14,746
	Green	Kenniss Henry	1.1%	20,717
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	1,644
	Write-in Republican	Claud L. Ashbury	0%	204
	N/A	Donald Kaplan	0%	110
	Write-in Democratic	James T. Lynch, Jr.	0%	84
	N/A	Lih Young	0%	80
	N/A	Denise L. Whittington	0%	56
	N/A	Robert J. Evans	0%	14
	Write-in Republican	Mary Catherine Podlesak	0%	6
Total Votes				1,833,858

Full history

To view the full congressional electoral history for Barbara Mikulski, click [show] to expand the section.

2004

On November 2, 2004, Barbara Mikulski won re-election to the United States Senate. She defeated E.J. Pipkin (R), Maria Allwine (Green), Thomas Trump (Constitution), Robert Gemmill II (Write-in), Ray Bly (Write-in) and Dennard A. Gayle-El, Sr. (Write-in) in the general election.^[7]

U.S. Senate, Maryland General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Barbara Mikulski incumbent	64.8%	1,504,697
	Republican	E.J. Pipkin	33.7%	783,055
	Green	Maria Allwine	1.1%	24,816
	Constitution	Thomas Trump	0.4%	9,009
	Write-in	Robert Gemmill	0%	204
	Write-in	Ray Bly	0%	109
	Write-in	Dennard A. Gayle-El, Sr.	0%	47
Total Votes				2,321,937

1998

On November 3, 1998, Barbara Mikulski won re-election to the United States Senate. She defeated Ross Z. Pierpont in the general election.^[8]

U.S. Senate, Maryland General Election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Barbara Mikulski incumbent	70.5%	1,062,810
	Republican	Ross Z. Pierpoint	29.5%	444,637
Total Votes				1,507,447

1992

On November 3, 1992, Barbara Mikulski won re-election to the United States Senate. She defeated Alan L. Keyes (R) in the general election.^[9]

U.S. Senate, Maryland General Election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Barbara Mikulski incumbent	71%	1,307,610
	Republican	Alan L. Keyes	29%	533,688
Total Votes				1,841,298

1986

On November 4, 1986, Barbara Mikulski won election to the United States Senate. She defeated Linda Chavez (R) in the general election.^[10]

U.S. Senate, Maryland General Election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Barbara Mikulski	60.7%	675,225
	Republican	Linda Chavez	39.3%	437,411
	N/A	Write-in	0%	1
Total Votes				1,112,637

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Mikulski is available dating back to 2004. Based on available campaign finance records, Mikulski raised a total of $11,939,823 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 19, 2013.^[11]

Barbara Mikulski's Campaign Contribution History
Year	Office	Result	Contributions
2010	U.S. Senate		$5,508,300
2004	U.S. Senate		$6,431,523
Grand Total Raised			$11,939,823

2010

Breakdown of the source of Mikulski's campaign funds before the 2010 election.

Mikulski won re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2010. During that re-election cycle, Mikulski's campaign committee raised a total of $5,508,300 and spent $4,891,554.^[12]

U.S. Senate, Maryland, 2010 - Barbara Mikulski Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$5,508,300
Total Spent	$4,891,554
Total Raised by General Election Opponent	$932,526
Total Spent by General Election Opponent	$932,330
Top contributors to Barbara Mikulski's campaign committee
Law Offices of Peter G Angelos	$49,000
Northrop Grumman	$37,900
Johns Hopkins U	$36,150
Van Scoyoc Assoc	$34,388
Orbital Sciences Corp	$18,000
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
Lawyers/Law Firms	$294,641
Lobbyists	$244,806
Real Estate	$206,600
Retired	$192,240
Health Professionals	$188,085

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, Mikulski missed 298 of 8,801 roll call votes from Jan 1987 to Apr 2013, which is 3.4% of votes during that period. This is worse than the median of 1.7% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. ^[13]

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Mikulski paid her congressional staff a total of $2,546,660 in 2011. She ranked 16th on the list of the lowest paid Democratic Senatorial Staff Salaries and she ranked 47th overall of the lowest paid Senatorial Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, Maryland ranked 33rd in average salary for senatorial staff. The average U.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.^[14]

Net worth

See also: Net Worth of United States Senators and Representatives

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Mikulski's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $191,016 and $567,000. This averages to $379,008, which is a 12.63% increase since 2010. It is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Senators in 2011 of $20,795,450.^[15]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Mikulski's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $156,016 and $517,000. That averages to $336,508, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Senators in 2010 of $19,383,524.^[16]

National Journal vote ratings

See also: National Journal vote ratings

Each year, National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted, as compared to other members, in the previous year. More information about the analysis process can be found on the vote ratings page.

2012

According to the data released in 2013, Mikulski was ranked the 5th most liberal senator during 2012.^[17]

2011

According to the data released in 2012, Barbara Mikulski was ranked the fifth most liberal senator during 2011.^[18]

Recent news

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