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Collin Peterson

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Collin Peterson
Collin Peterson.jpg
U.S. House, Minnesota, District 7
Incumbent
In office
January 3, 1991-Present
Term ends
January 3, 2015
Years in position 22
PartyDemocratic
PredecessorArlan Stangeland (R)
Compensation
Base salary$174,000/year
Elections and appointments
Last electionNovember 6, 2012
First electedNovember 6, 1990
Next electionNovember 4, 2014
Campaign $$5,638,331
Term limitsN/A
Prior offices
Minnesota State Senate
1977-1986
Education
Bachelor'sMoorhead State University
Military service
Service/branchMinnesota Army National Guard
Years of service1963-1969
Personal
BirthdayJune 29, 1944
Place of birthFargo, ND
ProfessionAccountant
Net worth$132,002
ReligionLutheran
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

Contents

Collin Clark Peterson (b. June 29, 1944) is a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Minnesota's 7th congressional district. Peterson was first elected to the House in 1990. He won re-election in 2012.[1]

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Peterson is a "centrist Democrat".[2]

Biography

Peterson was born in 1944 in Fargo, North Dakota. He earned his B.A. from Moorhead State University in 1966, also serving in the Minnesota Army National Guard from 1963 to 1969. Prior to his political career, Peterson worked as an accountant.[3]

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Peterson's professional and political career[3]:

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Peterson serves on the following committees:[4]

2011-2012

Peterson served on the following committees:[5]

Issues

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Voted "No" Peterson voted against 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. He was one of 16 Democrats that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.[6]

Campaign themes

2012

The following issues were highlighted on Peterson's campaign website.[7]

  • Veterans

Excerpt: "I have worked to secure the biggest increase in veterans’ benefits in our nation’s history. I’ve also worked with communities across the 7th District to build Veterans Homes and Veterans Clinics so that veterans and their families don’t have to drive for hours just to get the health care services they need."[8]

  • Agriculture

Excerpt: "As Chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, I put together a coalition to pass a 2008 Farm Bill that offered a strong safety net for farmers."[9]

  • Education

Excerpt: "I’ve worked to expand educational opportunities in Minnesota by working to secure more funding for Pell Grants and land grant colleges, securing funding for nursing programs at Bemidji State University, securing funding for research programs at the University of Minnesota Morris, and securing funding for the Center for Rural Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Minnesota Crookston."[10]

  • Health Care

Excerpt: "Health care reform is an important goal for our country, and I have always supported reform that will bring down the cost of health care without increasing our country’s growing debt. Now that President Obama has signed the landmark health care reform bill, I will work hard to make sure that the bill is implemented fairly."[11]

  • Wall Street Reform

Excerpt: "In the 2010 Congress I was deeply involved in writing the Peterson-Frank Financial Regulatory Reform bill that passed the House. The bill would prevent the kind of excessive speculation on Wall Street that caused the world-wide financial system meltdown at the end of 2008 and led to taxpayer-funded bailouts and the ongoing recession."[12]

  • Immigration

Excerpt: "I oppose amnesty for illegal aliens. In Congress, I voted for the “get tough” immigration bill to secure our borders, increase the number of security personnel, and build an extended border fence along our southern border. We need to give law enforcement officials more resources to capture and deport people who are in this country illegally."[13]

Elections

2014

See also: Minnesota's 7th congressional district elections, 2014

The National Republican Congressional Committee listed Peterson's seat as one of seven early targets in the 2014 congressional elections.[14] The seven targets align perfectly with the seven most Republican districts currently held by Democrats, according to FairVote's partisanship index. Peterson's district ranks as the 5th most Republican (45% D).[15]

2012

See also: Minnesota's 7th congressional district elections, 2012

Peterson won re-election in 2012.[16] He ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, and defeated Republican Lee Byberg and independent candidate Adam Steele in the November general election.[17]

U.S. House, Minnesota, District 7, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark.jpgCollin Peterson Incumbent 60.4% 197,791
     Republican Lee Byberg 34.8% 114,151
     Independence Adam Steele 4.7% 15,298
     NA Write-in 0.1% 336
Total Votes 327,576
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State, "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Endorsements

Peterson was endorsed by the organizations below for the 2012 election.[18]

  • Education Minnesota
  • American Federation of Teachers
  • National Education Association
  • Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association
  • Minnesota Farmers Union PAC
  • Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council
  • National Rifle Association
  • Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation Political Action Committee

2010

On November 2, 2010, Peterson won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Lee Byberg (R), Gene Waldorf (I), and Glen R. Menze (I) in the general election.[19]

U.S. House of Representatives, Minnesota's 7th Congressional District, General Election, 2010
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark.jpgCollin Peterson Incumbent 55.2% 133,096
     Republican Lee Byberg 37.6% 90,652
     Independent Gene Waldorf 3.9% 9,317
     Independent Glen R. Menze 3.3% 7,839
     Independent Write-In 0.1% 193
Total Votes 241,097

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Peterson is available dating back to 2000. Based on available campaign finance records, Peterson raised a total of $5,638,331 during that time period. This information was last updated on May 16, 2013.[20]

Collin Peterson's Campaign Contribution History
Year Office Result Contributions
2012 U.S. House (Minnesota, District 7) Won $1,129,343
2010 U.S. House (Minnesota, District 7) Won $1,174,500
2008 U.S. House (Minnesota, District 7) Won $1,218,264
2006 U.S. House (Minnesota, District 7) Won $938,128
2004 U.S. House (Minnesota, District 7) Won $422,906
2002 U.S. House (Minnesota, District 7) Won $417,249
2000 U.S. House (Minnesota, District 7) Won $337,941
Grand Total Raised $5,638,331

2012

Breakdown of funds according to source.

Peterson won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012. During that election cycle, Peterson's campaign committee raised a total of $1,129,343 and spent $1,497,202.[21]

2010

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

Peterson won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. During that re-election cycle, Peterson's campaign committee raised a total of $1,174,500 and spent $1,269,568.[22]

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

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

According to the website GovTrack, Peterson missed 283 of 14,455 roll call votes from Jan 1991 to Apr 2013, which is 2.0% of votes during that period. This is better than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving.[23]

Congressional Staff Salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Peterson paid his congressional staff a total of $1,084,875 in 2011. Overall, Minnesota ranked 26th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[24]

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, Peterson's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $4,005 and $259,999. This averages to $132,002, which is a 0.4981 % decrease since 2010. This is lower than the $5,107,874 average net worth for Democratic representatives in 2011.[25]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Peterson's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $136,010 to $390,000. This averages out to a net worth of $263,005, which is lower than the average net worth of Democrats in 2010 of $4,465,875.[26]

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, Peterson was ranked the 183rd most liberal representative during 2012.[27]

2011

According to the data released in 2012, Collin Peterson was ranked the 183rd most liberal representative during 2011.[28]

Percentage voting with party

November 2011

The website Open Congress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Collin Peterson voted with the Democratic Party 56.5% of the time, which ranked 191 among the 192 House Democratic members in November 2011.[29]

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Collin + Peterson + Minnesota + House

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Collin Peterson News Feed


Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found

Personal

Peterson lives in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.[30]

External links


References

  1. ↑ ABC News, "General Election Results 2012-Minnesota," November 7, 2012
  2. ↑ Gov Track "Peterson" Accessed May 15, 2012
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Biographical Guide to Members of Congress "Collin Peterson" Accessed December 11, 2011
  4. ↑ CQ.com, "House Committee Rosters for the 113th Congress"
  5. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "House of Representatives Committee Assignments" Accessed December 11, 2011
  6. ↑ U.S. House "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff" Accessed January 4, 2013.
  7. ↑ Collin Peterson's Official Campaign Website
  8. ↑ Collin Peterson's Official Campaign Website
  9. ↑ Collin Peterson's Official Campaign Website
  10. ↑ Collin Peterson's Official Campaign Website
  11. ↑ Collin Peterson's Official Campaign Website
  12. ↑ Collin Peterson's Official Campaign Website
  13. ↑ Collin Peterson's Official Campaign Website
  14. ↑ The Hill, "NRCC, promising to 'stay on offense,' targets seven Dems," January 16, 2013
  15. ↑ FairVote "NRCC Targets Foreshadow Power of Partisanship in 2014 Elections," January 18, 2013
  16. ↑ National Journal "The Retirement Season," Accessed February 11, 2012
  17. ↑ ABC News, "General Election Results 2012-Minnesota," November 7, 2012
  18. ↑ Collin Peterson's Campaign Website, Endorsements
  19. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010" Accessed December 11, 2011
  20. ↑ Open Secrets "Collin Peterson" Accessed May 16, 2013
  21. ↑ Open Secrets " 2012 Re-Election Cycle," Accessed February 15, 2013
  22. ↑ Open Secrets "Tim Walz 2010 Re-Election Cycle," Accessed December 3, 2011
  23. ↑ GovTrack, "Collin Peterson" Accessed April 2013
  24. ↑ LegiStorm, "Collin Peterson," Accessed October 8, 2012
  25. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Collin Peterson (D-Minn), 2011,"
  26. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Collin Peterson (D-Minn), 2010," Accessed October 8, 2012
  27. ↑ National Journal, "TABLE: House Liberal Scores by Issue Area," February 26, 2013
  28. ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," February 23, 2012
  29. ↑ Open Congress "Voting With Party"
  30. ↑ Official House Site "Full Biography," Accessed December 11, 2011
Political offices
Preceded by
Arlan Strangeland 		U.S. House of Representatives - Minneosta District 7
1991–present 		Succeeded by
'
Preceded by
' 		Minnesota State Senate
1977-1986 		Succeeded by
'
v • d • e
Minnesota's current delegation to the United States Congress
SenatorsCongressLogo.png
Representatives
Betty McCollum (D) • Rick Nolan (D) • Collin Peterson (D) • Erik Paulsen (R) • John Kline (R) • Keith Ellison (D) • Michele Bachmann (R) • Tim Walz (D)
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