Dutch Ruppersberger

	Dutch Ruppersberger
	U.S. House, Maryland, District 2
	Incumbent
	In office
	January 3, 2003-Present
	Term ends
	January 3, 2015
Years in position	10
Party	Democratic
Predecessor	Robert Ehrlich (R)
	Compensation
Base salary	$174,000/year
	Elections and appointments
Last election	November 6, 2012
First elected	November 5, 2002
Next election	November 4, 2014
Campaign $	$6,414,938
Term limits	N/A
	Prior offices
	Baltimore County Executive
	1994-2002
	Baltimore City Council
	1985-1994
	Assistant Maryland State Attorney
	1972-1980
	Education
Bachelor's	University of Maryland, College Park
J.D.	University of Maryland School of Law
	Personal
Birthday	January 31, 1946
Place of birth	Baltimore, Maryland
Profession	Attorney
Net worth	$1,890,013
Religion	Methodist
Websites
	Office website
	Campaign website
	Dutch Ruppersberger campaign logo

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Charles Albert "Dutch" Ruppersberger III (b. January 31, 1946) is a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Maryland's 2nd congressional district. Ruppersberger was first elected to the House in 2002. Ruppersberger won re-election in 2012.

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

Ruppersberger won re-election on November 6, 2012.^[2]

Biography

Ruppersberger was born in 1946 in Baltimore, Maryland. After attending Baltimore City College, he earned his B.A. from the University of Maryland at College Park and his J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1970. Prior to his political career, Ruppersberger worked as an attorney.^[3]

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Ruppersberger's political career^[3]:

Assistant Maryland State Attorney, 1972-1980
Baltimore City Council, 1985-1994
Baltimore County Executive, 1994-2002
U.S. House of Representatives, Maryland's 2nd congressional district, 2003-Present

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Ruppersberger serves on the following committees:^[4]

Select Committee on Intelligence Ranking Member

2011-2012

Ruppersberger served on the following House committees:^[5]

Committee on Intelligence Ranking Member
Armed Services Committee
- Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
- Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities

Issues

Earmarks

A Washington Post investigation in February 2012 revealed that 33 members of Congress helped direct more than $300 million in earmarks to public projects in close proximity to commercial and residential real estate owned by the lawmakers or their family members.^[6] According to the report, Ruppersberger helped obtain $187,000 toward a beach replenishment survey of the Ocean City shoreline. He and his wife own two condominium units there.^[7]

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Ruppersberger 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. He was one of 172 Democrats that voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.^[8]

Campaign themes

2012

The following are several campaign issues which were highlighted by Ruppersberger on his campaign website.^[9]

Healhcare: "Congressman Ruppersberger supported the health reform legislation that recently passed Congress and was signed by the President. H.R. 3962, the Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010, will make health care more affordable while reducing the federal budget by over $100 billion over the next ten years."^[10]

Immigration: "Congressman Ruppersberger does not support illegal immigration and believes we need to make our borders more secure. He sponsored legislation that would fund the hiring of 2,000 new border patrol agents every year for the next five years."^[11]

Social Security: "The Congressman believes we need to modernize social security, but he does not believe social security should be privatized."^[12]

Economy and Jobs: Ruppersberger has supported H.R. 1, the American Recover and Reinvestment Act, and the H.R. 3435, the Cash for Clunkers Program.^[13]

Elections

2012

See also: Maryland's 2nd congressional district elections, 2012

Ruppersberger won re-election in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing Maryland's 2nd District. On March 30, 2012 the 2nd district was included in a list released by the National Journal of the top ten most contorted congressional districts, as a result of redistricting. ^[14] Ruppersberger ran as a Democrat and defeated Maryland state senator Nancy Jacobs in the November general election.

U.S. House, Maryland, District 2 General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Dutch Ruppersberger Incumbent	65.6%	194,088
	Republican	Nancy Jacobs	31.1%	92,071
	Libertarian	Leo Dymowski	3.2%	9,344
	Republican	Ray Bly (Write-in)	0%	22
	N/A	Other Write-ins	0.1%	415
Total Votes				295,940
Source: Maryland State Board of Elections "Representative in Congress"

Ruppersberger ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on April 3, 2012.

Dutch Ruppersberger, "Congressman Ruppersberger Biography"

Endorsements

Ruppersbreger has received endorsements for the 2012 election from the following organizations,

Clean Water Action Maryland: A group that is "a top advocate for the preservation and protection of the Chesapeake Bay."^[15]

National Association of Social Workers: An organization consisting of "nearly 150,000 professional social workers."^[16]

Columbia Democratic Club

Thurgood Marshall Democratic Club of Howard County

Sierra Club: A leading, national environmental group.^[17]

Ruppersberger was endorsed by the organization Progressive Maryland in his race for re-election in Maryland's 2nd district. ^[18]^[19]

Wendy Rosen was endorsed by Ruppersberger in the Democratic primary in the 2nd district against candidates John LaFerla and Kim Letke.^[20] She later withdrew from the race amidst allegations of voter fraud.^[21]

Full history

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

2010

On November 2, 2010, Dutch Ruppersberger won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Marcelo Cardarelli (R) and Lorenzo Gaztanaga (L) in the general election.^[22]

U.S. House, Maryland District 2 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Dutch Ruppersberger incumbent	64.2%	134,133
	Republican	Marcelo Cardarelli	33.3%	69,523
	Libertarian	Lorenzo Gaztanaga	2.4%	5,090
	Independent	Write-In	0.1%	158
Total Votes				208,904

2008

On November 4, 2008, Dutch Ruppersberger won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Richard Matthews (R) and Lorenzo Gaztanaga (L) in the general election.^[23]

U.S. House, Maryland District 2 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Dutch Ruppersberger incumbent	71.9%	198,578
	Republican	Richard Matthews	24.8%	68,561
	Libertarian	Lorenzo Gaztanaga	3.2%	8,786
	N/A	Write in	0.1%	408
Total Votes				276,333

2006

On November 7, 2006, Dutch Ruppersberger won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Jimmy Mathis (R) in the general election.^[24]

U.S. House, Maryland District 2 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Dutch Ruppersberger incumbent	69.2%	135,818
	Republican	Jimmy Mathis	30.7%	60,195
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	215
Total Votes				196,228

2004

On November 2, 2004, Dutch Ruppersberger won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Jane Brooks (R) and Keith Salkowski (Green) in the general election.^[25]

U.S. House, Maryland District 2 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Dutch Ruppersberger incumbent	66.7%	164,751
	Republican	Jane Brooks	30.7%	75,812
	Green	Keith Salkowski	2.6%	6,508
Total Votes				247,071

2002

On November 5, 2002, Dutch Ruppersberger won election to the United States House. He defeated Helen Delich Bentley (R) in the general election.^[26]

U.S. House, Maryland District 2 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Dutch Ruppersberger	54.3%	105,718
	Republican	Helen Delich Bentley	45.7%	88,954
Total Votes				194,672

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Ruppersberger is available dating back to 2002. Based on available campaign finance records, Ruppersberger raised a total of $6,414,938 during that time period. This information was last updated on May 16, 2013.^[27]

Dutch Ruppersberger's Campaign Contribution History
Year	Office	Result	Contributions
2012	U.S. House (Maryland, District 2)		$1,408,187
2010	U.S. House (Maryland, District 2)		$1,137,058
2008	U.S. House (Maryland, District 2)		$1,030,869
2006	U.S. House (Maryland, District 2)		$854,594
2004	U.S. House (Maryland, District 2)		$746,971
2002	U.S. House (Maryland, District 2)		$1,237,259
Grand Total Raised			$6,414,938

2012

Breakdown of the source of Ruppersberger's campaign funds before the 2012 election.

Ruppersberger won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012. During that election cycle, Ruppersberger's campaign committee raised a total of $1,408,187 and spent $1,096,048.^[28]

U.S. House of Representatives, 2012 - Dutch Ruppersberger Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$1,408,187
Total Spent	$1,096,048
Total Raised by Election Runner-up	$258,792
Total Spent by Election Runner-up	$244,191
Top contributors to Dutch Ruppersberger's campaign committee
Exelon Corp	$40,500
Northrop Grumman	$38,400
St John Properties	$18,750
Mantech International	$15,000
Serco Group	$13,000
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
Real Estate	$103,500
Misc Defense	$94,200
Defense Electronics	$68,250
Defense Aerospace	$67,100
Computers/Internet	$63,000

2010

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

Ruppersberger won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. During that election cycle, Ruppersberger's campaign committee raised a total of $1,137,058 and spent $1,334,073.^[29]

U.S. House of Representatives, Maryland's 2nd Congressional District, 2010 - Dutch Ruppersberger Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$1,137,058
Total Spent	$1,334,073
Total Raised by General Election Opponent	$199,333
Total Spent by General Election Opponent	$203,115
Top contributors to Dutch Ruppersberger's campaign committee
Northrop Grumman	$41,100
University of Maryland Medical System	$21,100
General Dynamics	$10,500
SAIC Inc	$10,500
Comcast Corp	$10,400
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
Health Professionals	$88,500
Real Estate	$87,766
Misc Defense	$81,750
Lawyers/Law Firms	$54,400
Lobbyists	$53,392

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

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

According to the website GovTrack, Ruppersberger missed 334 of 7,661 roll call votes from Jan 2003 to Mar 2013, which is 4.4% of votes during that period. This is worse than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving.^[30]

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Ruppersberger paid his congressional staff a total of $1,106,915 in 2011. He ranked 49th on the list of the highest paid Democratic Representative Staff Salaries and he ranked 59th overall of the highest paid Representative Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, Maryland ranked 11th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.^[31]

Staff bonuses

According to an analysis by CNN, Ruppersberger is one of nearly 25% of House members who gave their staff bonuses in 2012. Ruppersberger's staff was given an apparent $94,009.04 in bonus money.^[32]

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, Ruppersberger's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $1,155,026 and $2,625,000. This averages to $1,890,013, which is a 1.86% increase since 2010. This is lower than the $5,107,874 average net worth for Democratic representatives in 2011.^[33]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Ruppersberger's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $1,035,044 and $2,676,000. That averages to $1,855,522, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Representatives in 2010 of $4,465,875.^[34]

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, Ruppersberger was ranked the 161st most liberal representative during 2012.^[35]

2011

According to the data released in 2012, Dutch Ruppersberger was ranked the 165th most liberal representative during 2011.^[36]

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, Dutch Ruppersberger voted with the Democratic Party 89.4% of the time, which ranked 150 among the 192 House Democratic members in November 2011.^[37]

Recent news

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