WhoRunsTheStates Badge.png
Who Runs Your State Government?
Does your state lean blue or lean red? Check out our new report, highlighting partisan control of state government from 1992-2013.






Michele Bachmann

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann.jpg
U.S. House, Minnesota, District 6
Incumbent
In office
January 3, 2007-Present
Term ends
January 3, 2015
Years in position 6
PartyRepublican
PredecessorMark Kennedy (R)
Compensation
Base salary$174,000/year
Elections and appointments
Last electionNovember 6, 2012
First electedNovember 7, 2006
Next electionNovember 4, 2014
Campaign $$34,679,659
Term limitsN/A
Prior offices
Minnesota State Senate
2001-2007
Education
High schoolAnoka High School, Anoka, MN
Bachelor'sWinona State University
J.D.Coburn School of Law, Oral Roberts University
Personal
BirthdayApril 6, 1956
Place of birthWaterloo, IA
ProfessionAttorney
Net worth$1,499,509
ReligionEvangelical Christian
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

Contents

Michele Marie Bachmann (b. April 6, 1956) is a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Minnesota's 6th congressional district. Bachmann was first elected to the House in 2006.[1] She won re-election on November 6, 2012.[2]

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Bachmann is a "far-right Republican leader".[3]

Biography

Bachmann was born in 1956 in Waterloo, IA. She earned her B.A. from Winona State University in 1978 and her J.D. from Oral Roberts University's Coburn School of Law. She also earned an L.L.M. from the College of William and Mary in 1988. Prior to her political career, Bachmann worked as a tax attorney in the US Treasury Department.[4]

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Bachmann's professional and political career[4]:

  • Minnesota State Senate, 2001-2007
  • U.S. House of Representatives, 6th Congressional District of Minnesota, 2007-Present

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Bachmann serves on the following committees:[5]

2011-2012

Bachmann served on the following House committees[6]:

Issues

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Voted "No" Bachmann 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. She was one of 151 Republicans that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.[7]

Elections

2014

See also: Minnesota's 6th congressional district elections, 2014

A May 15, 2013 poll by Public Policy Polling showed Jim Graves, Bachmann's likely Democratic challenger in 2014, leading Bachmann 47% to 45%, respectively, with a 4.4 point margin of error. This race would be a rematch of the 2012 election, one that Graves lost by 1.2%. Bachmann has already started to run campaign ads.[8]

Bachmann is also under FBI scrutiny over campaign funding misuse related to her 2012 presidential campaign. Andy Parrish, her former chief of staff has reportedly said in a sworn affidavit that Bachmann "knew and approved of" payments to Iowa state Senator Kent Sorenson. Legislators are not allowed to be employed by political campaigns. Peter Waldron, national field coordinator in Iowa for Bachmann's campaign, filed a FEC complaint alleging that Bachmann paid Sorenson and misused leadership PAC funds to pay campaign staff, including consultant Guy Short.[9]

In addition, Bachmann is also facing an investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics over the campaign funding misuse allegations. Both Soreson and Bachmann deny any payments were made.[10]

2012

Congressional run

See also: Minnesota's 6th congressional district elections, 2012

Bachmann ran successfully for re-election for the 6th congressional district. She defeated Aubrey Immelman and Stephen Thompson in the Republican primary. She defeated Jim Graves in the November general election.[11]

U.S. House, Minnesota, District 6, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark.jpgMichele Bachmann Incumbent 50.5% 179,240
     Democratic Jim Graves 49.3% 174,944
     NA Write-in 0.3% 969
Total Votes 355,153
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State, "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Presidential run

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Bachmann launched her campaign to run in the 2012 presidential election on June 13, 2011.[12] After finishing in sixth place in the Iowa caucuses, she suspended her campaign, making the announcement on January 4, 2012. She received only 5 percent of the vote in her home state of Iowa.[13]

2010

On November 2, 2010, Bachmann won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. She defeated Tarryl Clark (D), Aubrey Immelman (I), Bob Anderson (I), and Dennis S. Ferche (I) in the general election.[14]

U.S. House of Representatives, Minnesota's 6th Congressional District, General Election, 2010
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark.jpgMichele Bachmann Incumbent 52.5% 159,476
     Democratic Tarryl Clark 39.8% 120,846
     Independent Aubrey Immelman 1.8% 5,490
     Independent Bob Anderson 5.8% 17,698
     Independent Write-In 0.1% 178
     Independent Dennis S. Ferche 0% 3
Total Votes 303,691

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Bachmann is available dating back to 2006. Based on available campaign finance records, Bachmann raised a total of $34,679,659 during that time period. This information was last updated on May 16, 2013.[15]

Michele Bachmann's Campaign Contribution History
Year Office Result Contributions
2012 U.S. House (Minnesota, District 6) Won $14,995,937
2010 U.S. House (Minnesota, District 6) Won $13,562,811
2008 U.S. House (Minnesota, District 6) Won $3,494,045
2006 U.S. House (Minnesota, District 6) Won $2,626,866
Grand Total Raised $34,679,659

2012

Breakdown of funds according to source.

Bachmann won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012. During that election cycle, Bachmann's campaign committee raised a total of $23,038,933 and spent $22,725,128.[16]

2010

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

Bachmann won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. During that re-election cycle, Bachmann's campaign committee raised a total of $13,562,811 and spent $11,661,973.[17]

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

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

According to the website GovTrack, Bachmann missed 562 of 5,229 roll call votes from Jan 2007 to Apr 2013, which is 10.7% of votes during that period. This is worse than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving.[18]

Congressional Staff Salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Bachmann paid her congressional staff a total of $891,620 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.[19]

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, Bachmann's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $514,020 and $2,484,998. This averages to $1,499,509, which is a 0.1592% decrease since 2010. This is lower than the $7,859,232 average net worth for Republican representatives in 2011.[20]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Bachmann's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $912,018 to $2,654,998. This averages out to a net worth of $1,783,508, which is lower than the average net worth of Republicans in 2010 of $7,561,133.[21]

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, Bachmann was ranked the 80th most conservative representative during 2012.[22]

2011

According to the data released in 2012, Michele Bachmann was ranked the 101st most conservative representative during 2011.[23]

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, Michele Bachmann voted with the Republican Party 90.5% of the time, which ranked 190 among the 242 House Republican members in November 2011.[24]

Personal

Bachmann (nee Amble) has been married to her husband, Marcus, for over thirty years. They have five biological children and have raised twenty three foster children, and live in Stillwater, MN.[25]

See also

Recent news

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

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

Michele Bachmann News Feed


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

External links


References

  1. WBUR, "5 Things You May Not Know About Michele Bachmann," December 15, 2011
  2. ABC News, "General Election Results 2012-Minnesota," November 7, 2012
  3. Gov Track "Bachmann" Accessed May 23, 2012
  4. 4.0 4.1 Biographical Guide to Members of Congress "Michele Bachmann" Accessed December 10, 2011
  5. CQ.com, "House Committee Rosters for the 113th Congress"
  6. U.S. Congress House Clerk "House of Representatives Committee Assignments" Accessed December 3, 2011
  7. U.S. House "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff" Accessed January 4, 2013.
  8. Politco "Poll: Michele Bachmann in for tight fight", Accessed May 21, 2013
  9. Washington Post "FBI interested in Bachmann campaign finance case", Accessed May 21, 2013
  10. Washington Post "Michele Bachmann faces congressional ethics probe" Accessed May 21, 2013
  11. ABC News, "General Election Results 2012-Minnesota," November 7, 2012
  12. CNN "Rep. Michele Bachmann makes presidential run official," June 13, 2011
  13. ABC News "Michele Bachmann Drops Out of Presidential Race," January 4, 2012
  14. U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010" Accessed December 11, 2011
  15. Open Secrets "Michele Bachmann" Accessed May 16, 2013
  16. Open Secrets " 2012 Re-Election Cycle," Accessed February 15, 2013
  17. Open Secrets "Michele Bachmann 2010 Re-Election Cycle," Accessed December 11, 2011
  18. GovTrack, "Michele Bachmann" Accessed April 2013
  19. LegiStorm, "Michele Bachmann," Accessed October 8, 2012
  20. OpenSecrets.org, "Michele Bachmann (R-Minn), 2011,"
  21. OpenSecrets.org, "Michele Bachmann (R-Minn), 2010," Accessed October 8, 2012
  22. National Journal, "TABLE: House Liberal Scores by Issue Area," February 26, 2013
  23. National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," February 23, 2012
  24. Open Congress "Voting With Party"
  25. Official House Site "Biography," Accessed December 11, 2011
Political offices
Preceded by
Mark Kennedy
U.S. House of Representatives - Minneosta District 6
2007–present
Succeeded by
-
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Encyclopedia
Calendars
Get Involved
Donate
Toolbox