Sheldon Whitehouse
| Sheldon Whitehouse | ||
 | ||
| U.S. Senate, Rhode Island | ||
| Incumbent | ||
| In office | ||
| 2007-Present | ||
| Term ends | ||
| January 3, 2019 | ||
| Years in position | 6 | |
| Party | Democratic | |
| Predecessor | Lincoln Chafee (R) | |
| Compensation | ||
| Base salary | $174,000/year | |
| Elections and appointments | ||
| Last election | November 6, 2012 | |
| First elected | November 7, 2006 | |
| Next election | November 2018 | |
| Campaign $ | $11,463,221 | |
| Term limits | N/A | |
| Prior offices | ||
| Attorney General, Rhode Island | ||
| 2000-2004 | ||
| Education | ||
| Bachelor's | Yale University, 1978 | |
| J.D. | University of Virginia School of Law, 1982 | |
| Personal | ||
| Birthday | October 20, 1955 | |
| Place of birth | New York, NY | |
| Net worth | $8,311,113 | |
| Religion | Episcopalian | |
| Websites | ||
| Office website | ||
| Campaign website | ||
Contents |
Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Whitehouse is a "far-left Democrat".[1]
Whitehouse ran for, and won re-election in 2012.[2][3]
Career
Below is an abbreviated outline of Whitehouse's academic, professional and political career:[4]
- 1978: Graduated from Yale University
- 1982: Received his J.D. from the University of Virginia
- 1992-1994: Served as director, Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation
- 1994-1998: Served as United States attorney
- 1999-2003: Served as Rhode Island State attorney general
- 2007-Present: U.S Senator from Rhode Island
Committee assignments
U.S. Senate
2013-2014
Whitehouse serves on the following committees[5]:
- United States Senate Committee on Budget
- United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
- Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife
- Subcommittee on Oversight
- Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
- United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
- Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging
- Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety
- United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
- Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism Chair
- Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law
- Bankruptcy and the Courts subcommittee
- United States Special Committee on Aging
2011-2012
Issues
Senate Judiciary Committee
Sheldon Whitehouse was first appointed to the Senate Judiciary Committee shortly after he was sworn into the Senate in 2007[6].
Senator Whitehouse is the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts. In addition, Senator Whitehouse serves on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittees on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, The Constitution, Immigration, and Refugees and Border Security[7]
2012 Campaign themes
According to Sheldon Whitehouse's website, his campaign themes included:
- Jobs; "...focused on creating Rhode Island's clean energy jobs of the future, and has introduced a bill to end corporate tax breaks companies receive when they ship jobs overseas."
- Seniors; "...a co-founder of the Defend Social Security Caucus, he will always fight against attempts to risk Social Security on Wall Street."
- Siding with Consumers and Homeowners; "...supporting legislation to give homeowners more leverage to renegotiate mortgages and standing up for consumers victimized when credit card companies raise interest rates through the roof."[8]
Fiscal Cliff
Whitehouse 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.[9]
Elections
2012
Whitehouse won re-election in 2012. He defeated B. Barrett Hinckley, III (R) and various write-in challengers in the general election.
| U.S. Senate, Rhode Island, General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Sheldon Whitehouse Incumbent |
64.8% | 271,034 | |
| Republican | B. Barrett Hinckley, III | 35% | 146,222 | |
| Write-in | N/A | 0.2% | 933 | |
| Total Votes | 418,189 | |||
| Source: Rhode Island Board of Elections "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Full history
To view the full congressional electoral history for Sheldon Whitehouse, click [show] to expand the section. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Polls
| Democratic Primary for Congress | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response | "Campaign 2012 Exclusive Poll" February 20-23 | Average | ||||||||||||
| Sheldon Whitehouse | 50.1% | 50.1% | ||||||||||||
| Barry Hinckley | 27.8% | 27.8% | ||||||||||||
| Not sure | 19.6% | 19.6% | ||||||||||||
| Refused | 2.5% | 2.5% | ||||||||||||
| Number polled | 511 | 511 | ||||||||||||
| Margin of error | +/-4.4 | 4.4% | ||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org | ||||||||||||||
Campaign donors
Comprehensive donor information for Whitehouse is available dating back to 2006. Based on available campaign finance records, Whitehouse raised a total of $11,463,221 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 22, 2013.[11]
| Sheldon Whitehouse's Campaign Contribution History | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Office | Result | Contributions | |
| 2012 | US Senate (Rhode Island) |  |
$4,883,464 | |
| 2006 | US Senate (Rhode Island) | |
$6,579,757 | |
| Grand Total Raised | $11,463,221 | |||
2012
Whitehouse won election to the U.S. Senate in 2012. During that election cycle, Whithouse's campaign committee raised a total of $4,883,464 and spent $4,933,336.[12]
| U.S. Senate, Rhode Island, 2012 - Sheldon Whitehouse Campaign Contributions | |
|---|---|
| Total Raised | $4,883,464 |
| Total Spent | $4,933,336 |
| Total Raised by Election Runner-up | $1,733,869 |
| Total Spent by Election Runner-up | $1,667,195 |
| Top contributors to Sheldon Whitehouse's campaign committee | |
| Thorton & Naumes | $43,200 |
| Technology Crossover Ventures | $37,600 |
| Goldberg, Lindsay & Co | $34,200 |
| Intellectual Ventures LLC | $33,000 |
| Comcast Corp | $31,331 |
| Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee | |
| Lawyers/Law Firms | $735,723 |
| Securities & Investment | $363,791 |
| Leadership PACs | $316,500 |
| TV/Movies/Music | $262,294 |
| Retired | $243,010 |
Analysis
Congressional staff salaries
The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Whitehouse paid his congressional staff a total of $2,201,382 in 2011. He ranks 6th on the list of the lowest paid Democratic Senatorial Staff Salaries and he ranks 22nd overall of the lowest paid Senatorial Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, Rhode Island ranks 30th in average salary for senatorial staff. The average U.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.[13]
Net worth
Lifetime voting record
According to the website GovTrack, Whitehouse missed 22 of 1,935 roll call votes between January 2007 and April 2014. This amounts to 1.1%, which is better than the median of 1.7% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving as of April 2013.[14]
2011
Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Whitehouse's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $2,948,228 $13,673,998. That averages to $8,311,113.00, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Senators in 2011 of $20,795,450. His average net worth decreased 6.44% from 2010.[15]
2010
Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Whitehouse's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $3,475,226 and $14,290,999. That averages to $8,883,112.50, 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
2012
Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. In 2012, Whitehouse ranked 20 out of 52 Democratic Senators in the liberal rankings.[17][18]
2011
Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. In 2011, Whitehouse and fellow Democratic Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed both ranked 19th in the liberal rankings.[19]
Political positions
Percentage voting with party
The website Open Congress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Sheldon Whitehouse voted with the Democratic Party 98.0 of the time, which ranked 2 among the 52 Senate Democratic members in November 2011.[20]
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Sheldon + Whitehouse + Rhode Island + Senate
- All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.
Personal
Whitehouse and his wife, Sandra Thornton, have two children, Molly and Alexander.
External links
- Social media:
- Biographies:
- Political profiles:
- Fact-checking:
- Financial:
- Interest group ratings:
- Issue positions:
- Legislation:
- Public statements:
- Voting record:
- Works by or about:
- Media appearances:
- Media coverage:
References
- ↑ Gov Track "Sheldon Whitehouse," Accessed March 3, 2012
- ↑ WRNI Politics Blog "Whitehouse kicks off 2012 reelection campaign money chase," January 31, 2012
- ↑ Go Local Providence "Senate Battle Heats Up: Hinckley Blasts Whitehouse," Accessed February 18, 2012
- ↑ Biographical Director of the United States Congress "Sheldon Whitehouse," Accessed November 4, 2011
- ↑ Congressional Quarterly "Senate Committee List" Accessed January 22, 2013
- ↑ "Senate Judiciary Committee" List of past members
- ↑ "Senate Judiciary Committee" List of Subcommittees
- ↑ Whitehouse for Senate, "Issues," Accessed August 28, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Senate "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff" Accessed January 4, 2013.
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2006"
- ↑ Open Secrets "Career Fundraising for Sheldon Whitehouse," Accessed April 22, 2013
- ↑ Open Secrets "Sheldon Whitehouse's 2012 Election Cycle," Accessed March 4, 2013
- ↑ LegiStorm "Sheldon Whitehouse"
- ↑ GovTrack, "Sheldon Whitehouse," Accessed April 17, 2013
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Whitehouse, (D-RI), 2011"
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Whitehouse, (D-RI), 2010"
- ↑ National Journal, "TABLE: Senate Liberal Scores by Issue Area," February 21, 2013
- ↑ National Journal, "TABLE: Senate Conservative Scores by Issue Area," February 21, 2013
- ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," February 23, 2012
- ↑ Open Congress "Voting With Party"
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lincoln Chafee |
U.S. Senate - Rhode Island 2007-Present |
Succeeded by - |
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