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Carl Levin

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Carl Levin
Image of Carl Levin

Democratic Party

Prior offices
U.S. Senate Michigan
Successor: Gary Peters

Compensation

Net worth

(2012) $1,679,007

Education

Bachelor's

Swarthmore College

Law

Harvard Law School

Personal
Religion
Jewish
Profession
Attorney

Carl Milton Levin (b. June 28, 1934, in Detroit, MI - d. July 29, 2021, in Detroit, MI) was previously a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate from the state of Michigan. Levin was first elected to the Senate in 1978. Levin is the brother of Rep. Sandy Levin from Michigan's 9th Congressional District.[1]

Prior to his election to the Senate, Levin served on the Detroit City Council from 1969 to 1977. From 1974 to 1977 he served as its President.

On March 7, 2013, Levin announced that he will retire rather than seek re-election in 2014.[2][3]

Levin died on July 29, 2021.[4]

Biography

Levin was born in 1934 in Detroit, Michigan, where he also attended high school. He earned his B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1956 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1959. Levin has also worked as an attorney.[5]

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Levin's professional and political career:[5]

  • Assistant Attorney General and General Counsel for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission 1964-1967
  • Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Michigan and Chief Appellate Defender for the City of Detroit 1968-1969
  • Member, Detroit City Council 1969-1973
  • President, Detroit City Council 1974-1977
  • U.S. Senate, 1979-Present

Committee assignments

U.S. Senate

2013-2014

Levin served on the following Senate committees:[6]

2011-2012

Levin served on the following Senate committees:[7]

Key votes

113th Congress

The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 224 out of the 3215 introduced bills (7 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session.[8] The Senate confirmed 13,949 out of 18,323 executive nominations received (76.1 percent). For more information pertaining to Levin's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections.[9]

National security

American response in Syria

See also: United States involvement in Syria

Levin said on August 30, 2013, that any potential military intervention in Syria should come after the completion of U.N. inspections and that the effort would be blunted without the support of a "large number of nations."[10]

“I again expressed my view that the United States should not undertake a kinetic strike before the U.N. inspectors complete their work, and that the impact of such a strike would be weakened if it does not have the participation and support of a large number of nations, including Arab nations," Levin said in a statement. "I also urged the Administration to send a powerful message to the Assad regime by immediately getting lethal aid to vetted elements of the Syrian opposition. Doing so can change the balance militarily and also contribute to a political solution in Syria.”[10]

John Brennan CIA nomination

Yea3.png Levin voted for the confirmation of John Brennan as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The nomination was confirmed by the Senate on March 7, 2013, with a vote of 63 - 34. Most Democrats supported the nomination, while Republicans were somewhat divided with roughly one-third supporting the nomination.[11]

Economy

Farm bill

Yea3.png On February 4, 2014, the Democratic controlled Senate approved the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013, H.R. 2642, also known as the Farm Bill.[12] It passed the Senate with a vote of 68-32. The nearly 1,000-page bill reformed and continued various programs of the Department of Agriculture through 2018. The $1 trillion bill expanded crop insurance for farmers by $7 billion over the next decade and created new subsidies for rice and peanut growers that will kick in if or when prices drop; however, cuts to the food stamp program cut an average of $90 per month for 1.7 million people in 15 states.[13] Levin joined with 46 other Democratic senators in favor of the bill.

2014 Budget

Yea3.png On January 16, 2014, the Democratic-controlled Senate approved H.R. 3547, a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September 30, 2014.[14][15] The Senate voted 72-26 for the 1,582 page bill, with 17 Republicans and 55 Democrats voting in favor of the bill.[15] The omnibus package included 12 annual spending bills to fund federal operations.[16] It included a 1 percent increase in the paychecks of federal workers and military personnel, a $1 billion increase in Head Start funding for early childhood education, reduced funding to the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency and left the Affordable Care Act without any drastic cuts. Levin voted with the Democratic Party in favor of the bill.[14][15]

Government shutdown

See also: United States budget debate, 2013

Yea3.png During the shutdown in October 2013, the Senate rejected, down party lines, every House-originated bill that stripped the budget of funding for the Affordable Care Act. A deal was reached late on October 16, 2013, just hours before the debt ceiling deadline. The bill to reopen the government, H.R. 2775, lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies.[17] The final vote on H.R. 2775 was 81-18, with all 18 votes against the bill from Republican members. Levin voted with the Democratic Party for the bill.[18]

No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013

Yea3.png Levin voted for H.R.325 -- No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013. The bill passed the Senate on January 31, 2013, with a vote of 64 - 34. The purpose of the bill was to temporarily suspend the debt ceiling and withhold the pay of members of Congress until a budget could be passed. The vote largely followed party lines with Democrats overwhelmingly supporting it and many Republicans in opposition to the bill.[19]

Immigration

Mexico-U.S. border

Nay3.png Levin voted against Senate Amendment 1197 -- Requires the Completion of the Fence Along the United States-Mexico Border. The amendment was rejected by the Senate on June 18, 2013, with a vote of 39 - 54. The purpose of the amendment was to require the completion of 350 miles of fence described in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 before registered provisional immigrant status may be granted. It would also require 700 miles of fence be completed before the status of registered provisional immigrants may be changed to permanent resident status. The vote followed party lines.[20]

Social issues

Violence Against Women (2013)

Yea3.png Levin voted for S.47 -- Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. The bill was passed by the Senate on February 12, 2013, with a vote of 78 - 22. The purpose of the bill was to combat violence against women, from domestic violence to international trafficking in persons. All 22 dissenting votes were cast by Republicans.[21]

Previous congressional sessions

Fiscal Cliff

Yea3.png Levin 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 an 89 - 8 vote on January 1, 2013.[22]

Elections

2014

See also: United States Senate elections in Michigan, 2014

On March 7, 2013, Levin announced his plans to retire rather than seek re-election in 2014.[2]

2008

On November 4, 2008, Carl Levin won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Jack Hoogendyk, Jr. (R), Scotty Boman (L), Harley G. Mikkelson (G), Michael N. Nikitin (U.S. Taxpayers Party) and Doug Dern (Natural Law) in the general election.[23]

U.S. Senate, Michigan General Election, 2008
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngCarl Levin incumbent 62.7% 3,038,386
     Republican Jack Hoogendyk, Jr. 33.8% 1,641,070
     Libertarian Scotty Boman 1.6% 76,347
     Green Harley G. Mikkelson 0.9% 43,440
     U.S. Taxpayers Party Michael N. Nikitin 0.6% 30,827
     Natural Law Doug Dern 0.4% 18,550
Total Votes 4,848,620



Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Carl Levin campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2008U.S. Senate (Michigan)Won $8,632,073 N/A**
2002U.S. Senate (Michigan)Won $5,276,484 N/A**
Grand total$13,908,557 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Personal Gain Index

Congressional Personal Gain Index graphic.png
See also: Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress)

The Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress) is a two-part measurement that illustrates the extent to which members of the U.S. Congress have prospered during their tenure as public servants.
It consists of two different metrics:

PGI: Change in net worth

See also: Changes in Net Worth of U.S. Senators and Representatives (Personal Gain Index) and Net worth of United States Senators and Representatives
Net Worth Metric graphic.png

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Levin's net worth as of 2012 was estimated between $1,027,014 and $2,331,000. That averages to $1,679,007, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic senators in 2012 of $13,566,333. Levin ranked as the 56th most wealthy senator in 2012.[29] Between 2004 and 2012, Levin's calculated net worth[30] decreased by an average of 2 percent per year. Between 2004 and 2012, the average annual percentage increase for a member of Congress was 15.4 percent.[31]

Carl Levin Yearly Net Worth
YearAverage Net Worth
2004$1,991,282
2012$1,679,007
Growth from 2004 to 2012:−16%
Average annual growth:−2%[32]
Comparatively, the American citizen experienced a median yearly decline in net worth of -0.94%.[33]

The data used to calculate changes in net worth may include changes resulting from assets gained through marriage, inheritance, changes in family estates and/or trusts, changes in family business ownership, and many other variables unrelated to a member's behavior in Congress.

PGI: Donation Concentration Metric

See also: The Donation Concentration Metric (U.S. Congress Personal Gain Index)

Filings required by the Federal Election Commission report on the industries that give to each candidate. Using campaign filings and information calculated by OpenSecrets.org, Ballotpedia calculated the percentage of donations by industry received by each incumbent over the course of his or her career (or 1989 and later, if elected prior to 1988). In the 113th Congress, Levin was the chair of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services. Levin received the most donations from individuals and PACs employed by the Lawyers/Law Firms industry. Levin's second highest industry donor was Pro-Israel.

From 1989-2014, 22.58 percent of Levin's career contributions came from the top five industries as listed below.[34]

Donation Concentration Metric graphic.png
Carl Levin Campaign Contributions
Total Raised $27,102,767
Total Spent $25,899,736
Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee
Top five industries that contributed to campaign committee
Lawyers/Law Firms$2,142,738
Pro-Israel$1,404,375
Real Estate$1,122,909
Retired$905,564
Securities & Investment$544,435
% total in top industry7.91%
% total in top two industries13.09%
% total in top five industries22.58%

Analysis

Ideology and leadership

See also: GovTrack's Political Spectrum & Legislative Leadership ranking

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Levin was a rank-and-file Democrat as of July 2014.[35] This was the same rating Levin received in June 2013.

Like-minded colleagues

The website OpenCongress tracks the voting records of each member to determine with whom he or she votes most and least often. The results include a member from each party.[36]

Levin most often votes with:

Levin least often votes with:


Lifetime voting record

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

According to the website GovTrack, Levin missed 163 of 12,652 roll call votes from February 1979 to July 2014. This amounts to 1.3 percent, which is better than the median of 2.0 percent among current congressional senators as of July 2014.[37]

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Levin paid his congressional staff a total of $3,212,530 in 2011. He ranked 7th on the list of the highest paid Democratic senatorial staff salaries and ranked 9th overall of the highest paid senatorial staff salaries in 2011. Overall, Michigan ranked 6th in average salary for senatorial staff. The average U.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.[38]

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 in the previous year. Click the link above for the full ratings of all members of Congress.

2013

Levin ranked 28th in the liberal rankings in July 2014.[39]

2012

Levin ranked 49th in the liberal rankings in 2012.[40]

2011

Levin ranked 49th in the liberal rankings in 2011.[41]

Voting with party

The website OpenCongress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus.

2014

Levin voted with the Democratic Party 96.9 percent of the time, which ranked 13th among the 53 Senate Democratic members as of July 2014.[42]

2013

Levin voted with the Democratic Party 95.7 percent of the time, which ranked 17th among the 52 Senate Democratic members as of June 2013.[43]

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Levin has been married to his wife Barbara (nee Halpern) since 1961. They have three daughters and six grandchildren.[44]

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term Carl + Levin + Michigan + Senate


Carl Levin News Feed

See also

External links

 


Footnotes

  1. ↑ NPR, "Brothers Levin Near The End Of A 32-Year Congressional Partnership," January 28, 2014
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Washington Post, Sen. Carl Levin "(D-Mich.) won’t seek re-election in 2014," March 8, 2013
  3. ↑ POLITICO, "Michigan Sen. Carl Levin to retire," March 7, 2013
  4. ↑ NPR', "Former Sen. Carl Levin Dies At 87," July 29, 2021
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Biographical Guide to Members of Congress, "Carl Levin," accessed October 29, 2011
  6. ↑ Congressional Quarterly, "Senate Committee List," accessed January 22, 2013
  7. ↑ U.S. Senate Official Website, "Commmittee Assignments," accessed October 29, 2011
  8. ↑ Congressional Record, "Resume of Congressional Activity, First Session of the 112th Congress," accessed September 5, 2013
  9. ↑ Congressional Record, "Resume of Congressional Activity, Second Session of the 113th Congress," accessed March 4, 2014
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Talking Points Memo, "Levin: Syria Intervention Would Suffer Without Support Of ‘Large Number Of Nations’," accessed September 2, 2012
  11. ↑ Project Vote Smart, "PN 48 - Nomination of John Brennan to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency - Voting Record," accessed September 25, 2013
  12. ↑ Senate.gov, "H.R. 2642 (Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013)," accessed February 12, 2014
  13. ↑ NY Times, "Senate Passes Long-Stalled Farm Bill, With Clear Winners and Losers," accessed February 12, 2014
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Politico, "Senate approves $1.1 trillion spending bill," accessed January 20, 2014
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 U.S. Senate, "January 16 Vote," accessed January 20, 2014
  16. ↑ Roll Call, "House Passes $1.1 Trillion Omnibus," accessed January 20, 2014
  17. ↑ The Washington Post, "Reid, McConnell propose bipartisan Senate bill to end shutdown, extend borrowing," accessed October 16, 2013
  18. ↑ Senate.gov, "H.R. 2775 As Amended," accessed October 31, 2013
  19. ↑ Project Vote Smart, "HR 325 - To Ensure the Complete and Timely Payment of the Obligations of the United States Government Until May 19, 2013 - Voting Record," accessed September 25, 2013
  20. ↑ Project Vote Smart, "S Amdt 1197 - Requires the Completion of the Fence Along the United States-Mexico Border - Voting Record," accessed September 25, 2013
  21. ↑ Project Vote Smart, "S 47 - Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 - Voting Record," accessed September 25, 2013
  22. ↑ U.S. Senate, "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff," accessed January 4, 2013
  23. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 2008," accessed March 28, 2013
  24. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 2002," accessed March 28, 2013
  25. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 1996," accessed March 28, 2013
  26. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1990," accessed March 28, 2013
  27. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1984," accessed March 28, 2013
  28. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 1978," accessed March 28, 2013
  29. ↑ OpenSecrets, "Levin, (D-MI), 2012," accessed February 18, 2014
  30. ↑ This figure represents the average annual percentage growth from either 2004 (if the member entered office in 2004 or earlier) or their first year in office (as noted in the chart below) to 2012, divided by the number of years calculated.
  31. ↑ This number was found by dividing each member's total net worth growth percentage by the number of years included in the calculation.
  32. ↑ This figure represents the total percentage growth divided by the number of years for which there are net worth figures for each member.
  33. ↑ This figure was calculated using median asset data from the Census Bureau. Please see the Congressional Net Worth data for Ballotpedia spreadsheet for more information on this calculation.
  34. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Sen. Carl Levin," accessed September 25, 2014
  35. ↑ GovTrack, "Carl Levin," accessed July 30, 2014
  36. ↑ OpenCongress, "Carl Levin," accessed August 8, 2013
  37. ↑ GovTrack, "Carl Levin," accessed July 30, 2014
  38. ↑ LegiStorm, "Carl Levin," accessed April 15, 2012
  39. ↑ National Journal, "2013 Congressional Vote Ratings," accessed July 30, 2014
  40. ↑ National Journal, "TABLE: House Liberal Scores by Issue Area," February 26, 2013
  41. ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," accessed February 23, 2012
  42. ↑ OpenCongress, "Voting With Party," accessed July 2014
  43. ↑ OpenCongress, "Voting With Party," accessed July 2014
  44. ↑ Official Site, "About," accessed October 29, 2011
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