Maria Cantwell
Encyclopedia
Maria E. Cantwell is the junior United States Senator
from the state of Washington and a member of the Democratic Party
.
She previously served in the Washington House of Representatives
, and then in the United States House of Representatives
from from 1993 to 1995, after which she worked as an executive for RealNetworks
. She is Washington's second female senator, after Patty Murray
.
, Indiana
. She was raised in a predominantly Irish-American neighborhood on the south side of Indianapolis. Her father, Paul F. Cantwell, served as county commissioner, city councilman, state legislator, and Chief of Staff for U.S. Representative Andrew Jacobs, Jr.
Her mother, Rose M., was an administrative assistant.
She attended Emmerich Manual High School
and was inducted into the Indianapolis Public School Hall of Fame in 2006. After high school, Cantwell went to Miami University
in Oxford, Ohio, where she earned her bachelor of arts degree in public administration. She moved to Seattle
, Washington in 1983 to campaign for Alan Cranston
in his unsuccessful bid for the 1984 Democratic Presidential nomination. She then moved to the Seattle suburb of Mountlake Terrace
because it reminded her of Indianapolis, and led a successful campaign to build a new library there.
from Washington's first congressional district in 40 years. During her only term, she helped convince the Clinton
administration to drop its support of the Clipper chip
, voted in support of the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), and supported President Clinton's 1993 budget. Republican Rick White
used that vote to narrowly defeat her in the Republican landslide of 1994.
offered her a job as vice president of marketing for RealNetworks
. Among her accomplishments was the live internet streaming broadcast of a Mariners
-Yankees
baseball game in 1995. (Cantwell is an avid Mariners fan.)
In 1998, the company faced heavy criticism because privacy groups alleged that the RealJukebox software program incorporated spyware
to track unsuspecting users' listening patterns and download history. In response, RealNetworks amended its privacy policy
to fully disclose its privacy practices regarding user listening patterns. Subsequently, RealNetworks submitted to independent outside audits of its privacy practices. Several lawsuits regarding the alleged privacy violations were settled out of court. This incident has in part formed her views on privacy and thus her opposition to the Bush administration's post-9/11 policies.
Cantwell became a multimillionaire with the stock options from RealNetworks
. In August 2000, during her Senate campaign, Cantwell sold about 110,000 shares of RealNetworks stock at around $44/share.
and incumbent Republican Slade Gorton
. She committed to run for the position on January 19, 2000.
and cited her opposition to the Clipper chip
.
In her television advertisement late in the campaign, Senn accused Cantwell of avoiding debates. Cantwell had agreed to two debates; Senn preferred more. They ended up having three debates, during which the candidates harshly attacked each other. Senn attacked RealNetworks and Cantwell's role in the company. Cantwell accused Senn of wanting to run against RealNetworks and said that Senn was uninformed on internet issues.
Cantwell secured the endorsements of the Seattle Times
, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
, the Spokesman-Review
, and the News Tribune. She easily won her party's nomination, defeating Senn 3–1 in the primary. Although he won renomination, Slade Gorton got fewer votes than Cantwell and Senn's combined total. Cantwell cited this result as evidence that Washington was ready for a change.
, prescription drugs, dams
, and campaign finance reform
were among the most important issues in Cantwell's race against Gorton. Cantwell also adopted the slogan, "your voice for a change", a veiled reference to Gorton's campaign theme in 1980, challenging incumbent Warren Magnuson's age. She claimed Gorton supported "19th century solutions to 21st century problems".
Cantwell won the endorsements of The Seattle Times
and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
, the state's two biggest newspapers. Gorton won the Tri-City Herald
and the News Tribune.
At times the campaign was accused of pettiness. After a Cantwell campaign worker deep-linked
to a humorous photo on the Gorton website, Gorton accused Cantwell's campaign of hacking his website, and Senn accused Cantwell of hypocrisy. "Fiddling with people's websites and calling it good fun ... adds a very childish and unworthy character to the race," said Senn's campaign spokeswoman Barbara Stenson.
The election results were extremely close. Early on, Cantwell enjoyed a lead, and TV networks projected a Cantwell victory. As absentee ballots streamed in, Gorton overtook Cantwell and achieved a lead of 15,000 votes. When the heavily Democratic Puget Sound
region finished counting ballots and the county totals were certified on November 23, Cantwell had regained the lead; she was ahead by 1,953 votes out of 2.5 million cast, about 0.08%. A mandatory recount increased her lead to 2,229 votes, or 0.09%.
In 2000, Maria Cantwell and Debbie Stabenow
of Michigan became the first women to defeat incumbent senators.
s. When RealNetworks stock declined at the end of 2000, she spent time raising funds for debt retirement, although she kept her pledge not to accept PAC money, as documented by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics
.
In the waning weeks of the 2000 campaign, the Federal Election Commission
ruled that Cantwell violated federal campaign finance law by securing $3.8 million in bank loans for her campaign and failing to properly disclose the loans until January 30, 2001. The Federal Election Commission
sent a letter of admonishment.
and Republican Dino Rossi
suggested to many that the 2006 contest might go either way. Both Cantwell and her opponent Republican Mike McGavick
dominated their primaries; initial speculation favored a Republican victory. "At one point," wrote analyst Larry Sabato
, "all the talk in this race concerned Cantwell's cool relations with anti-war Democratic elements and McGavick's relatively united base. But Democrats appear to have closed ranks behind their junior senator." Cantwell ended up winning re-election by a 16 point margin, even winning several traditionally Republican counties in Eastern Washington including Spokane County.
During the 2006 campaign, Cantwell received heavy criticism for declining most of the invitations she received to debate McGavick in public forums. Media outlets across the state, including The Olympian
and the Yakima Herald-Republic
, rebuked Cantwell, claiming that she is afraid to confront McGavick, calling it "unacceptable" and "simply not fair." Cantwell agreed to a total of two debates with her opponent in Seattle and Spokane, lasting 60 and 30 minutes, respectively. However, when Cantwell ran as a challenger for the Senate against the incumbent Slade Gorton in 2000, Gorton only agreed to two debates of a similar format. In another comparison, when Washington's Senior Senator Patty Murray ran for re-election in 2004, she only agreed to two debates with George Nethercutt, although both debates lasted one hour.
Cantwell was a key proponent of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill
of 2002 and cosponsored the Clean Money, Clean Elections Act of 2001. In 2005 she wrote a letter in support of the Perkins Loan
program, and told the Seattle Times in July 2006 that she is opposed to Social Security
privatization. Cantwell cosponsored the "Pension Fairness and Full Disclosure Act of 2005".
Cantwell earned the endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters and other environmental groups for opposing oil drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
and by cosponsoring the Roadless Area Conservation Act, legislation aimed at preserving Washington's forests from logging and the building of paved roads. She has also worked to invest in alternative energy
and to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil, by sponsoring the Clean EDGE Act of 2006.
While she scores high on a progressive chart from ProgressivePunch.org, Cantwell has made several controversial votes during her time in the Senate that have created friction between her and members of the Democratic Party
.
On the issue of the Iraq war, on October 11, 2002 Cantwell voted in favor of the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq. Her October 10, 2002, press release, however, quotes her as stating on the floor of the U.S. Senate, "... Mr. President, my vote for this resolution does not mean that I am convinced of the Administration has answered all the questions. I believe the following issues must be addressed before the U.N. or the U.S. move forward with military action." Cantwell detailed six specific areas where her questions and concerns were as yet unanswered at the time of her vote to authorize war, i.e., "First: Continued Multilateral Approach ... Second: Successful Military Strategy ... Third: A Postwar Commitment Strategy ... Fourth: Fighting the Broader War on Terrorism ... Fifth: Maintaining Middle East Stability ... Sixth: Protecting Iraqi Civilians."
In 2006 Cantwell voted against the Kerry-Feingold Amendment to S.2766 that would have set a timetable for withdrawal, but in favor of the Levin-Reed Amendment that would encourage beginning a phased withdrawal by the end of the year, with no timetable for completion.
On the issue of abortion, Cantwell calls herself "100% pro-choice
", and she consistently supports the positions of the pro-choice movement. She was one of 34 senators to vote against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
of 2003, which passed and was signed into law by President Bush on November 5, 2003, and has been ruled against by multiple federal courts before finally being upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. She also voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act
, which made it an additional crime to kill or harm a fetus during a criminal assault upon the mother. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 61–38, and was signed into law by President Bush on April 1, 2004.
Cantwell is the chair of the Senate Democrats 20/20 Energy Independence campaign and is a co-chair of the Apollo Alliance
. One of Cantwell's main accomplishments was the passage of an amendment "To prevent energy market manipulation," which passed 57–40 in the Senate; a previous effort was defeated by a vote of 50–48.
In the summer of 2005, Cantwell voted for the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which angered many who opposed free trade agreements. Others argued that due to the state's unique economy, any senator from Washington almost had to vote for free trade pacts. Her votes on CAFTA, the PATRIOT Act, and Iraq prompted a 2006 Democratic primary challenge from Hong Tran
, a Seattle legal aid attorney, and a third party challenge from Aaron Dixon
, the former captain of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party
.
Citing his potential views on abortion and the environment, Cantwell was one of 22 senators to vote against United States Supreme Court nominee John Roberts.
In December 2005, Cantwell scored what many perceived as one of the strongest victories of her first term when she blocked Alaska
senator Ted Stevens
' efforts to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
. Stevens attached the measure to a bill that provided money for defense spending and Hurricane Katrina
recovery efforts. Cantwell managed to round up the votes of 41 Democrats and 2 Republicans, enough to block a final vote. Stevens removed the ANWR drilling measure from the larger bill, but promised to bring the matter up at a later date.
In January 2006, after publicly announcing her opposition to Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito
, Cantwell, along with 18 other Democrats and all 53 present Republicans, voted for the cloture
motion. The success of this motion ended an unlikely attempt to filibuster
the confirmation of Judge Alito that was being led by Senator John Kerry
and Senator Ted Kennedy
. Alito was confirmed the next day by a vote of 58–42, with most Democrats, including Cantwell, voting against the confirmation.
In May 2006, Cantwell, along with 38 of 44 Senate Democrats, voted in favor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S. 2611
). This controversial legislation includes provisions to improve border security, increases fines and other punishments for employers of illegal immigrants, creation of a guest worker program (which includes an almost doubling of the number of H1-B visas
), and creates a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country. The bill, with support from Republican Party
leadership, passed 62–36.
On December 31, 2007, Cantwell became the 10th senator to endorse Hillary Clinton's candidacy to become the Democratic nominee for President of the United States
. Cantwell supported Clinton through the duration of the primary season, but she had vowed to vote for the winner of the pledged delegates. After Clinton's concession on June 7, Cantwell endorsed Obama. At the Washington State Democratic Convention on June 15, Cantwell added: "I do want to see a strong Democratic woman in the White House ... That's why I'm so glad Michelle Obama will be the next first lady."
policy in the military. Debate would have also commenced on the DREAM Act
, though this was halted due to a Republican filibuster
.
and was a co-sponsor of Senator Ron Wyden
's (D-OR) Healthy Americans Act
. In her role as a member of the Finance Committee, she had an influential role in crafting health care reform legislation. On September 29, 2009, when the Finance Committee considered health care reform legislation, Cantwell supported amendments to establish a public health care option that would compete with private insurers.
es on oil profits, Cantwell has drawn scathing criticism from the Wall Street Journal.
Cantwell received the highest rating possible from the League of Conservation Voters
for her environmental voting record. She is known for supporting alternative energy research and for protecting Washington's forests from logging and the construction of paved roads and has earned endorsement from various prominent environmental advocacy groups and other environmental groups. She has opposed drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
on multiple occasions, has voted to reduce oil usage by 40% by 2025, and has opposed legislation to relax or terminate CAFE standards. The Seattle Times has described Cantwell's environmental record as "pristine", and the Wilderness Society
has described Cantwell as an "environmental champion".
The Cantwell-Collins bill (S. 2877), also called the Carbon Limits and Energy for America's Renewal (CLEAR) Act, directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a program to regulate the entry of fossil carbon into commerce in the United States, to promote renewable-energy jobs and economic growth. The bill is bipartisan with Susan Collins
, a Republican
from Maine
.
to raise $100,000 for Darcy Burner
, Peter Goldmark, and Richard Wright, all of whom were facing tough House races in Washington State. In the 2008 cycle, Cantwell was particularly committed to supporting the re-election of Senator Mary Landrieu
of Louisiana
.
, Cantwell released a statement expressing her sadness at the verdict, saying that she had "serious questions about the Italian justice system and whether anti-Americanism
tainted [the] trial". She stated that evidence against Knox was insufficient, that Knox had been subjected to "harsh treatment" following her arrest and that there had been "negligence" in the handling of evidence. She also complained that jurors had not been sequestered, allowing them to view "negative news coverage" about Knox and that one of the prosecutors had a misconduct case pending in relation to another trial.
Cantwell said she would seek assistance from Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton
. A spokesman for the State Department stated in December 2009 that the Department had followed the case closely and would continue to do so. He added: "It is still in the early days but ... we haven't received any indications necessarily that Italian law was not followed".
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from the state of Washington and a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
.
She previously served in the Washington House of Representatives
Washington House of Representatives
The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, the legislature of the U.S. State of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 districts, each of which elects two members. All members of the House are elected to a two-year term without...
, and then in the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from from 1993 to 1995, after which she worked as an executive for RealNetworks
RealNetworks
RealNetworks, Inc. is a provider of Internet media delivery software and services based in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. The company is the creator of RealAudio, a compressed audio format; RealVideo, a compressed video format; RealPlayer, a media player; RealDownloader, a download...
. She is Washington's second female senator, after Patty Murray
Patty Murray
Patricia Lynn "Patty" Murray is the senior United States Senator from Washington and a member of the Democratic Party. Murray was first elected to the Senate in 1992, becoming Washington's first female senator...
.
Early life
Cantwell was born in IndianapolisIndianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. She was raised in a predominantly Irish-American neighborhood on the south side of Indianapolis. Her father, Paul F. Cantwell, served as county commissioner, city councilman, state legislator, and Chief of Staff for U.S. Representative Andrew Jacobs, Jr.
Andrew Jacobs, Jr.
Andrew Jacobs, Jr. usually known as Andy Jacobs is a lawyer and a former Indiana state legislator and Congressman who served for thirty years. His father, Andrew Jacobs, was also a congressman for one term. He was married to one time House colleague Martha Keys of Kansas...
Her mother, Rose M., was an administrative assistant.
She attended Emmerich Manual High School
Emmerich Manual High School
Emmerich Manual High School is a public high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. It is one of five traditional high schools in the Indianapolis Public Schools district.-Establishment and History:...
and was inducted into the Indianapolis Public School Hall of Fame in 2006. After high school, Cantwell went to Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
in Oxford, Ohio, where she earned her bachelor of arts degree in public administration. She moved to Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Washington in 1983 to campaign for Alan Cranston
Alan Cranston
Alan MacGregor Cranston was an American journalist and Democratic Senator from California.-Education:Cranston earned his high school diploma from the old Mountain View High School, where among other things, he was a track star...
in his unsuccessful bid for the 1984 Democratic Presidential nomination. She then moved to the Seattle suburb of Mountlake Terrace
Mountlake Terrace, Washington
Mountlake Terrace is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It lies east of Edmonds, Washington, south of Lynnwood, Washington, and west of Brier, Washington. Its southern boundary runs along the King County line. Interstate 5 runs north-south through the city, and services the city...
because it reminded her of Indianapolis, and led a successful campaign to build a new library there.
Early political career
In 1986, Cantwell was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives at the age of 28. In her campaign, she embarked on an extensive door-knocking effort in her district. As a state representative, she helped write Washington's Growth Management Act of 1990, which required cities to develop comprehensive growth plans, and she negotiated its passage. She also worked on legislation regulating nursing homes. In 1992, Cantwell became the first Democrat elected to the United States House of RepresentativesUnited States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from Washington's first congressional district in 40 years. During her only term, she helped convince the Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
administration to drop its support of the Clipper chip
Clipper chip
The Clipper chip was a chipset that was developed and promoted by the U.S. National Security Agency as an encryption device to be adopted by telecommunications companies for voice transmission...
, voted in support of the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
(NAFTA), and supported President Clinton's 1993 budget. Republican Rick White
Rick White (politician)
Richard Alan White is an American politician, who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. He represented of Washington as a Republican, earning close ties with the Christian Coalition....
used that vote to narrowly defeat her in the Republican landslide of 1994.
In the private sector
After her defeat, Cantwell vowed to leave politics. Political ally Rob GlaserRob Glaser
Rob Glaser is the founder of RealNetworks which produces RealAudio, RealVideo, RealPlayer, and Helix, among other products and services...
offered her a job as vice president of marketing for RealNetworks
RealNetworks
RealNetworks, Inc. is a provider of Internet media delivery software and services based in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. The company is the creator of RealAudio, a compressed audio format; RealVideo, a compressed video format; RealPlayer, a media player; RealDownloader, a download...
. Among her accomplishments was the live internet streaming broadcast of a Mariners
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...
-Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
baseball game in 1995. (Cantwell is an avid Mariners fan.)
In 1998, the company faced heavy criticism because privacy groups alleged that the RealJukebox software program incorporated spyware
Spyware
Spyware is a type of malware that can be installed on computers, and which collects small pieces of information about users without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user, and can be difficult to detect. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user's...
to track unsuspecting users' listening patterns and download history. In response, RealNetworks amended its privacy policy
Privacy policy
Privacy policy is a statement or a legal document that discloses some or all of the ways a party gathers, uses, discloses and manages a customer or client's data...
to fully disclose its privacy practices regarding user listening patterns. Subsequently, RealNetworks submitted to independent outside audits of its privacy practices. Several lawsuits regarding the alleged privacy violations were settled out of court. This incident has in part formed her views on privacy and thus her opposition to the Bush administration's post-9/11 policies.
Cantwell became a multimillionaire with the stock options from RealNetworks
RealNetworks
RealNetworks, Inc. is a provider of Internet media delivery software and services based in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. The company is the creator of RealAudio, a compressed audio format; RealVideo, a compressed video format; RealPlayer, a media player; RealDownloader, a download...
. In August 2000, during her Senate campaign, Cantwell sold about 110,000 shares of RealNetworks stock at around $44/share.
2000 campaign
At the urging of party activists and officials, Cantwell formed an exploratory committee in October 1999 to consider a run for United States Senate against Democrat Deborah SennDeborah Senn
Deborah Senn is a Washington politician. She was the Insurance Commissioner and ran in the 2000 US Senate Democratic primary election, losing to Maria Cantwell. In 2004, she unsuccessfully ran for Attorney General against Rob McKenna. Senn also has been partner in a law firm.-References:...
and incumbent Republican Slade Gorton
Slade Gorton
Thomas Slade Gorton III is an American politician. A Republican, he was a U.S. senator from Washington state from 1981 to 1987, and from 1989 to 2001. He held both of the state's Senate seats in his career and was narrowly defeated for reelection twice as an incumbent: in 1986 by Brock Adams, and...
. She committed to run for the position on January 19, 2000.
Primary
Cantwell entered the campaign a year in after Senn; she quickly lost the endorsements by the Washington State Labor Council and NARAL to Senn. Early on, privacy became an issue. Senn cited her record protecting medical privacy as insurance commissioner. Cantwell promoted internet privacyInternet privacy
Internet privacy involves the right or mandate of personal privacy concerning the storing, repurposing, providing to third-parties, and displaying of information pertaining to oneself via the Internet. Privacy can entail both Personally Identifying Information or non-PII information such as a...
and cited her opposition to the Clipper chip
Clipper chip
The Clipper chip was a chipset that was developed and promoted by the U.S. National Security Agency as an encryption device to be adopted by telecommunications companies for voice transmission...
.
In her television advertisement late in the campaign, Senn accused Cantwell of avoiding debates. Cantwell had agreed to two debates; Senn preferred more. They ended up having three debates, during which the candidates harshly attacked each other. Senn attacked RealNetworks and Cantwell's role in the company. Cantwell accused Senn of wanting to run against RealNetworks and said that Senn was uninformed on internet issues.
Cantwell secured the endorsements of the Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
, the Spokesman-Review
Spokesman-Review
The Spokesman-Review is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, where it is the city's only daily publication. It has the third highest readership among daily newspapers in Washington, with most of its readership base in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.-History:The...
, and the News Tribune. She easily won her party's nomination, defeating Senn 3–1 in the primary. Although he won renomination, Slade Gorton got fewer votes than Cantwell and Senn's combined total. Cantwell cited this result as evidence that Washington was ready for a change.
General election
Social securitySocial Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
, prescription drugs, dams
DAMS
Driot-Arnoux Motorsport is a racing team from France, involved in many areas of motorsports. DAMS was founded in 1988 by Jean-Paul Driot and former Formula One driver René Arnoux. It is headquartered near Le Mans, only 2 km from the Bugatti Circuit.- History :The year after its foundation,...
, and campaign finance reform
Campaign finance reform
Campaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in politics, primarily in political campaigns....
were among the most important issues in Cantwell's race against Gorton. Cantwell also adopted the slogan, "your voice for a change", a veiled reference to Gorton's campaign theme in 1980, challenging incumbent Warren Magnuson's age. She claimed Gorton supported "19th century solutions to 21st century problems".
Cantwell won the endorsements of The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
, the state's two biggest newspapers. Gorton won the Tri-City Herald
Tri-City Herald
The Tri-City Herald is a daily newspaper based in Kennewick, Washington, in the United States. Owned by The McClatchy Company, the newspaper serves southeastern Washington, including the three communities of Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland ....
and the News Tribune.
At times the campaign was accused of pettiness. After a Cantwell campaign worker deep-linked
Deep linking
On the World Wide Web, deep linking is making a hyperlink that points to a specific page or image on a website, instead of that website's main or home page. Such links are called deep links.-Example:...
to a humorous photo on the Gorton website, Gorton accused Cantwell's campaign of hacking his website, and Senn accused Cantwell of hypocrisy. "Fiddling with people's websites and calling it good fun ... adds a very childish and unworthy character to the race," said Senn's campaign spokeswoman Barbara Stenson.
The election results were extremely close. Early on, Cantwell enjoyed a lead, and TV networks projected a Cantwell victory. As absentee ballots streamed in, Gorton overtook Cantwell and achieved a lead of 15,000 votes. When the heavily Democratic Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
region finished counting ballots and the county totals were certified on November 23, Cantwell had regained the lead; she was ahead by 1,953 votes out of 2.5 million cast, about 0.08%. A mandatory recount increased her lead to 2,229 votes, or 0.09%.
In 2000, Maria Cantwell and Debbie Stabenow
Debbie Stabenow
Deborah Ann Greer "Debbie" Stabenow is the junior United States Senator from Michigan and a member of the Democratic Party. Before her election to the U.S. Senate, she was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Michigan's 8th congressional district from 1997 to 2001...
of Michigan became the first women to defeat incumbent senators.
Campaign finance
Cantwell spent over $10 million of her own money on her campaign, pledging not to accept money from PACPolitical action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
s. When RealNetworks stock declined at the end of 2000, she spent time raising funds for debt retirement, although she kept her pledge not to accept PAC money, as documented by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics
Center for Responsive Politics
The Center for Responsive Politics is a non-profit, nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics and the effect of money and lobbying activity on elections and public policy and maintains a public online database of its information.Their database...
.
In the waning weeks of the 2000 campaign, the Federal Election Commission
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...
ruled that Cantwell violated federal campaign finance law by securing $3.8 million in bank loans for her campaign and failing to properly disclose the loans until January 30, 2001. The Federal Election Commission
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...
sent a letter of admonishment.
2006 re-election campaign
The close 2004 gubernatorial race between Democrat Christine GregoireChristine Gregoire
Christine O'Grady "Chris" Gregoire is the 22nd and current Governor of the state of Washington, and a member of the Democratic Party. Gregoire defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and again in 2008. She is the second female governor of Washington...
and Republican Dino Rossi
Dino Rossi
Dino Rossi is an American commercial real estate executive, former Washington State Senator, two-time Republican candidate for Governor of Washington, and former Republican candidate for United States Senate. His first run for the Governor's mansion in the 2004 election became the closest...
suggested to many that the 2006 contest might go either way. Both Cantwell and her opponent Republican Mike McGavick
Mike McGavick
Michael S. "Mike" McGavick is an American business executive and a graduate of the University of Washington....
dominated their primaries; initial speculation favored a Republican victory. "At one point," wrote analyst Larry Sabato
Larry Sabato
Larry Joseph Sabato is an American political scientist and analyst. He is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, and director of its Center for Politics. He founded Sabato's Crystal Ball, an online newsletter and website that provides free political analysis and...
, "all the talk in this race concerned Cantwell's cool relations with anti-war Democratic elements and McGavick's relatively united base. But Democrats appear to have closed ranks behind their junior senator." Cantwell ended up winning re-election by a 16 point margin, even winning several traditionally Republican counties in Eastern Washington including Spokane County.
During the 2006 campaign, Cantwell received heavy criticism for declining most of the invitations she received to debate McGavick in public forums. Media outlets across the state, including The Olympian
The Olympian
The Olympian is a McClatchy newspaper in Olympia, Washington, in the United States.-History:The Olympian started in 1860 as "The Washington Standard" a weekly paper. Daily papers did not start until February 1889. The Olympian started daily service as a way to lead the crusade to make Olympia the...
and the Yakima Herald-Republic
Yakima Herald-Republic
The Yakima Herald-Republic is a newspaper published in Yakima, Washington and distributed throughout Yakima, Kittitas and Klickitat counties as well as northwest Benton County. It is Washington state's seventh largest daily newspaper. The newspaper traces its roots to the late 19th...
, rebuked Cantwell, claiming that she is afraid to confront McGavick, calling it "unacceptable" and "simply not fair." Cantwell agreed to a total of two debates with her opponent in Seattle and Spokane, lasting 60 and 30 minutes, respectively. However, when Cantwell ran as a challenger for the Senate against the incumbent Slade Gorton in 2000, Gorton only agreed to two debates of a similar format. In another comparison, when Washington's Senior Senator Patty Murray ran for re-election in 2004, she only agreed to two debates with George Nethercutt, although both debates lasted one hour.
Cantwell was a key proponent of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of political campaigns. Its chief sponsors were Senators Russell Feingold and John McCain...
of 2002 and cosponsored the Clean Money, Clean Elections Act of 2001. In 2005 she wrote a letter in support of the Perkins Loan
Federal Perkins Loan
A Federal Perkins Loan, or Perkins Loan, is a need-based student loan offered by the U.S. Department of Education to assist American college students in funding their post-secondary education. The program is named after Carl D. Perkins, a former member of the U.S...
program, and told the Seattle Times in July 2006 that she is opposed to Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
privatization. Cantwell cosponsored the "Pension Fairness and Full Disclosure Act of 2005".
Cantwell earned the endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters and other environmental groups for opposing oil drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...
and by cosponsoring the Roadless Area Conservation Act, legislation aimed at preserving Washington's forests from logging and the building of paved roads. She has also worked to invest in alternative energy
Alternative energy
Alternative energy is an umbrella term that refers to any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel sources without the undesired consequences of the replaced fuels....
and to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil, by sponsoring the Clean EDGE Act of 2006.
Committee assignments
- Sen. Cantwell currently serves on these Committees and Subcommittees in the 112th United States Congress112th United States CongressThe One Hundred Twelfth United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 2011, and will end on January...
:- Committee on Commerce, Science and TransportationUnited States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and TransportationThe United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate in charge of all senate matters related to the following subjects:* Coast Guard* Coastal zone management* Communications...
- Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and SecurityUnited States Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and SecurityThe Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security is one of the seven subcommittees within the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation-Members, 112th Congress:...
(Chairwoman) - Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
- Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast GuardUnited States Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast GuardThe Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard is one of the seven subcommittees within the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation-Members, 112th Congress:...
- Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and InnovationUnited States Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and InnovationThe Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology is one of the seven subcommittees within the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation...
- Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
- Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
- Committee on Energy and Natural ResourcesUnited States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural ResourcesThe United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has jurisdiction over matters related to energy and nuclear waste policy, territorial policy, native Hawaiian matters, and public lands....
- Subcommittee on EnergyUnited States Senate Energy Subcommittee on EnergySenate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy is one of four subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.-Jurisdiction:...
(Chairwoman) - Subcommittee on Public Lands and ForestsUnited States Senate Energy Subcommittee on Public Lands and ForestsSenate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests is one of four subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Water and PowerUnited States Senate Energy Subcommittee on Water and PowerSenate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power is one of four subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Energy
- Committee on FinanceUnited States Senate Committee on FinanceThe U.S. Senate Committee on Finance is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The Committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generally, and those relating to the insular possessions; bonded debt of the United States; customs, collection...
- Subcommittee on Health CareUnited States Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health CareThe Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care is one of the six subcommittees within the Senate Committee on Finance-Members, 112th Congress:The subcommittee is chaired by Democrat Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, and the Ranking Minority Member is Vacant....
- Subcommittee on Taxation, IRS Oversight, and Long-Term GrowthUnited States Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation, IRS Oversight, and Long-Term GrowthThe Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight is one of the six subcommittees within the Senate Committee on Finance-Members, 112th Congress:...
- Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and InfrastructureUnited States Senate Finance Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and InfrastructureThe Senate Finance Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure is one of the six subcommittees within the Senate Committee on Finance-Members, 112th Congress:...
- Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
- Subcommittee on Health Care
- Committee on Indian AffairsUnited States Senate Committee on Indian AffairsThe Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is a committee of the United States Senate charged with oversight in matters related to the American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples. A Committee on Indian Affairs existed from 1820 to 1947, after which it was folded into the Committee on...
- Committee on Small Business and EntrepreneurshipUnited States Senate Committee on Small Business and EntrepreneurshipThe U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over the Small Business Administration and is also charged with researching and investigating all problems of American small business enterprises.-History:The...
- Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
Approval ratings
| Source | Date | Approve | Disapprove | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Survey USA | March 19, 2010 | 38% | 49% | 13% |
| Survey USA | May 9, 2010 | 45% | 47% | 8% |
| Survey USA | May 20, 2010 | 50% | 43% | 8% |
Political views
Cantwell serves on the Finance Committee, the Indian Affairs Committee, the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. She also served on the Judiciary Committee during her first two years (2001–2002).While she scores high on a progressive chart from ProgressivePunch.org, Cantwell has made several controversial votes during her time in the Senate that have created friction between her and members of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
.
On the issue of the Iraq war, on October 11, 2002 Cantwell voted in favor of the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq. Her October 10, 2002, press release, however, quotes her as stating on the floor of the U.S. Senate, "... Mr. President, my vote for this resolution does not mean that I am convinced of the Administration has answered all the questions. I believe the following issues must be addressed before the U.N. or the U.S. move forward with military action." Cantwell detailed six specific areas where her questions and concerns were as yet unanswered at the time of her vote to authorize war, i.e., "First: Continued Multilateral Approach ... Second: Successful Military Strategy ... Third: A Postwar Commitment Strategy ... Fourth: Fighting the Broader War on Terrorism ... Fifth: Maintaining Middle East Stability ... Sixth: Protecting Iraqi Civilians."
In 2006 Cantwell voted against the Kerry-Feingold Amendment to S.2766 that would have set a timetable for withdrawal, but in favor of the Levin-Reed Amendment that would encourage beginning a phased withdrawal by the end of the year, with no timetable for completion.
On the issue of abortion, Cantwell calls herself "100% pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
", and she consistently supports the positions of the pro-choice movement. She was one of 34 senators to vote against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 is a United States law prohibiting a form of late-term abortion that the Act calls "partial-birth abortion", often referred to in medical literature as intact dilation and extraction...
of 2003, which passed and was signed into law by President Bush on November 5, 2003, and has been ruled against by multiple federal courts before finally being upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. She also voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act
Unborn Victims of Violence Act
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 is a United States law which recognizes a "child in utero" as a legal victim, if he or she is injured or killed during the commission of any of over 60 listed federal crimes of violence...
, which made it an additional crime to kill or harm a fetus during a criminal assault upon the mother. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 61–38, and was signed into law by President Bush on April 1, 2004.
Cantwell is the chair of the Senate Democrats 20/20 Energy Independence campaign and is a co-chair of the Apollo Alliance
Apollo Alliance
The Apollo Alliance is a project organized by the Institute for America's Future and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy. The Alliance is a project of the Tides Center....
. One of Cantwell's main accomplishments was the passage of an amendment "To prevent energy market manipulation," which passed 57–40 in the Senate; a previous effort was defeated by a vote of 50–48.
In the summer of 2005, Cantwell voted for the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which angered many who opposed free trade agreements. Others argued that due to the state's unique economy, any senator from Washington almost had to vote for free trade pacts. Her votes on CAFTA, the PATRIOT Act, and Iraq prompted a 2006 Democratic primary challenge from Hong Tran
Hong Tran
Hong Thi Tran was a candidate in the Washington Democratic Party primary election for the United States Senate in 2006, challenging incumbent Maria Cantwell. Tran received more than five percent of the Democratic vote, and her differing views from those of Maria Cantwell drew the attention of...
, a Seattle legal aid attorney, and a third party challenge from Aaron Dixon
Aaron Dixon
Aaron Dixon is an American activist and a former captain of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party for its initial four years. In 2006, he ran for the United States Senate in Washington state on the Green Party ticket....
, the former captain of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
.
Citing his potential views on abortion and the environment, Cantwell was one of 22 senators to vote against United States Supreme Court nominee John Roberts.
In December 2005, Cantwell scored what many perceived as one of the strongest victories of her first term when she blocked Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
senator Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens
Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens, Sr. was a United States Senator from Alaska, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009, and thus the longest-serving Republican senator in history...
' efforts to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...
. Stevens attached the measure to a bill that provided money for defense spending and Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
recovery efforts. Cantwell managed to round up the votes of 41 Democrats and 2 Republicans, enough to block a final vote. Stevens removed the ANWR drilling measure from the larger bill, but promised to bring the matter up at a later date.
In January 2006, after publicly announcing her opposition to Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito
Samuel Alito
Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006....
, Cantwell, along with 18 other Democrats and all 53 present Republicans, voted for the cloture
Cloture
In parliamentary procedure, cloture is a motion or process aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. It is also called closure or, informally, a guillotine. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. Clôture is French for "ending" or "conclusion"...
motion. The success of this motion ended an unlikely attempt to filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
the confirmation of Judge Alito that was being led by Senator John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
and Senator Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
. Alito was confirmed the next day by a vote of 58–42, with most Democrats, including Cantwell, voting against the confirmation.
In May 2006, Cantwell, along with 38 of 44 Senate Democrats, voted in favor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S. 2611
S. 2611
The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act was a United States Senate bill introduced in the 109th Congress by Sen. Arlen Specter [PA] on April 7, 2006. Co-sponsors, who signed on the same day, were Sen. Hagel [NE], Sen. Martinez [FL], Sen. McCain [AZ], Sen. Kennedy [MA], Sen. Graham [SC], and...
). This controversial legislation includes provisions to improve border security, increases fines and other punishments for employers of illegal immigrants, creation of a guest worker program (which includes an almost doubling of the number of H1-B visas
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
), and creates a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country. The bill, with support from Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
leadership, passed 62–36.
On December 31, 2007, Cantwell became the 10th senator to endorse Hillary Clinton's candidacy to become the Democratic nominee for President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. Cantwell supported Clinton through the duration of the primary season, but she had vowed to vote for the winner of the pledged delegates. After Clinton's concession on June 7, Cantwell endorsed Obama. At the Washington State Democratic Convention on June 15, Cantwell added: "I do want to see a strong Democratic woman in the White House ... That's why I'm so glad Michelle Obama will be the next first lady."
Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the DREAM Act
Cantwell voted in September 2010 to invoke cloture to begin debate on the don't ask, don't tellDon't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" was the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while...
policy in the military. Debate would have also commenced on the DREAM Act
DREAM Act
The DREAM Act is an American legislative proposal first introduced in the Senate on August 1, 2001 and most recently reintroduced there on May 11, 2011....
, though this was halted due to a Republican filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
.
Health care reform
Cantwell supports health care reform in the United StatesHealth care reform in the United States
Health care reform in the United States has a long history, of which the most recent results were two federal statutes enacted in 2010: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , signed March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 , which amended the PPACA and...
and was a co-sponsor of Senator Ron Wyden
Ron Wyden
Ronald Lee "Ron" Wyden is the senior U.S. Senator for Oregon, serving since 1996, and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1996....
's (D-OR) Healthy Americans Act
Healthy Americans Act
The Healthy Americans Act , also known as the Wyden-Bennett Act, is a Senate bill that proposes to improve health care in the United States by transitioning away from how currently employers typically purchase their employees' health insurance for them, to having individuals purchase their own...
. In her role as a member of the Finance Committee, she had an influential role in crafting health care reform legislation. On September 29, 2009, when the Finance Committee considered health care reform legislation, Cantwell supported amendments to establish a public health care option that would compete with private insurers.
Environmental views
In addition to her opposition to drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, Cantwell has been one of the most vocal critics of the increase of oil and gasoline prices during 2008. Advocating increased regulation of futures markets and windfall taxWindfall tax
In Australia, windfall tax may refer to either:* Commonwealth places windfall tax, imposed under the Commonwealth Places Windfall Tax Act 1998 and the Commonwealth Places Windfall Tax Act 1998...
es on oil profits, Cantwell has drawn scathing criticism from the Wall Street Journal.
Cantwell received the highest rating possible from the League of Conservation Voters
League of Conservation Voters
The League of Conservation Voters is a political advocacy organization founded in 1969 by American environmentalist David Brower in the early years of the environmental movement. LCV's mission is to "advocate for sound environmental policies and to elect pro-environmental candidates who will adopt...
for her environmental voting record. She is known for supporting alternative energy research and for protecting Washington's forests from logging and the construction of paved roads and has earned endorsement from various prominent environmental advocacy groups and other environmental groups. She has opposed drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...
on multiple occasions, has voted to reduce oil usage by 40% by 2025, and has opposed legislation to relax or terminate CAFE standards. The Seattle Times has described Cantwell's environmental record as "pristine", and the Wilderness Society
The Wilderness Society (United States)
The Wilderness Society is an American organization that is dedicated to protecting America's wilderness. It was formed in 1935 and currently has over 300,000 members and supporters.-Founding:The society was incorporated on January 21, 1935...
has described Cantwell as an "environmental champion".
The Cantwell-Collins bill (S. 2877), also called the Carbon Limits and Energy for America's Renewal (CLEAR) Act, directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a program to regulate the entry of fossil carbon into commerce in the United States, to promote renewable-energy jobs and economic growth. The bill is bipartisan with Susan Collins
Susan Collins
Susan Margaret Collins is the junior United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the Senate in 1996, she is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs...
, a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
from Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
.
Support for fellow Democrats
Cantwell is a major supporter of fellow Democrats running for office. In 2006, facing her own challenging race, Cantwell used ActBlueActBlue
ActBlue is a United States political committee established in June 2004 that enables anyone to fundraise on the Internet for the Democratic Party candidates of their choice....
to raise $100,000 for Darcy Burner
Darcy Burner
Darcy Gibbons Burner is a Democrat from Carnation, Washington. She was a candidate for in 2006 and 2008, but lost to incumbent Dave Reichert in both elections. She worked for twelve years in high technology including five years at Microsoft as a Marketing Manager, working on .NET...
, Peter Goldmark, and Richard Wright, all of whom were facing tough House races in Washington State. In the 2008 cycle, Cantwell was particularly committed to supporting the re-election of Senator Mary Landrieu
Mary Landrieu
Mary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana and a member of the Democratic Party.Born in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana...
of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
Criticism of Amanda Knox guilty verdict
On 4 December 2009, the day that 22 year-old Washingtonian Amanda Knox was found guilty by an Italian court of the murder of Meredith KercherMurder of Meredith Kercher
The murder of Meredith Kercher occurred in Perugia, Italy, on 1 November 2007. Kercher, aged 21 at the time of her death, was a British university exchange student from Coulsdon, south London. She was found dead on the floor of her bedroom with stab wounds to the throat...
, Cantwell released a statement expressing her sadness at the verdict, saying that she had "serious questions about the Italian justice system and whether anti-Americanism
Anti-Americanism
The term Anti-Americanism, or Anti-American Sentiment, refers to broad opposition or hostility to the people, policies, culture or government of the United States...
tainted [the] trial". She stated that evidence against Knox was insufficient, that Knox had been subjected to "harsh treatment" following her arrest and that there had been "negligence" in the handling of evidence. She also complained that jurors had not been sequestered, allowing them to view "negative news coverage" about Knox and that one of the prosecutors had a misconduct case pending in relation to another trial.
Cantwell said she would seek assistance from Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
. A spokesman for the State Department stated in December 2009 that the Department had followed the case closely and would continue to do so. He added: "It is still in the early days but ... we haven't received any indications necessarily that Italian law was not followed".
Electoral history
External links
- United States Senator Maria Cantwell official U.S. Senate site
- Maria Cantwell official campaign site
- Profile at SourceWatchSourceWatchSourceWatch is an internet wiki site that is a collaborative project of the liberal Center for Media and Democracy...