Michael Baumgartner is 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...

 member of the Washington State Senate

Washington State Senate

The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 senators, each representing a district with a population of nearly 120,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympia....

.

Early life, education, and career

He was born in Pullman

Pullman, Washington

Pullman is the largest city in Whitman County, Washington, United States. The population was 24,675 at the 2000 census and 29,799 according to the 2010 census...

. His mother was a Kindergarten

Kindergarten

A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

 teacher and his father was a professor of Forestry

Forestry

Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...

 and Natural Resource Sciences

Natural resource economics

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. He earned a scholarship

Scholarship

A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...

 to attend Washington State University

Washington State University

Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...

 (WSU). He graduated in 1999 with a degree in Economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 and minors in French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 and Mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

. He was a Foley Scholar and a Stephenson Scholar. In 2002, he earned a Masters degree in Public Administration

Public administration

Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....

 from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

.

He taught classes at Harvard. He also gave social support to underprivileged children and mentally-ill adults in Mozambique, Africa. He volunteered as a researcher on environmental science teams with the US Forest Service. During the Iraq War, he served as the Economics Officer in the Office of Joint Strategic Planning & Assessment (JSPA) at the United States Embassy in Baghdad, helping the Iraqi government as part of the Baghdad Security Plan. In 2008, he spent 7 months working as a civilian contractor in the Helmand Province

Helmand Province

Helmand is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the southwest of the country. Its capital is Lashkar Gah. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region, providing water for irrigation....

 of Afghanistan.

State Senate

Baumgartner represents the City of Spokane (see map http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/ralphieparker76/redistricting/D6-2002.gif).

2010 elections

On August 17 open primary, Baumgartner defeated Democrat Majority Whip Chris Marr

Chris Marr

Chris Marr is a State Senator from Spokane, Washington representing Washington's 6th legislative district in the Washington State Legislature in Olympia. He was defeated in the November, 2010 general election after one term in office...

 with 53% of the vote. In the November election, he officially defeated Marr with 54% of the vote.

Committee assignments

He serves on the Economic Development Trade & Innovation, Higher Education & Workforce Development, and Ways & Means Committees.

2012 U.S. Senate run

In October 2011, Baumbartner decided to challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell

Maria Cantwell

Maria E. Cantwell is the junior United States Senator from the state of Washington and a member of the Democratic Party....

 (D-WA). Cantwell is running for her third term.

External links