Who is mcconnell

Valeo, went to the Supreme Court, and Buckley won. It marked the beginning of a forty-year, largely right-wing assault on efforts to keep private interests from corrupting American politics. Charles Koch , the arch-conservative billionaire oil refiner from Kansas, who was intent on using his fortune to seize control of American politics, was an early champion of the cause. John Cheves, a reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader , has described a class that McConnell taught in the seventies, at the University of Louisville.

On a blackboard, he wrote down the three things he felt were necessary for success in politics: Money. A contemporary news account documents that, after announcing his candidacy, he promised to limit his campaign spending. In the general election, he spent a record amount—and won.

Unlike much of Kentucky, Louisville is a Democratic stronghold. To win the endorsement of labor unions, McConnell pledged to support collective bargaining for public employees, an issue he dropped after taking office. Three years after defeating Hollenbach, though, McConnell, amid accusations of infidelity, got divorced himself.

He soon began searching for a new spouse. McConnell, who has limited patience for such glad-handing, confided a plan. Her father, James Chao, is the founder and chairman of the Foremost Group, a family-owned maritime shipping company, based in New York, which reportedly sends seventy per cent of its freight to China.

Yet McConnell must have known that virtually any criticism one could make about the Biden family could be made as well about the Chao family. As the Times has documented, McConnell and his in-laws have benefitted from unusual connections in Beijing.

According to the paper, James took a stake in a state-run company closely associated with Jiang. James and his daughter Angela, the chairman and C.

Moreover, both Angela and her father have been on the board of a holding company that oversees China State Shipbuilding, which builds warships for the Chinese military.

In , Breyer joined the board of directors of Blackstone, giving McConnell a brother-in-law at a company that financially supports his campaigns, and that manages more than half a trillion dollars. McConnell and members of his staff have berated the home-town paper for running a photograph of him in a tuxedo. McConnell owns a modest house in Louisville, and at home he makes a habit of doing everyday errands himself, such as shopping for groceries at a nearby Kroger.

He attends local college sports events with a few old friends; they wear headphones, to follow the plays on the radio, and high-five one another when their team scores. Chao has been less vigilant about playing down her wealth. When she directed the Peace Corps, she stirred talk by arriving at work in a chauffeured car.

McConnell denied that his office had poor morale—and two staffers who defended him in the article continued to work with him for decades. In the Senate, he is known for cultivating a smart and loyal staff, and for maintaining a formidable network of political allies, in Washington and in Kentucky.

Because of that loyalty, he has a vast network of eyes and ears. There are Mitch McConnell galaxies and solar systems. Nobody expected an unprepossessing, little-known local official to defeat Huddleston, but in the final weeks of the campaign McConnell surged to an upset victory, thanks, in large part, to a television ad created by Roger Ailes , the Nixon media adviser who later became the mastermind behind Fox News. Ailes was helped by Larry McCarthy, a virtuoso of negative campaign ads who later made the racially charged Willie Horton ad, attacking the Democratic candidate for President, Michael Dukakis.

During the Senate campaign, Sloane, who had postponed a hip replacement until after the election, renewed a prescription for sleeping pills although his license had expired.

I mean, he loves it. The U. A Kentuckian acquainted with the Crafts noted that the U. In , Jack Spadaro, an engineer for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, began conducting an investigation in Martin County, Kentucky, after a slurry pond owned by Massey Energy burst open, releasing three hundred million gallons of lavalike coal waste that killed more than a million fish and contaminated the water systems of nearly thirty thousand people.

Spadaro and his team were working on a report that documented eight apparent violations of the law, which could have led to charges of criminal negligence and cost Massey hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. But, that November, George W. Before the Labor Department issued any fines, Massey made a hundred-thousand-dollar donation to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

McConnell himself had run the unit, which raises funds for Senate campaigns, between and Massey ended up paying only fifty-six hundred dollars in federal fines. He took the money and, in return, protected the coal industry.

And when McConnell ran the National Republican Senatorial Committee it took in five hundred and eighty-four thousand dollars from the coal industry. Our community from then on knew all those people protected the coal companies instead of us. He keeps a bucket tied to a bridge, which he lowers into the creek below when he needs water to flush a toilet.

He must drive to another county to buy clean water. Martin County is overwhelmingly Republican and pro-Trump, and many residents see no connection between their problems and Washington. Robert A. McConnell was no fan of L. According to Keith Runyon, McConnell was focussed on his political survival from the moment he arrived in Washington.

McConnell envied better-known colleagues who were chased down the corridors by news reporters. The way McConnell ended up making his name was decidedly unglamorous: blocking campaign-finance reform. Few members wanted to risk appearing corrupt, and so they were grateful to McConnell for fighting one reform after the next—while claiming that it was purely about defending the First Amendment.

In , his side won: the Citizens United decision opened the way for corporations, big donors, and secretive nonprofits to pour unlimited and often untraceable cash into elections. And, if you want to control Congress, the best way is to control the money. Between , when McConnell was first elected to the Senate, and today, the amount of money spent on federal campaigns has increased at least sixfold, excluding outside spending, more and more of which comes from very rich donors.

Influence-peddling has grown from a grubby, shameful business into a multibillion-dollar, high-paying industry. McConnell has led the way in empowering those private interests, and in aligning the Republican Party with them. Money from the coal industry, tobacco companies, Big Pharma, Wall Street, the Chamber of Commerce, and many other interests flowed into Republican coffers while McConnell blocked federal actions that those interests opposed: climate-change legislation, affordable health care, gun control, and efforts to curb economic inequality.

McConnell, like L. Lisa Murkowski suddenly gets a harbor. Oh, what a coincidence! A department spokesman says that there is no political linkage, and that every state gets some money.

McConnell also lets his caucus members take the spotlight, and, when he can, he allows them to skip votes that will be unpopular with their constituents. And he protects his allies.

Loeffler denies wrongdoing. As Majority Leader, McConnell was responsible for proposing the rules to govern the impeachment trial in the Senate. 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.

Source: Follow the Money. McConnell won re-election to the U. Senate in Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the elections season.

Below are McConnell's reports. The Personal Gain Index U. Congress is a two-part measurement that illustrates the extent to which members of the U. Congress have prospered during their tenure as public servants. It consists of two different metrics:. Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets. McConnell ranked as the 10th most wealthy senator in Between and , the average annual percentage increase for a member of Congress was Filings required by the Federal Election Commission report on the industries that give to each candidate.

Using campaign filings and information calculated by OpenSecrets. From , Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack , McConnell was a " moderate Republican leader , " as of July 23, This was the same rating McConnell received in June 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. This amounts to 0. The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress.

He ranked 28th on the list of the lowest paid Republican senatorial staff salaries and ranked 31st overall of the lowest paid senatorial staff salaries in Overall, Kentucky ranked 40th in average salary for senatorial staff. The average U. Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year.

McConnell ranked 25th in the conservative rankings in McConnell ranked 15th in the conservative rankings in McConnell ranked 11th in the conservative rankings in The website OpenCongress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. McConnell voted with the Republican Party McConnell voted with the Republican Party 90 percent of the time, which ranked 18th among the 46 Senate Republican members as of June Ballotpedia was not able to identify which candidate McConnell was bound by state party rules to support at the national convention.

Delegates from Kentucky to the Republican National Convention were selected by nomination committees and approved at the county and state conventions. Kentucky GOP rules required national convention delegates to have supported the Republican presidential nominee. Kentucky GOP rules and Kentucky state law required delegates from Kentucky to vote for the candidate to whom they were allocated through the first round of voting at the national convention. If a candidate died or withdrew prior to the first round of voting at the national convention, the chairman of the Kentucky delegation was to call a meeting at which the delegates were to vote on the remaining candidates and be reallocated on the basis of the results.

Kentucky had 46 delegates at the Republican National Convention. Of this total, 18 were district-level delegates three for each of the state's six congressional districts. District delegates were allocated proportionally; a candidate had to win at least 5 percent of the statewide caucus vote in order to be eligible to receive any district delegates. Of the remaining 28 delegates, 25 served at large.

At-large delegates were allocated proportionally; a candidate had to win at least 5 percent of the statewide caucus vote in order to be eligible to receive any of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders identified on the chart below as RNC delegates served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention.

The RNC delegates were allocated in the same manner as the at-large delegates. Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update. McConnell has been married to his wife, Elaine Chao, since He has three daughters from a previous marriage.

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Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. Share this page Follow Ballotpedia. What's on your ballot? Jump to: navigation , search. Republican Party. Official website. Official Facebook. Official Twitter. Official Instagram. Official YouTube. Campaign website. Campaign Facebook. Campaign Twitter. Campaign Instagram. Campaign YouTube. Agriculture Improvement Act of HR 2 Conference Report Agreed to on December 11, Proposed providing funding for commodity support, conservation, trade and international food aid, nutrition assistance, farm credit, rural development, research and extension activities, forestry, horticulture, and crop insurance through fiscal year It also proposed requiring the U.

The bill proposed providing exceptions for an abortion: 1 that was necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman, or 2 when the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. An amendment to repeal the requirements for individuals to enroll in health insurance and for employers to offer it—"Skinny bill" S Amdt to S Amdt to HR the American Health Care Act of Amendment Rejected on July 28, The amendment proposed repealing the requirements for individuals to enroll in health insurance and for employers to offer it.

Gorsuch, of Colorado, to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States—second vote to end debate and move to a vote on Gorsuch's nomination under the new precedent requiring only a simple majority to pass. Gorsuch, of Colorado, to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States—a vote to keep the Senate precedent of requiring 60 votes to close debate on Supreme Court nominations.

Gorsuch, of Colorado, to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States—initial vote to end debate and move to a vote on Gorsuch's nomination. Consolidated Appropriations Act, HR Motion Agreed to on March 23, Proposed providing appropriations for fiscal year , and for other purposes.

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act HR 1 Motion Agreed to on December 20, Proposed providing for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year and proposed changes to the tax code. H Con Res 71 Concurrent Resolution Agreed to on October 19, Proposed establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years through Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, Included amendments to suspend the debt ceiling and fund the government HR Motion Agreed to on September 7, Proposed suspending the debt ceiling and funding the government until December 8, , and providing funding for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma relief efforts.

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year HR Bill Passed on September 18, Proposed authorizing appropriations for fiscal year for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, and to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.

On November 15, , the Senate passed the defense policy bill by voice vote. This bill was the result of compromises made in the conference report. For more information on the compromise bill, click here. Countering Iran's Destabilizing Activities Act of S Bill Passed on June 15, Proposed providing congressional review and proposed countering aggression by the governments of Iran, the Russian Federation, and North Korea, and for other purposes.

General election for U. Senate Kentucky. Democratic primary for U. Republican primary for U. Libertarian convention for U. Mitch McConnell. To view the full congressional electoral history for Mitch McConnell, click [show] to expand the section. Delivering for the Commonwealth McConnell has delivered tens of millions of dollars to Kentucky to combat the opioid epidemic and authored legislation enacted into law to help infants born to mothers addicted to opioids.

To view the breakdown of campaign funding by type click [show] to expand the section. Search Google News for this topic. Candidate U. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Please see the Congressional Net Worth data for Ballotpedia spreadsheet for more information on this calculation. When possible, we included what type of delegate the delegate is at-large, district-level, or RNC and which candidate they were bound by state and national party bylaws to support at the convention.

For most delegations, Ballotpedia was able to track down all of this information. For delegations where we were not able to track down this information or were only able to track down partial lists, we included this note.

If you have additional information on this state's delegation, please email editor ballotpedia. Kentucky's current delegation to the United States Congress. Mitch McConnell R. Rand Paul R. District 1. James Comer R. Brett Guthrie R. Thomas Massie R. Republican Party 7.

He was pushing 65 when his colleagues first elevated him to Republican leader. Come , he will have spent 16 years at the top, which would surpass the record set by former Democratic Senate Leader Mike Mansfield of Montana. For McConnell, politics is sport.

A mob breached the Capitol on January 6, hunting for elected officials to kill. The night before, someone had planted pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republican Party headquarters in Washington. The times feel uniquely dangerous, warranting unified governmental action. In cheeky defiance, McConnell has framed copies of their work hanging on his office walls. He seems to relish the attention.

The epilogue of his book includes a scene after the midterms that elevated him to majority leader. Something is broken in the Senate. McConnell is one reason the United States remains an exception.

Quashing the commission spared former president Donald Trump the most credible inquiry into the insurrection he might ever face.

In response to the bill's failure in the Senate, House Democrats last week created a member select committee to examine the event. Read: Democrats have 1 option left.

I asked the year-old senator how he would describe his own legacy. He shifted in his chair. He had no notes in front of him; at this stage of his career, he knows what he wants to say. He speaks in a monotone, seldom deviating from Republican talking points. Like Johnson, though, McConnell is a proud partisan.

When I asked Republicans close to McConnell what he cares about most, it was striking how little they mentioned policy.

They talked instead about his fixation on winning the game.