Freshman Introductions: Elizabeth Warren and Heidi Heitkamp

Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)

Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) of Massachusetts became the first female to represent the Commonwealth in the Senate with her victory this past November over Scott Brown. Before being elected, Warren served as a Harvard Law School professor specializing in bankruptcy law and personal finance. Warren gained national prominence as a consumer protection advocate which led to her being appointed to help setup the new U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2010. Warren, however, was not tapped as the bureaus new director due to strong opposition from both Wall St. and congressional Republicans. Liberal groups were extremely upset with President Obama who was unwilling to fight a nomination battle with Senate Republicans. In late 2008, Warren was appointed by Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid to chair the Congressional Oversight Panel which oversaw the implementation of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (TARP oversight). Warren was assigned a seat on the Senate Banking Committee.

Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)

When incumbent Democratic Senator Kent Conrad decided to retire, it was thought as if it were a lost cause for Democrats to retain control of the seat. However, in the closest Senate Election of the year Heidi Heitkamp defeated Rick Berg by a mere 2,994 votes; less than 1% of the total vote. Heidi is a native of North Dakota and earned her B.A. from the University of North Dakota before attending law school at Lewis and Clark College in Oregon. After college, she worked as an attorney for the EPA and for the North Dakota Tax Commissioner’s office. When her boss Kent Conrad decided to run for US Senate, Heitkamp ran for his job -- North Dakota Tax Commissioner. She easily won the election garnering 65% of the vote. In 1992, she decided to run for State Attorney General and was easily elected to the position where she would serve until 2000 when she lost her bid to become governor to now fellow senator John Hoeven. Between her run for senate and her failed Governor bid she served as director of the Dakota Gasification Company.

She is a fairly moderate Democrat whose views fit perfectly in a Red State such as North Dakota. She is in favor of the Keystone Pipeline, yet opposes Fracking. She supports Obamcare, but thinks there are many parts that need to be re-written. She supports a Balanced Budget Amendment and the Buffet Rule.

Freshman Introductions: Chris Murphy and Mazie Hirono

Chris Murphy (D-CT)

Longtime former Democrat turned Independent Joe Lieberman retired instead of seeking reelection. The republican candidate again was multimillionaire Linda McMahon; she lost in 2010 to Richard Blumenthal although he was vastly outspent by her. The Democrats choose Chris Murphy. Murphy went on to defeat McMahon receiving 55% of the vote. At the age of 39, he is the youngest member of the US Senate. He was born, raised and educated in Connecticut receiving a JD from Uconn. His first political office was a seat on a local Zoning Commission in 1997 from there he quickly proved not only ambitious but highly capable getting elected to the State House, State Senate and finally the US House in  2006. In that race, he easily defeated (56% to 44%) long time Rep. Congresswomen Nancy Johnson, who had been in congress since 1983. As a congressman, Murphy had a solid liberal record scoring well from most liberal organization and issue groups. He has fought for ethics reforms, promised to help pass filibuster reform, co-wrote the HR 3200 (Obamacare), and has proposed many bills that came as results of problems from his home district. For example, after a brutal home invasion/murder, he suggested making Home Invasion a federal crime. In the 2012 election, McMahon played hairball bringing up Murphy’s troubled financial history. He had been foreclosed upon because he forgot to pay his mortgage. He, however, refinanced to advert the issue. McMahon tried insinuating the reason he was able to was he had to support the bank in congress; it was a so called a “special interest loan.”

Mazie Hirono (D-HW)

Mazie Hirono becomes the first female Senator from Hawaii, the first Senator born in Japan, and the nation's first Buddhist elected to the Senate. The seat was vacated by 88 year old Daniel Akaka, who decided not to run for re-election to a fourth full term. Before entering politics, she practiced law in Honolulu; she is a graduate of Georgetown Law School. In 1980, Hirono was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives where she served until 1995. In 1994, Hirono entered statewide politics when she ran for Lieutenant Governor. She easily defeated her primary challenger to win the Democratic nomination. She won the General Election with just 37% of the vote in crowded four candidate field. Hirono ran for re-election in 1998 and defeated Republican State Senator Stan Koki 5,254 votes. In 2002, Hirono narrowly won the Democratic primary for Governor defeating State Representative Ed Case by 2,613 votes. She went on to lose to Linda Lingle in the General Election. After a four year political hiatus, Hirono ran for Hawaii's 2^nd Congressional District being vacated by Ed Case, who she had beaten in the 2002 Democratic gubernatorial primary. In what was another close election, she bested 9 other Democrats to win the primary by a mere 845 votes. She easily won the General and was elected twice more in 2008 and 2010. In this year’s Senate election, she defeated two all too familiar opponents: Ed Case and Linda Lingle, but easily defeated them both. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced in December that Hirono will serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Freshman Introductions: Jeff Flake and Ted Cruz

Jeff Flake

Jon Kyl’s replacement has been found for the Arizona Senate Seat -- Congressman Jeff Flake. Congressman Flake, a Mormon, represents a largely Mormon and affluent area of Phoenix – the eastern suburbs. Flake attended Brigham Young University and then worked in Africa at various Mormon and other philanthropic organizations. He then served as Executive Director of Goldwater Institute in Arizona. He was elected to the US House in 2000 and has been reelected easily every time sense then. Congressmen Flake is known for being “rogue” on many issues voting frequently against his own party. For instance, he was one 15 republicans to vote in favor of ending DADT, but he is opposed to gay marriage. Flake is strong anti-abortionist being highly regarded and rated by Right to Life. He is most known, though, for his ardent opposition to pork barrel spending and earmarks going so far as publishing a newsletter with what he thinks is the pork barrel project of week. He is also known for instituting what is called “the flake hour” in which he forces congressmen to explain why congress should pay for those pet projects; he is strong fiscal conservative who voted against Bush’s TARP. Flake is a fierce fighter for privacy along with one of the few republicans to come at against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq voting against Obama’s surge in Afghanistan.

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz was born in Calgary, Canada to a couple that had met at the University of Texas Austin. His mom was from Delaware and his father was a Cuban immigrant who had fought in the Cuban Revolution for Castro but would later come to oppose the Castro regime. Ted Cruz proved to be an excellent debater and parliamentarian wining or placing in many high level competitions while attending Princeton undergrad or Harvard Law where he received a J.D. Magna Cum Laude. After a number of years working in private practice, teaching at UT Austin, or working various federal Government jobs, Mr. Cruz became the Solicitor General of Texas, a position he held until 2008. While serving as Solicitor General, Cruz successfully defended the state in many cases that showcased his and his state's social conservatism such as the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state capital or “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Freshmen Introductions

The following are some of the freshmen of the 113^th Congress. There are 12 new senators: 1 independent, 3 republicans, and 8 democrats. There will be 2 additional senators joining the list as well to replace former senators Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Daniel Inouye (D-HW). Inouye’s replacement is yet to be decided while DeMint is being replaced by Tim Scott. These 14 senators will be introduced to FPP’s readers in the next week in a new segment called Freshmen Introductions. I have also listed the names of members of the house to be who won seats currently held by members of the other party.

US Senators
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Joe Donnelly (D-IN)
Chris Murphey (D-CT)
Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
Angus King (I-ME)
Tim Kaine (D-VA)
Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Deb Fischer (R-OK)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)

Change of Party  House Freshmen
Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ1)
Tom Cotton (R-AR4)
Ami Bera (D-CA7)
Julia Brownley (D-CA26)
Raul Ruiz (D-CA36)
Scott Peters (D-CA52)
Patrick Murphy (D-FL18)
Joe Garcia (D-FL26)
Tammy Duckworth (D-IL8)
Brad Schneider (D-IL10)
Bill Foster (D-IL11)
Cheri Bustos (D-IL17)
Jackie Walorski (R-IN2)
Andy Barr (R-KY6)
John Delaney (D-MD6)
Rick Nolan (D-MN8)
Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH1)
Ann McLane Kuster (D-NH2)
Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY18)
Dan Maffei (D-NY24)
Chris Collins (R-NY27)
Richard Hudson (R-NC8)
Mark Meadows (R-NC11)
George Holding (R-NC12)
Markwayne Mullin (R-OK2)
Keith Rothfus (R-PN12)
Pete Gallego (D-TX23)