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: Tammy Baldwin and Joe Donnelly

Joe Donnelly

Joe Donnelly has been elected to replace popular longtime Republican Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN). Lugar had lost in an unexpected primary upset to a Tea Party backed uber-conservative -- Indiana State Treasurer Richard Murdock. Murdock sealed his and Donnelly fate with a comment about abortion but it may have cost Murdock the race. Joe Donnelly, however, is no champion of pro-choice ideals; he, himself, is a strong prolife Congressman getting high marks from Right to Life and other prolife organizations. Donnelly graduated from Norte Dame Law School and became a lawyer in Indiana, a profession he held until he started a small printing and stamping business in the mid-1990s. In 2006, he announced his candidacy for congress for a second time; he had lost in 2004 to the same incumbent he would upset two years later. Since his swearing in, Donnelly has been a member of the conservative faction of House Democrats – the Blue Dog Caucasus. This conservatism has given him one of the most independent records in congress. He voted both to end DADT and to keep it on separate occasions. In the senate, Donnelly will serve on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

Tammy BaldwinTammy Baldwin not only becomes Wisconsin first women Senator, but she is also the first openly LGBT person to be elected to the Upper House. Baldwin was first elected to political office in 1986 as a member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors. In 1992, she ran for a seat in the 78th District of the Wisconsin State Assembly. She won with 59% of the vote; her nearest opponent received just 23%. Baldwin would go on to be re-elected in both ’94 and ’96. In 1998 Scott Klug announced he would retire at the end of his term, which prompted Baldwin to run for his 2nd congressional district seat. She would go on to win and be reelected relatively easily 6 times. Baldwin’s 2012 Senate victory came as a bit of a surprise to many as she is much more progressive than your average cheese head. Baldwin’s opponent was moderate former four term Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. While in the House, Baldwin was consistently rated as one of the most progressive voices in D.C. She was one of the loudest opponents of the Bush administration and in 2007 introduced legislation to impeach former Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorneys General Alberto Gonzales. Because she served for fourteen years in the House of Representatives, she will have the most seniority in the freshman class of senators due to Senate rules.

Freshman Introductions: Deb Fischer and Angus King

Angus King

Angus King is the first ever Independent elected to serve in the Senate from Maine. He follows in the footsteps of Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, who announced she would not run for re-election earlier this year, citing frustration due to partisanship. King previously served as the two term Independent Governor of the state between 1995 and 2003. King will caucus with the Democrats once sworn in; meaning there will be 55 Senators in the caucus a pickup of two seats from the 112th congress. Before serving as Governor, King was the host of a statewide political talk show on public television and served as an assistant on the staff of Maine Democratic Senator William Hathaway in the mid 70’s. During the 80’s King worked for several companies that were developers of alternative and renewable energy including founding his own company which worked to conserve electricity at commercial and industrial businesses throughout New England. A major focus of King’s Campaign was his promise to fight for government reforms including campaign finance, filibuster reform, and the No Budget, No Pay Act.

Deb Fischer 

With the retirement of Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Democrats basically lost all hope at being able to retain his seat. In a last ditch effort Democrats persuaded former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey to come home to his native state and run for his former seat. It was a short-term fix as Kerrey was pegged as out of touch with his former constituents because he had since moved away from his native Nebraska. The Republican nominee, Deb Fischer, easily won the election. Fischer was born, raised, and educated in Nebraska and has worked since College on her husband’s Cattle Ranch. She was first elected to political office in 2004 when she was elected to the Nebraska State Legislature. She was vastly outspent (10 to 1) in her primary but managed to pull off a major upset in part due to a last minute endorsement from Sarah Palin. She is in favor of disbanding the EPA, repealing Obamacare, and helped lead the opposition in the State Legislature against imposing a statewide smoking ban. She is strongly prolife and anti-gay marriage. The election of Fischer marks the end of an era of a moderate voice in Nebraska politics; she will bring what is a growing feature of Republican Party -- hardline tea party ideology.