Mark Green
| Mark Green | |
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| In office 1999–2007 |
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| Preceded by | Jay Johnson |
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| Succeeded by | Steve Kagen |
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| Born | June 1 1960 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Sue Green |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| 1Steve Kagen replaced Green in the House on January 3, 2007. | |
Mark Andrew Green (born June 1 1960) is an American politician and was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007, representing Wisconsin's 8th congressional district. His term ended in January 2007. He did not seek re-election because he ran for Governor. According to a June 2007 White House Press Release, he has been nominated by President George W. Bush for Ambassador to Tanzania.[1]
Green and his wife, Susan, live in Hobart, near Green Bay, Wisconsin. They have three children named Rachel, Anna, and Alex.
Early life, education, and career
Green was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His family moved often, and as a child he lived in Jersey City, New Jersey, Cincinnati, Ohio, England, South Africa and Australia.[2] He attended Abbot Pennings High School in De Pere, Wisconsin.
Green received a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 1983. In 1987, he received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Green then went on to be an attorney [3]until being elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1992, where he served for six years and rose to the position of director of the Republican Caucus.
U.S. House
Green first ran for a House seat in 1998. During the campaign, he signed a pledge he would serve only six years. [4]. That year, he ran the only Congressional campaign to defeat an incumbent Democrat. He defeated first-term Representative Jay Johnson, winning 54% of the vote. Green won the next three elections with 70% or more of the vote against little-known opponents.
Green has been an unwavering supporter of the war in Iraq, founding the Victory in Iraq caucus and has supported President Bush's faith-based initiative. In healthcare, he has voted in favor of George Bush's Medicare program and has opposed prescription drug importation from Canada[5]. He opposes abortion, except when the life of the mother is threatened [6]. He supports the death penalty and supported the No Child Left Behind act. He has pushed for subsidies for milk producers and fought a proposed tax on them in President Bush's 2006 budget.[7]
In January 1999, Green was selected as an Assistant Majority Whip [8] by then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, a position he held until early 2006. Green accepted several donations from ARMPAC, the political action committee run by DeLay. Wisconsin Radio Network has reported that these donations have since been returned.
2006 Campaign for Governor
Green unsuccessfully ran for
Democrats called for Green to return nearly $30,000 in campaign contributions to his federal campaign committee from Tom DeLay's ARMPAC.[9]
Green had no opponent in the Republican primary. Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker dropped out of the GOP primary on March 24, 2006, citing lack of campaign funds.[10] There was also brief speculation that former Governor Tommy Thompson would enter the race, but he too declined, making Green the Republican nominee. [11]
After the Republican primary, Green was joined on the ticket by State Rep. Jean Hundertmark of Clintonville. Hundertmark had been the lone GOP candidate for Lieutenant Governor in the primary, and, with Green, formed the Republican ticket heading into the November general election.
Nun Protest
The campaign is best remembered for George W. Bush's stumping for Green being protested by over 100 nuns.[12]
Campaign funding controversy
As part of Green's plan to run for Governor, he transferred $1.3 million from his federal campaign account to a state account for the 2006 campaign. However, the day after Green did so, the Wisconsin State Elections Board promulgated an emergency rule declaring such transfers illegal. The rule was temporarily suspended by a committee of the Wisconsin State Legislature, but neither body of the Legislature passed a bill forbidding the emergency rule by the end of its 2006 session. Thus, the Elections Board, in a 5-2 vote, declared that $467,844 of PAC money from groups not registered in Wisconsin was illegal and ordered Green to divest his campaign of it by September 15, 2006.[13] Of note is that, of the 5 Elections Board members who voted against Green, 4 were Democrats and one was Libertarian. Green contended that the Elections Board permitted a similar conversion by a Democratic candidate for Governor in 2001 and accused the Elections Board of making the decision based on partisan politics intead of the law. (Green campaign's brief) The Elections Board contends that a major change in federal campaign finance law, passed in 2002, states that such conversions or donations are only permitted if the money donated conforms with state law. (DOJ brief) In other words, if it would not have been legal to raise the money in Wisconsin for the new campaign, it cannot be converted from the federal campaign.
The case was appealed to Dane County Circuit Court Judge Richard Niess, who upheld the State Elections Board order.[14] The Green campaign then asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to look at the case. On 1 November, 2006, in a 4-3 decision, the judges said that they would like to receive further briefings on the case, but not until after the conclusion of the election.[15] Green, then segregated the questioned funds in a separate account and did not use them for this election. An attorney for Green said that the forced segregation of the funds in question could constitute grounds for challenging the election results if Green loses. The attorney noted, "It would still have to be proven the lack of campaign funds cost (Green) the election" and the challenge would be more likely to succeed "if the election involved a razor thin edge."[16]
On March 16, 2007 an agreement was reached where both sides agreed that Green's campaign followed the rules and law properly. Green declared vindication both from the settlement and the fact that the Elections Board was eliminated in a newly passed ethics reform bill. [17]
US Ambassador to Tanzania
On June 8, 2007 President George W. Bush announced Mark Green's nomination to be Ambassador to Tanzania. In 1987 and 1988, Green and his wife served as volunteer teachers in Kenya with WorldTeach and while in Africa, they visited rural areas of neighboring Tanzania. Senator Russ Feingold, chairman of the African Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, held hearings on Green's nomination as Ambassador on June 19.
On June 27 Senator Chris Dodd, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, put a hold on Mark Green's nomination to replace Michael Retzer as Ambassador citing Retzer's action of revoking the country clearance of Peace Corps Country Director Christine Djondo as inteference in the independence of the Peace Corps. Dodd asked that Retzer rescind his cable of no confidence in Djondo or that the State Department provide a written apology to her. On June 28, the State Department provided a written letter of apology to Djondo and Senator Dodd released his hold on Green's nomination saying he was confident that Green "would be a welcome alternative to his predecessor."
On June 28, 2007 Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts put a block on Green's nomination as ambassador to Tanzania. Kerry placed a hold or a block on Green's nomination because Green is not a career diplomat. According to the State Department, about 65 percent of U.S. ambassadors are career foreign service officers, with the remaining 35 percent political appointees.[18]
Kerry ultimately agreed to remove his hold because of bipartisan support for Green from Democratic Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton as well as the entire Wisconsin Congressional delegation. On August 3, 2007 the Senate confirmed Mark Green as Ambassador to Tanzania by unanimous consent.[19]
External links
- Green's Campaign Website
- Mark Green at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Campaign finance data
- Associated Press profile
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- "Golden Boy" from Milwaukee Magazine, October 2005
- Dodd puts hold on Mark Green's nomination for US ambassador to Tanzania
Electoral history
| Wisconsin Gubernatorial Candidate 2006 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Jim Doyle (Incumbent) | 1,139,115 | 52.8 | +7.7 | |
| Republican | Mark Green | 979,427 | 45.3 | ||
| Preceded by Jay W. Johnson |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 8th congressional district 1999 – 2007 |
Succeeded by Steve Kagen |
| Preceded by Michael Retzer |
Ambassador to
Tanzania 2007 -Current |
Succeeded by ' |
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