Former Gov. Tom Vilsack
(announced
March 26, 2007) Vilsack formally announced his own presidential campaign
on Nov. 30, 2006 but withdrew on Feb. 23, 2007. Elected Governor
of Iowa in Nov. 1998 and re-elected in 2002; did not seek re-election in
2006, term ended in Jan. 12, 2007. (Vilsack was in 2006 the longest
serving Democratic Governor). Chairman of the Democratic Leadership
Council July 15, 2005-Jan. 11, 2007. Chairman of the Democratic Governors'
Association, 2004. Elected to the Iowa State Senate, 1992, and served
through 1998. Elected Mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, 1987, and served
through 1992. Partner in the Bell and Vilsack Law Office, 1975-1998.
Law degree from Albany Law School, 1975 and bachelor's degree from Hamilton
College in Clinton, New York, 1972. Born Dec. 13, 1950 in Pittsburgh,
PA.
Raul Yzaguirre, Chair of Hispanic Outreach
(announced
April 12, 2007) Currently the presidential professor of practice
in community development and civil rights at Arizona State University.
President of the National Council of La Raza, 1974-2004. Founded
Interstate Research Associates. Program analyst at U.S. Office of
Economic Opportunity. B.S. from the George Washington University,
1968, after attending the University of Maryland for a year. Four
years in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps. Grew up in the Rio Grande
Valley of South Texas.
U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (MD)
(announced April 24, 2007)
Elected to the U.S. Senate from Maryland in 1986 and re-elected in 1992,
1998 and 2004. Mikulski previously served 10 years as a congresswoman
from the Baltimore area, first elected in 1976. She won elected office
in 1971 as Baltimore City Councilmember. Social worker and community
activist. Grew up in the Highlandtown neighborhood of East Baltimore.
California Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez
(announced April 25, 2007)
Represents District 46 (Los Angeles). Elected to the Assembly in
2002 and became Speaker in 2004. Prior to serving in the Assembly,
Núñez was government affairs director of the Los Angeles
Unified School District. He served as political director for the
Los Angeles County Labor Federation from 1996-2000. B.A. degrees
in political science and education from Pitzer College in Claremont.
U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (OH-11)
(announced April 26, 2007)
Elected to Congress in 1998; represents the East Side and parts of the
West Side of Cleveland. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor, 1991-98.
Judge on the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, 1983-91; judge on the
Cleveland Municipal Court, 1982-83. B.A. in social work from Case
Western Reserve University, the Flora Mather College in 1971. J.D.
from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1974.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)
(announced May 14, 2007;
also Gulf States Regional Co-Chair) Represents the Texas 18th CD,
centered in Houston; first elected in 1994. Two terms as an at-large
member of the Houston City Council, 1990-94. Associate Municipal
Court Judge in Houston, 1987-89. Attorney in private practice.
J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School, 1975; B.A. in political
science from Yale University, 1972.
U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui (CA-5), Chair
of AAPIs for Hillary
(announced
May 16, 2007) Elected to represent California's 5th CD (Sacramento)
in the March 8, 2005 special election to succeed her husband, the late
Congressman Bob Matsui. A Senior Advisor and Director of Government
Relations and Public policy at the law firm Collier Shannon Scott.
Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Public Liaison
in the Clinton White House. Bachelor's degree from the University
of California Berkeley. Grew up in Dinuba, in California's Central
Valley.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
(announced
May 30, 2007) Elected on May 17, 2005 and sworn into office on July
1, 2005. Elected to the Los Angeles City Council, 14th District,
in 2003. Distinguished fellow at UCLA and USC. Ran for mayor
of Los Angeles in 2001 and narrowly lost. Elected to the California
State Assembly in 1994; elected Speaker in 1998, term limited in 2000.
Field representative/organizer with the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA).
Law degree from People's College of Law, 1985, but did not pass the bar.
B.A. degree in history from UCLA. Raised in the City Terrace neighborhood
of East Los Angeles.
U.S. Rep. Debbie
Wasserman Schultz (FL-20)
(announced as co-chair on
June 7, 2007; endorsement announced in Feb. 2007) Elected to Congress
in 2004. Served in the Florida State Senate from 2000-04 after serving
in the Florida House of Representatives from 1992-2000 (first elected at
age 26). Bachelor’s degree in political science from the University
of Florida, 1988 and a Master’s degree from University of Florida, 1990.
U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings (FL-23)
(announced as co-chair on
June 7, 2007; endorsement announced in Feb. 2007) Represents parts
of Broward, Palm Beach, Hendry, Martin, and St. Lucie Counties; first elected
to Congress in 1992. Appointed federal judge for the Southern District
of Florida by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and served for ten years;
impeached and removed from office in 1989. Law degree from Florida
A&M University in Tallahassee. Undergraduate degree from Fisk
University, 1958. Born in Altamonte Springs.
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (NJ)
(announced June 12, 2007)
Appointed to the U.S Senate by NJ Gov. Jon Corzine, sworn in on Jan. 18,
2006, elected to a full term in Nov. 2006. Elected chairman of the
House Democratic Caucus in 2003. Elected to Congress in 1992.
Served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1987-91 and in the New Jersey
Senate from 1991-93; also mayor of Union City, elected in 1986 and served
until 1992. Elected to the Union City Board of Education in 1974.
B.A. from St. Peter's College in Jersey City; law degree from Rutgers University.
Attorney Weldon Latham (MD)
(announced June 14, 2007)
Senior partner and chair of the Corporate Diversity Counseling Group at
the international law firm Davis Wright Tremaine in Washington, DC.
Senior partner at Holland & Knight, 2000-04. Partner at Shaw
Pittman Potts & Trowbridge, 1992-2000. Managing partner of the
Virginia office of Reed, Smith, Shaw and McClay, 1986-92. Vice
president and general counsel of Sterling Systems Inc., 1981-86; acquired
by Planning Research Corporation (PRC). Government experience includes
civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army during the Clinton Administration,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development, 1979-81, and Assistant General Counsel at the Office
of Management and Budget, 1973-76. J.D. from Georgetown University
Law Center. B.A. in business administration from Howard University.
former House Democratic Leader Dick
Gephardt
(announced July 5, 2007
also named as an economic advisor) Currently President and CEO of
the Gephardt Group. Democratic presidential candidate in 2003-04.
Leader of the House Democrats for nearly 14 years, serving as House majority
leader from 1989-95 and minority leader from 1995-2003. Democratic
presidential candidate in 1987-88; first Democratic candidate to enter
and won the Iowa Democratic Caucus. Elected Chairman of the House
Democratic Caucus, the fourth-ranking leadership position in the House,
1984. First elected to represent Missouri's Third Congressional
District in 1976. Twice elected Alderman. Graduated from Northwestern
University and the University of Michigan Law School. From South
St. Louis, MO.
Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Chairman Arlan
Melendez (NV)
(announced July 18, 2007)
Chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, a federally recognized tribal
government representing over 800 Paiute, Washoe, and Shoshone tribal members;
elected chairman of the nine-member Tribal Council in 1991. Member
of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, appointed by Senate Minority Leader
Harry Reid in 2005. Vice President of the Inter-Tribal Council
of Nevada, representing the twenty seven tribes in the state of Nevada.
Served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam era. Graduated
from Truckee Meadows Community College and attended the University of Nevada.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom
(announced Aug. 10, 2007)
Elected Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco in 2003 (San Francisco’s
youngest mayor in 100 years). Member of the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors, 1996-2004. Opened his first local business, the PlumpJack
Wine Shop, in 1992. B.A. in political science from Santa Clara University,
1989. Grew up in the Bay Area.
Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb
(announced Sept. 17, 2007)
Elected Mayor of Denver in 1991, served four terms through 2003.
Elected Denver City Auditor in 1987. Executive director of the Department
of Regulatory Agencies under Gov. Richard Lamm. Selected by President
Jimmy Carter to serve as Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Health
Education and Welfare, 1977. Elected to the Colorado House of Representatives
in 1972. B.A. in sociology from Colorado State College at Greeley
in 1964 and M.A. in sociology from the University of Northern Colorado
at Greeley in 1971. Co-authored "The Man, the Mayor and the Making
of Modern Denver" (Fulcrum Publishing, 2007).
Former Philadelphia Congressman Reverend
William H. Gray III
(announced Sept. 25, 2007)
Chairman of the Amani Group, a business and education advisory group.
President and chief executive officer of the United Negro College Fund,
1991-2004; resigned from Congress to take the position. Represented
Pennsylvania’s 2nd District (Philadelphia) in the U. S. House of Representatives
for 13 years, rising through the ranks to become the first African American
to chair both the House Budget Committee and the Democratic Caucus, and
the first to serve as House Majority Whip. Pastor of Bright Hope
Baptist Church in Philadelphia for 35 years; started in the ministry in
1964, when he pastored his first church, Union Baptist Church of Montclair,
NJ. B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College, 1963. Master's
degree in divinity from Drew Theological Seminary, and a Master's degree
in theology in 1970 from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Attorney Willie E. Gary (FL)
(announced Sept. 27, 2007;
announced his support for Clinton to an audience of over 200 African American
men who participated in an African Americans for Hillary lunch meeting
in July) Founder and senior partner at Gary, Williams, Finney, Lewis,
Watson & Sperando, P.L., in Stuart, Florida. J.D. from North
Carolina Central University in Durham. Bachelor's degree in business
administration from Shaw University in Raleigh, NC. Gary is also
chairman of the Atlanta based Black Family Channel
U.S. Rep. John Lewis (GA-5)
(announced Oct. 26, 2007;
endorsement announced Oct. 12, 2007) Elected to Congress in 1986.
Elected to the Atlanta City Council in 1981. Appointed by President
Carter associate director (domestic operations) of the ACTION Agency.
Director of the Voter Education Project (VEP). Associate director
of the Field Foundation. One of the leaders of the march across the Edmund
Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965 ("Bloody Sunday").
An architect of and a keynote speaker at the historic March on Washington
in August 1963. Helped form and served as chairman of the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), 1963-66. B.A. in religion
and philosophy from Fisk University; graduate of the American Baptist Theological
Seminary.
New Hampshire First Lady Dr. Susan Lynch
(announced Nov. 26, 2007)
Pediatrician who works as a pediatric lipid specialist at the Cholesterol
Treatment Center at Concord Hospital. In 2004, Dr. Lynch joined nearly
300 other “Doctors for Dean” from across New Hampshire to support Howard
Dean’s campaign for president. She and her husband, Gov. John Lynch,
live in Hopkinton, NH.
Copyright © 2007 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action |
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