Category: Member of Congress & State Legislature (SWA#2)

Section 1-
Member of congress for Wooster Ohio (The 16th congressional District) is Mr. Anthony Gonzales. This is his first term serving in Congress. Anthony Gonzales defeated Christina Hagan and Michael Grusenmeyer in the republican primary elections with 53.1% votes second only to Christina Hagan who had 40.8% votes. In this category Gonzalez has safe seats since he has over 12% votes compared to his closest rival. Susan Moran Palmer on the other hand won the democratic Primary at 34% votes. Her closest competitors were Grant Goodrich at 28.1% and TJ Mulloy at 15.5%. she does not possess safe seats in this category as the opponents were competitive. Anthony Gonzalez won the general election against Palmer with 56.7% votes thereby making it safe to conclude that he has a safe seat in the legislation.
Mr. Gonzalez serves on the house committees on financial services, science, space and technology. According to the information on the website, he does not appear to be a member of any caucus. With regard to the issues on jobs and the economy, Gonzalez supported the signing of an executive order to boost the use of American projects. One of these projects is with regards to steel in federally funded infrastructure projects. This should in essence boost the economy by increasing employment and allowing more money to flow into the economy with increased wages. He aims to tip the trade balances in the favour of the US and believes that China, the EU and others have taken advantage of the US’s openness to trade. I do not agree with this largely because having a trade deficit is not necessarily a bad thing. It simply means that the country imports more than it exports. He also supports tax cuts, his argument being that small businesses comprise of 60 percent of the new jobs that are created. The problem with this is that small businesses and large businesses would be taxed the same amount. Instead, larger businesses can be taxed higher and foster a more suitable environment for small businesses to thrive. Gonzalez tends to be vague when he discusses his agenda for immigration. He wants to curb illegal immigration but at the same time making the immigration process more selective for legal immigrants. To improve school safety, he believes that school funding should be increased so that the school can fix problems in whichever way they seem fit. Furthermore, he wants to ensure that there is a mental health professional in every school since it is of his belief that mental health is one of the reasons for violence in schools.
Ohio’s second district is located in the North Central portion of the state. It largely consists of Wayne County, but has parts of Cuyahoga, Medina, Portage and some others. It lies on the intersection between two pivot counties which had voted for the Obama administration in 2012 and for Trump in 2016.
Section 2
The state representative for Ohio is Troy Balderson. He was elected to the office on August 7,2018. This was during a special election where he replaced Patrick Tiberi. Before this he served in the Ohio State Senate where he represented district 20 in 2011, and he represented district 94 of the ohio house of representatives from 2009 to 2011.
Balderson serves the Small business committee, under which he is part of two subcommittees – The Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade. And The Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access. He also serves the Committee on science and Technology, under which he serves the Subcommittee on oversight and the Subcommittee on Research and Technology. He does not appear to be a member of any caucus.
Balderson introduced a bill that is aimed to permanently prevent government shutdowns. Furthermore, he also Provided guidance for furloughed workers because of the partial government shutdown that took place. His website does not specify any immediate agenda for other issues as described with Gonzalez.
REFERENCES

Committees and Caucuses 2012Representative Anthony Gonzalez. https://anthonygonzalez.house.gov/about/committees-and-caucuses, accessed February 4, 2019.
Congress N.d.Congressman Troy Balderson. https://balderson.house.gov/issues/congress, accessed February 4, 2019.
Issues Original N.d.Vote for Anthony Gonzalez. https://www.voteanthonygonzalez.com/issues/, accessed February 4, 2019.
Ohio’s 16th Congressional District N.d.Ballotpedia. https://ballotpedia.org/Ohio%27s_16th_Congressional_District, accessed February 4, 2019.
Ohio’s 16th Congressional District Election, 2018 N.d.Ballotpedia. https://ballotpedia.org/Ohio%27s_16th_Congressional_District_election,_2018, accessed February 4, 2019.

 

David J. Trone is the Member of Congress for Maryland’s 6^th Congressional District. Trone is a Democrat, and is serving his first term, which began January 2019. The district is a Democratic safe seat, and he won the general election with 57.5% of the vote. He had previously run for and lost the 2016 primary election for Maryland’s 8^th District. He does not currently have committee-level assignments but is a member of the Democratic Caucus. On his website, Trone makes his positions on most major issues visible and clearly-stated. He emphasizes his philanthropy and entrepreneurial savvy, while also appealing to fairly mainstream Democratic ideology, which fits well with his constituency. His main three issues are education, veterans, and the opioid crisis. On education, Trone believes in increasing funding for schools and educators and closing the achievement gap. He believes that this is crucial to raising the level and quality of education in public schools for all students, regardless of their background. On veterans, he seeks to bolster the funding for Veterans’ Assistance healthcare, including mental health and post-traumatic stress therapy, decrease homelessness, and generally ensure that no soldier comes home facing undue challenges to their welfare. On the opioid crisis, Trone wishes to use governmental agencies like the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to plan for a massive response to attenuate its effects on the population.

The 6^th Congressional District of Maryland is a mostly urban (~85%) district in Maryland. Although much of the district is farmland, it encompasses mostly urbanized Montgomery County, which is adjacent to Washington, D.C., as well as Frederick, the second-largest city in the state behind Baltimore. Trone addresses the concerns of rural farmers and landowners, located largely in the wholly-encompassed counties to the northwest, while also catering to the heavy business interests found in-district, particularly in proximity to the capital. It is not an incredibly diverse district; it is 68% white, 14% black, 11% Asian, and 13% Hispanic. The reason for this is the subject of a current Supreme Court lawsuit, which contests that Democrats gerrymandered the district to cover vastly white regions of western Maryland while sharply excluding the regions heading east towards the historically black city of Baltimore. The neighboring 8^th district and especially the 7^th next to it hold most of the black population, and therefore the Democratic vote once again. Additionally, the three western counties (Garret, Allegheny, Washington) bordering West Virginia would be solidly Republican districts, but their representation is diluted by including the overwhelmingly wealthy and Democratic suburbs immediately northwest of the District of Columbia.

Michael J. Hough is the General Assembly (State House) Senator for Maryland District 4. He has served as State Senator since 2015. As a Republican, he occupies a safe seat, having won 67.2% of the vote in the elections. He is on the Judicial Proceedings Committee and the Maryland Veterans Caucus. Hough “believes in the founding principles of our country; limited government, individual responsibility, and lower taxes.” He supports lenient and reformist justice for non-violent criminals, while increasing penalties for violent offenders. He stands for the protection of property rights from the government and supports Americans’ Second Amendment rights. He is considered one of the most conservative state senators in Maryland by some sources. As for State Delegates, Maryland has 3 in the 4^th District: Barrie S. Ciliberti, Daniel L. Cox, and Jesse T. Pippy. All three are Republicans in safe seats in District 4. Ciliberti has been in office since 2015. He is on the Appropriations committee. Ciliberti is a mainstream Republican; he supports tax reductions, the right to life, and the Second Amendment. Cox was elected in 2018, and therefore has no committee assignments yet. Dan Cox makes his stances clear on all pivotal issues: the right to life, Second Amendment rights and other defenses from government overreach, property rights, thorough border security and deportation of illegal immigrants, and galvanizing the rights of farmers. Finally, Pippy has been in the House of Delegates since the 2018 election. He has no appointments or committees at the time. His main focal point in the House is on modernizing Maryland’s economic structure with market capitalism aligned towards small businesses. He tends to take a moderate Evangelical-conservative position on most other issues.

Maryland’s 4^th State Senate District is overwhelmingly rural and white. It is drawn specifically to exclude the more populous and diverse cities of Frederick and Carroll Creek. Because of its heavily agricultural constituency, all state-level representatives thoroughly address their commitment to farmers and ensuring that their needs are being met through legislative means. 91% of the district is white, so it is decidedly lacking in diversity.

 

 

In my home state of Maryland, Jamie Raskin serves as my congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Raskin has represented the 8^th congressional district since 2016 and had previously represented District 20 from 2007 to 2016 in the Maryland State Senate. Raskin won the eighth-house district securing over 55% of the votes in both the 2016 and 2018 election cycle solidifying his safe seat in the district named the 97^th most Democratic nationally. The demographics of the Washington metropolitan area is 88.08% urban and 11.92 % rural. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2010 data, of the 747,185 it is approximately 48.8 % Male and 51.2? %. The racial makeup consists of 60.4 % white, 19.7% Black, 15.6% Asian, American Indian and 0.7 % Alaska Native, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and an ethnic population of 19.6% Hispanics. Congressman Raskin has set his agenda geared towards addressing the needs of the diverse population to which he serves.

The issues Rep. Raskin has decided to focus on this term are Social justice, environment, foreign affair & national security, health care, Immigration, seniors, veterans, voting rights & campaign finance, and workforce& job development. Raskin has shown his stance by securing 10.6 million dollars to assess the needs of Maryland’s children and he introduced a bipartisan bill to overturn Citizens United. Currently, Congressman Raskin serves on the House judiciary, oversight and reform, administration, steering and policy, and rules committees in the 116^th congress. Rep. Raskin currently is a part of a whopping 89 caucuses including being the co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Free Thought Caucus and the House Education Caucus.

Maryland is one of ten states which employ multi member districts in its legislature. Delegate Bonnie Cullison is one of three representatives of the 19^th district serving in the 439^th session of the General Assembly. Rep. Cullison lists her priorities as high-quality education, supporting small business, a safe and secure community, environment, economy and access to affordable health care. As a three-term incumbent, Cullison served on the health & Government Operations committee and has sponsored the Student Data Privacy Council to review practices and the implementation of the Student Data Privacy Act in 2015. Currently, she is the assistant Majority whip, an associate member of Maryland’s Legislative Latino Caucus and chair of the Insurance and Pharmaceuticals Subcommittee of the Health and Government Operations Committee. The 19^th district a suburb of Washington D.C., is classified as urban with a population of 121,618 according to the 2010 census. The racial makeup consists 54.37% White, 19.34% Black, 12.33% Asian, 9.47% Other, 4.00% Two or More Races, 0.44% American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.05% Pacific Islander. The district is diverse in race and in gender where 51.7% of the population is female and 48.3% are male.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicago, IL: Member of Congress:

I currently live in Chicago, IL which means I am situated in Illinois’s Congressional District #4. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia is a member of the Democratic Party as well as our US representative. He is a Mexican- born politician, he has been serving as our representative since January 3^rd, 2019.  Before that, he served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, the Illinois State Senate and Chicago City Council. In 2015, he went against Rahm Emmanuel for Mayor of Chicago but unfortunately lost. He has been a part of our legislature since 1986 but has only been our member of Congress for a couple weeks, prior to him Luis Gutierrez was in office. I would say based on his previous election results he is in a safe seat. Unfortunately, during his run for Mayor he did not win but he did have a big support system from voter and endorsements. Bernie Sanders was one of the people that endorse him and his political beliefs as well as Luis Gutierrez after announcing his retirement from Congress. During his campaign for Member of Congress, he won 60% of the primary votes. I think being Hispanic really helps him relate to the minorities of our district. As far as him being member of any caucus, it has only been stated he will be joining the Congressional Progressive Caucus but nothing else has been stated. My district is very urban-rural, many immigrants for decades now have established themselves here but over the years under Mayor Rahm Emmanuel gentrification has been started to arise, condos are being made as well as supermarkets like Walmart and Target are being built as well as housing cost like Mortgage and rent are increasing. Out of 700, 585 residents in my district 479,290 are Hispanic/Latino. For the past couple of years, the democratic party has taken office.

State House Representative

 In this position, I am listed in a different district. Our state representative is Iris Martinez and she represents Illinois’s 20^th state senate district. She has been in this position since 2003, her election marked the first time a Hispanic woman had been elected to the state senate in Illinois history. Martinez is involved in the Illinois legislative Latino caucus, which she has given her a platform to give voice to initiatives that are important to minorities. She is involved in committees like Commerce and Economic Development, Education, Energy, and Public Utilities, Executive, Government Accountability/Pensions and Transportation. I do believe she has a safe seat, for the 2018 re-elections she had won 100% of the votes. Since 2003, she has continued to earn and maintain her position because of the voters’ favor towards her. Martinez has continuously used her position to advocate for affordable housing, expanding health care access and ensuring seniors and the disabled to given proper care. She is also a strong voice for children and has started an initiative that involves children receiving health check-ups, screening, dental check-ups, immunizations as well as backpacks. Since she represents one of Chicago’s most diverse neighborhoods, she is a voice to a lot of minorities that are not given the same equal rights as everyone else.

As a constituent of Ohio’s 11^thcongressional district, I am represented by Marcia Fudge in the U.S. House of Representatives. The 11^thdistrict is comprised of a collection of suburbs surrounding the city of Cleveland, including both semi-rural and urban communities. Congresswoman Fudge surely realized the diversity among the district’s interests as she committed her talents to the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Military Family Caucus, Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, Congressional Diabetes Caucus, Northeast, and finally the Midwest Congressional Coalition. Additionally, the Congresswoman has dedicated her time within the House of Representatives to serve in the Committee on Agriculture; a salient topic to the rural communities of her district, as well as the entire state of Ohio. Congresswoman Fudge focuses her efforts on conservation and nutrition which is viewed as an extension to the Congresswoman’s fight against poverty within the 11^thdistrict. She also serves as a member of the House’s Committee on Education and the Workforce. The Congresswoman has tactfully positioned herself amid the issues of “Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education,” as well as “Workforce Protections” within this committee. Here, she is equipped with the resources to alleviate systematic inequities that have led to evident educational dichotomies in the 11^thdistrict. Fudge believes that combating resource inequality at an early stage can enhance educational experience and economic growth. In reflection of this belief, Fudge has ensured her participation on issues surrounding educational growth by introducing bills such as H.R. 193 (Core Opportunity Resources for Equity and Excellence Act), as well as supporting congressional acts within the agricultural sector that support her platform on nutrition. Support for the Congresswoman is evident by her tenure within the legislature. Congresswoman Fudge has been representing the 11^thDistrict since 2008 and is expected to maintain her standing with the House considering her constituencies continual Democratic tendencies.

More locally, I am represented by Janine R. Boyd in the Ohio House of Representatives. Representative Boyd, a Democrat, has been serving within this position since 2015, winning by a considerable margin. In 2017, Representative Boyd worked as a member of the Committee on Aging and Long Term Care, the Committee on Community and Family Advancement, the Committee on State and Local Government, and finally the Committee on Ways and Means. Generally, Representative Boyd strives to implement state-level policies paralleled with those supported by Congresswoman Fudge. Included within this endeavor is viewing education as an avenue for an enhanced workforce, as well as crafting comprehensive healthcare initiatives. Recently, Representative Boyd’s work reflects a commitment to debasing legislation that perpetuates gender inequity, and fostering action that supports immigrant communities.

My member of Congress is Matt Cartwright.  He is the Democratic representative from Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District.  He previously served as the representative for Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District from 2013 to 2018, serving 3 terms.  He was elected into office on November 6, 2018, serving his first term as the representative from the 8th Congressional District, and he is up for reelection in 2020 (Ballotpedia).  Cartwright won 54.6% of the votes, defeating the Republican candidate, John Crin, who received 45.4% of the votes.  Cartwright serves on several committees.  He serves on the Committee if Appropriations, along with its subcommittees: Subcommittee in Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies and the Subcommittee in Financial Services and General Government.  He is also a member of a lot of caucuses.  Some of these include the Democratic Caucus, Adult Literacy Caucus, Animal Protection Caucus, LGBT Equality Caucus, Childhood Cancer Caucus, Cybersecurity Caucus, Clean Water Caucus, Public Service Caucus, and many others that reflect upon issues of his interests (cartwright.house.gov).  Cartwright is committed to working across the aisle to advocate for working families.  He has introduced over 60 pieces of legislation and more bipartisan bills than any other House Democrat.  His priorities are creating jobs, ensuring quality health care, strengthening the middle class, protecting seniors, supporting veterans and military families, and his campaign themes were equality, defense, infrastructure, economy, and environment (cartwright.house.gov).

The representative from the 16th District of Ohio is Republican, Anthony Gonzalez.  The district is rural and includes some suburbs of Cleveland.  Important issues to Gonzalez include National Security, Education and the Workforce, Jobs and the Economy, Immigration, Federal Spending, and Veterans (gonzalez.house.gov).  His focus on these issues somewhat reflect upon the characteristics of his district, as he focuses on jobs for American projects and strengthening the economy, but also more national issues such as federal spending, national security, and immigration.  The racial demographics of the district are relatively racially homogenous.  Racially, the district is 94.3% White, 2.0% Asian, and 1.6% Black, and ethnically, it is 2.0% Hispanic (Ballotpedia).

My State House Representative is Jack Rader Jr. of the 176th District of Pennsylvania.  He is a Republican and has been serving as a member of the House since 2015.  In the most recent election, Rader defeated Claudette Williams, a Democrat, 54.7% to 45.3% (Ballotpedia).  His committee assignments are Children & Youth, Finance, Local Government, and Tourism & Recreational Development, but no caucuses were listed.  His focus includes eliminating property tax, promoting economic growth and job creation, reducing government involvement in everyday life, and supporting a balanced budget.  The district is rural and agricultural in some areas.  These characteristics of the district are not directly reflected in the issues focused on by our representative, but some of the areas of focus may overlap onto these characterisitcs.  The area is 51% female, and the demographics for race and ethnicity are 73% White, 10% Black, 1% Asian, and 14% Hispanic (censusreporter.org).  In some areas it may seem diverse, but for the most part, the district is racially homogenous.