Political Career: New Castle Cnty. Cncl., 2001-05; New Castle Cnty. exec., 2005-10.
Ethnicity: White/Caucasian
Religion: Presbyterian
Family: Married (Annie); 3 children
The junior senator from Delaware is Christopher Coons, a Democrat who won Vice President Joe Biden’s former seat in 2010. Coons defeated the tea party-backed Christine O’Donnell. Read More
The junior senator from Delaware is Christopher Coons, a Democrat who won Vice President Joe Biden’s former seat in 2010. Coons defeated the tea party-backed Christine O’Donnell.
Coons was born in Greenwich, Conn., the middle son of Ken and Sally Coons. His mother was a schoolteacher; his father held a variety of jobs, including managing a cannery and manufacturing kitchen furniture. After the family moved to Delaware in Coons’ early childhood, bankruptcy wiped out much of his father’s business success. His parents later divorced. In high school, Coons considered himself a Republican like his parents, and volunteered for Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign. His conversion to the Democratic Party came while he was a student at Amherst College. Visiting Kenya for a semester in 1984, Coons said that observing his host family changed the way he thought about poverty and free markets, and led him to write a tongue-in-cheek column for the college newspaper, titled “Chris Coons: The Making of a Bearded Marxist.”
After graduating in 1985, Coons did relief work with a church group in South Africa, and then returned to the United States to attend Yale Law School. He also enrolled in the Divinity School and graduated from both programs in 1992. He moved to New York City to work with low-income students with the “I Have a Dream” Foundation. Delaware beckoned, though, and Coons moved back in 1996 after getting married; he and his wife had met while serving on a state community service commission the year before. Coons joined his stepfather’s Newark-based fabrics company, W.L. Gore and Associates, as a lawyer. His first foray into politics came in 2000, when he ran for the New Castle County Council. After four years, he was elected county executive on an anti-corruption platform. Despite promising in his campaign not to increase taxes, Coons wound up raising taxes to close a budget gap.
When Biden was chosen to join Barack Obama’s presidential ticket, the heavy favorite on the Democratic side for the open seat was state Attorney General Beau Biden, the incumbent’s son. But the younger Biden declined to run, perhaps influenced by the appraisal by leading Democrats that the race was probably unwinnable against Republican Rep. Michael Castle, who had been elected statewide 12 times in 30 years and was the prohibitive favorite in the general election. But in one of 2010’s big upsets, Castle lost the GOP primary to tea party favorite Christine O’Donnell, a local television commentator and perennial Senate candidate who hadn’t been taken seriously until her stunning primary win. By that time, Coons was already in the race, having decided to run after Biden’s announcement in February, and now, he had a real shot at winning.
Coons got the attention of the national media and an immediate double-digit lead over O’Donnell. Predictions that she would be a weak opponent were fulfilled in spades. O’Donnell was put on the defensive by old footage showing her condemning masturbation and claiming to have dabbled in witchcraft. She was compelled to tape a now famous campaign ad in which she reassured her supporters, “I am not a witch.… I’m nothing you’ve heard. I am you.” A conservative, she also criticized judicial activism but could not answer a question about which Supreme Court cases she disagreed with.
O’Donnell focused on Coons’ record raising of taxes as county executive, dubbing him “The Tax Man.” Republicans also tried to use his “Bearded Marxist” essay as a line of attack, but he insisted the title was hyperbolic for humor’s sake. “I am a clean-shaven capitalist,” he retorted. Mostly, Coons kept a low profile while O’Donnell’s campaign came apart with one controversy after another. She did make some headway with voters and ardent tea party activists who praised her for a common touch. And, she was no slouch at fundraising. O’Donnell raised over $7 million for her campaign, almost double that of Coons, who raised $3.8 million.
But on Election Day, it wasn’t close. Coons won, 57% to 40%. Exit polls showed that he attracted significant crossover votes from Republicans and was heavily favored by women, who split 63%-35% in Coons’ favor. O’Donnell fared somewhat better with men, who voted 53%-44% for Coons. However, the two ran about evenly among independents. Unaffiliated voters split 49% for Coons and 46% for O’Donnell.
National Journal’s rating system is an objective method of analyzing voting. The liberal score means that the lawmaker’s votes were more liberal than that percentage of his colleagues’ votes. The conservative score means his votes were more conservative than that percentage of his colleagues’ votes. The composite score is an average of a lawmaker’s six issue-based scores. See all NJ Voting
More Liberal
More Conservative
2012
2011
2010
Economic
80
(L) : 17 (C)
69
(L) : 25 (C)
-
(L) : - (C)
Social
64
(L) : - (C)
52
(L) : - (C)
(L) : - (C)
Foreign
85
(L) : - (C)
83
(L) : 14 (C)
-
(L) : - (C)
Composite
85.3
(L) : 14.7 (C)
77.5
(L) : 22.5 (C)
-
(L) : - (C)
Interest Group Ratings
The vote ratings by 10 special interest groups provide insight into a lawmaker’s general ideology and the degree to which he or she agrees with the group’s point of view. Some organizations provide just one combined rating for 2009 and 2010, the two sessions of the 111th Congress. About the interest groups.
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The first Almanac of American Politics was published in 1971, and it hasn’t missed an election since.
The nation’s most authoritative source of information about members of Congress, their districts,
the governors and the states is published in print form after the national elections every two years by the National Journal Group in Washington D.C.
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Jay Rockefeller Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia stunned political observers when he announced on Jan. 11 that he would not seek a sixth term in 2014. The Democrat is the state's senior senator, and chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
Jay Rockefeller Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia stunned political observers when he announced on Jan. 11 that he would not seek a sixth term in 2014. The Democrat is the state's senior senator, and chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
