Profile of a Member of Congress - Research Paper Example

He and his wife Katherine have been married over thirty years, have two children and grandchildren, and attend Grace Episcopal Church in Jacksonville. Crenshaw is a fairly typical member of Congress: he is white, Protestant, and wealthy (“Representative” n.d.; Tannahill 249; “Biography” n.d.). Before procuring what The Washington Post calls a “safe Republican seat” in the House of Representatives in 2000, Crenshaw had a “rollercoaster political journey” as a member of both houses of the Florida state legislature (“Ander Crenshaw” n.d.).

He has spent most of his career in politics; he was a member of the Florida State House of Representatives from 1972 to 1978. After three failed attempts at statewide office, he returned to the state legislature as a state senator in 1986 and stayed until 1994. His long period of political service, beginning shortly after graduating from college, most certainly makes Crenshaw a career politician. Crenshaw calls himself a “third-generation resident of Northeast Florida” (“Biography” n.d.), and that is the district he represents in the House of Representatives.

The 4th Congressional District of Florida consists mostly of the Jacksonville, the largest city in the state. 78 percent of the district is urban. It is strongly conservative, with 62 percent of the voters going for Senator John McCain in the 2008 Presidential race. The district, much of its geography situated along the northern Florida coast, is also strongly pro-military. Crenshaw is a strong supporter of defense issues, and as his webpage states is “a champion for our men and women in uniform.

” He supports veterans’ rights and has worked to establish Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville a nuclear aircraft carrier homeport. Anders serves on the House Appropriations Committee, and as a member of that committee, serves on two subcommittees, the Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and the Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. He has chaired the Legistlative Branch Subcommittee and is a past member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.

Since 2003, he has been Deputy Whip and has worked to help mobilize Republican members for key legislative votes (“Biography” n.d.). His work on these committees and subcommittees has mostly been focused on procuring and retaining funding for military installations and for the support of veterans’ benefits in Northeast Florida (“Ander Crenshaw” n.d.) In 2006, as member of the House Budget Committee, Crenshaw was chairman of the Republican Budget Task Force, a group that worked on budget issues that attempted to “rein in federal spending” (“Crenshaw” 2006).

In 2010, Crenshaw raised $554,327 for his campaign, close to the half a million dollars average spent by Congressional campaigns last year. His opponent, Independent Troy Stanley, raised $15,799 (“Total Raised” n.d.). About half of Crenshaw’s campaign funds came from individuals and half from political action committees (PACs), although PACs made up the majority of his largest contributors. His top three contributors were WW Gay Mechanical Contractor, AT&T, and BAE Systems, all of which contributed $10,000 each.

Crenshaw did not personally contribute anything to his campaign (“Representative,” n.d.) In 2010, Crenshaw essentially ran unopposed, winning 77%