Tag Archives: Senate

EVENT
Talking Healthcare with Chris Murphy – Saturday at 11:30 AM

meet-chris-murphy-the-freshman-senator-on-a-personal-crusade-against-the-nraThis just in from Ben Florsheim ’14, whose stylish new haircut is matched only by his stylish new jacket:

Join WesDems, Wesleyan Young Advocates, and the Community Health Center for a conversation with U.S. Senator Chris Murphy about the Affordable Care Act, getting covered, and other topics. Bring your questions about healthcare and Chris’s other work in the Senate. Coffee and breakfast will be provided.

Chris Murphy was elected to represent Connecticut in the United States Senate in 2012 after serving three terms in Congress. He is a leading voice for progressive causes and is currently the youngest senator.

Date: Saturday, February 8
Time: 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Place: Woodhead Lounge (ESC184)

FEATURED
Bennet, Shumlin and Hickenlooper Moving Up in the Political Ranks

Left to right: Michael Bennet ’87, John Hickenlooper ’74, Peter Shumlin ’79

Some Wesleyan alumni are seriously making their ways up in the political ranks, my friends: all three of our school’s top current politicians have been nominated to lead the two official campaign organizations of the Democratic Party. Senator Michael Bennet ’87 will be the new Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), and Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin ’79 will lead the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper ’74 as the DGA vice-chair!

The news broke earlier this afternoon and evening: Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced Bennet’s new position at today’s Democratic Caucus luncheon, stating that “Michael is one of the brightest rising stars in the Democratic Party, and he is exactly the right person to lead our efforts over the next two years.” Later on in the evening, it was announced that the DGA had elected Shumlin as their new chair, along with Hickenlooper as his side-kick. Quite the day for Wesleyan politicians indeed!

For some fun facts about Wesleyan students correcting political journalists on their research skills, look after the jump.

Continue reading →

FEATURED
Middletown Election Ballot: Here’s What’s Up

Hey guys, the election! If you’re off-campus or an alum and still don’t know where to vote tomorrow, check out Find Your Fucking Polling Place. Just type in your address; it’ll tell you where the fuck you can vote and who the fuck you can vote for, including third-party presidential candidates. It’s that simple.

Voting in Middletown? Cool. Most Wesleyan students will be voting at the Senior Center across from Broad Street Books, which is conveniently only a few blocks from Usdan. Your sample ballot looks like this. If you live in La Casa, Interfaith/Light House, or Full/Writing House, you’re an exception. Your polling place is Macdonough School, where you will have the same ballot as other students, except that your state representative candidates will be different (one of them is a former Wes student), for reasons probably only Elvin Lim understands. Click here to see it. If you need a ride, there will be shuttles going to the polls every ten minutes between 8:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. from the Wyllys Avenue Usdan entrance.

I was going to fill the rest of this post with either an inane rundown of my favorite Mike Gravel–related YouTube videos or an analysis of the Wesleying election poll, which gives Giant Joint more than twice as many votes as Romney, but then Gabriela De Golia ’13 sent in this fairly extensive Guide to the Middletown Ballot for Dummies, which includes senate candidates, local elections, and Middletown ballot questions. (As a disclosure, De Golia is former Vice President of WesDems—this isn’t necessarily a purely objective overview.) Click past the jump for De Golia’s summaries.

As always, this is a crucial election, because if your guy doesn’t win, then the other guy might.

Continue reading →

EVENT
William Tong, Senate Candidate, Visiting Wesleyan

Michael Linden ’15, President of the Wesleyan Democrats, wants to inform you about an exciting political event happening tomorrow evening:

William Tong, current member of Connecticut’s House of Representatives and a candidate for the US Senate (currently running against Susan Byceiwicz and Chris Murphy), will be on campus to speak with students about his story, his campaign, and his goals if elected Senator! All students are encouraged to attend.

  • When: Tuesday, March 6, 7 – 8 PM
  • Where: Usdan 110
  • Food: FREE PIZZA

Cool facts about William Tong: he is the first Asian American to serve on the Connecticut General Assembly, and was the first Connecticut legislator to endorse Obama when he first decided to run for President! Gotta love him just for those two little details.

Bennet ’87 Wins Reelection

An update from last night’s post: Senator Michael Bennet ’87, of Colorado, will indeed be holding onto his senate seat, trumping Republican opponent Ken Buck in one of the nation’s closest races. Bennet responds:

I am grateful to the the thousands of Coloradans who made this victory possible, who gave so much to our campaign, knocking on doors, making calls, and working tirelessly to ensure we leave more opportunity to the next generation. Yesterday, Colorado chose to move our state and this country forward. I will do everything I can to live up to the confidence you have placed in me.

Full story at The Denver Post. And in case you haven’t been following closely, Wesleyan alumni now hold Colorado and Vermont governorships and a Colorado senate seat—not the Connecticut governorship, as an anonymous shout-boxer faultily reports.

Michael Bennet ’87: Colorado’s next Senator

Many sources close to Governor Bill Ritter have confirmed that Denver School Superintendent Michael Bennet ’87 is expected to be selected as the next Senator from Colorado. He was considered a longshot for the job by many; John Hickenlooper ’74, Ed Perlmutter, and Mike Miles were some of the other frontrunners.

In fact, Bennet served as Hickenlooper’s chief of staff while he was mayor of Denver, before he became Superintendent of Schools. Michael Bennet had formerly been considered a possibility for Obama’s Secretary of Education, but that choice went to Arne Duncan. Bennet was at least back to visit Wesleyan in 2006, where he gave a Weseminar called “The Education Race.”

Michael Bennet is also the son of our university’s last President, Doug Bennet.

Read up about Michael Bennet and his selection for the position of Senator:
Denver Post
Wikipedia
NYTimes Caucus
A fun story from 2003 about the relationship between Bennet and Hickenlooper
FiveThirtyEight

Congrats, Michael Bennet! We’re proud of you.

Giant Joint in the Senate?

Former WSA president Matt Ball ’08 writes in to tell us that two names with Wesleyan connections are being mentioned as possible replacements for Colorado junior senator Ken Salazar, who has been named Secretary of the Interior.

Denver mayor John Hickenlooper ’74 is one, with the other being Michael Bennet ’87, the son of former Wesleyan prez Doug Bennet (though unlike his father, Michael is not a Wesleyan alum). They’re probably both longshots, but hey, who says we can’t dream?

[EDIT] Multiple commenters have noted that Michael actually is an alum (Wes ’87). Sorry for the confusion. Also, for a detailed breakdown of the candidates for the seat, check out FiveThirtyEight.

[/edit by Ben, 11:12 AM]