Senator Bennet is 57 years old, originally born in India. His mother is a survivor of the Holocaust from Poland and his father, a political official, is from New Jersey.
It's interesting to think about how he ended up in Colorado due to his diverse family history.
Long story still kind of long - Michael grew up in Washington D.C. while his father worked as an aide in the White House. He went to St. Albans for K-12 where his interest in politics began. In highschool he served as a page on Capitol Hill.
He earned his B.A. in History from Wesleyan University (where his father AND grandfather went as well) (and his father was president of the University).
Then, he attended Yale Law School and was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. These are some incredible acomplishments!
He is the 3rd generation Bennet man to work alongside high profile politicians including numerous presidents and Ohio governor Richard Celeste, which Bennet worked for after law school.
Bennet eventually moved to Montana with his wife but quickly relocated to Colorado because of his personal connections.
He served as superintendent to Denver Public Schools from 2005 until 2009. In 2009, the CO Governor appointed Bennet to fill the US senator seat. He ran as a Democrat for the first time in 2010: won; ran again in 2016: won again; and has announced he would run yet again this year in 2022.
Bennet does not mention religion on either his offical Senate site or his re-election page. He does mention his "wife Susan and their three daughters, Caroline, Halina, and Anne," on michaelbennet.com
According to the official Senate website, Bennet serves on three committees; The Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; The Committee on Finance; and a Select Committee on Intelligence.
The Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry
Bennet is the chairman on the Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry, and Natural Resources. He also serves on the Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research and the Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy.
This makes a lot of sense because according to Bennet's own Senate page, he lists agriculture, clean energy, climate change & environment, and conservation as priorities.
The Committee on Finance
Bennet must be an overachiever, because he is also the chairman on the Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure. He is on the Subcommittee's on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness and Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy as well.
His dedication to this committee is reflected once again when he lists economy & jobs, fiscal responsibility, health care, and national security & foreign policy.
Some other priorities of Bennet's are immigration, justice & equality, rural communities, veterans, and Washington reform.
Sponsored & Co-Sponsored Legislation
Bennet has sponsered 496 pieces of legislation from 2009 to 2022.
The most recent being
S.3583 - A bill to amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to provide grants for outdoor recreation projects to spur economic development, with a focus on rural communities, and to provide training for rural communities on funding opportunities for outdoor recreation, and for other purposes (senate.gov)
So he is staying true to his environmental and rural community commitments.
He most well known for his "policies like the expanded Child Tax Credit which will cut child poverty by nearly half; Medicare-X which will help achieve universal, affordable, accessible health care; and the CORE Act which will protect Colorado’s public lands for generations to come," (michaelbennet.com).
ADA & Interest Groups
Bennet has an ADA rating of 95%, so that's really cool of him.
According to Vote Smart, in 2021, he has recieved a rating of 100% from:
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) - Planned Parenthood Action Fund
while he recieved lower ratings, like 8% from the Conservative review last year.
Across the Aisle
In Bennet's 13 years in legislation, he has co-sponsered many bipartisan bills with Republicans. One being the STATES Act on Cannibis with Elizabeth Warren and Cory Gardner (R-CO) (bennet.senate.gov)
He also is very critical of the GOP, especially Donald Trump & Ted Cruz (hmmm that 8% rating is making sense).
“Today 57 senators voted to convict Donald Trump of impeachable offenses. Although the Senate fell short of the required two-thirds majority, our bipartisan vote reflects the powerful evidence that President Trump breached his oath of office. In my view, his egregious refusal to accept the results of a lawful election and his intimidation of election officials were sufficient to warrant conviction. In the end, he stopped at nothing, inciting a mob to attack the Capitol to overturn the lawful election of President Biden, putting American lives, principles, and democratic institutions at mortal risk,” (bennet.senate.gov)
Here is a speech he gave on the Senate floor on Cruz:
When first appointed in 2009, many Republicans called him the “accidental Senator.”
When all is said and done, and when it comes to re-election, here's the thing; Bennet has the advantage of name recognition on his side. He has 2 full terms and nearly 500 pieces of legislation showing he is doing something, a lot of these things he is doing aligning with the wants and needs of Coloradans, and he has a strong relationship with his people. He is the only Democrat and incumbent currently running so at this point, I think it's safe to say re-election looks like it's in Bennet's future.
References
“Bennet Slams Cruz’s ‘Crocodile Tears’ in Fiery Speech on Shutdown.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 6 May 2019, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/tempers-flare-sens-cruz-bennet-fiery-shutdown-showdown-senate-floor-n962441. Accessed 7 Feb. 2022.
“Bennet Votes to Convict Trump.” Michael Bennet, 13 Feb. 2021, https://www.bennet.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2021/2/bennet-votes-to-convict-trump.
“Committee Assignments of the 117th Congress.” U.S. Senate: Committee Assignments of the 117th Congress, 6 Feb. 2022, https://www.senate.gov/general/committee_assignments/assignments.htm.
“The Facts - the Voter's Self Defense System - Vote Smart.” Michael Bennet's Ratings and Endorsements, https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/110942/michael-bennet.
“Michael Bennet for Colorado.” Michael Bennet, 14 Apr. 2021, https://michaelbennet.com/.
“U.S. Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado.” U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, https://www.bennet.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/.
Note: All in text citations ARE linked even though they do not look like it!
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