Heather James (D–WA)

[Hannah]

Name: Heather James

Seat: Washington (Class I)

Party: Democratic

Avatar:

Major Caucus: New Democrats

 

Gender: Female (5 points, 5 points running total)

Age: 61 (0, 5)

Sexuality: Straight, married with < 3 children (-5, 0)

Heather has been married for 28 years to Samuel James, a surgeon. They have two children, Michael and Joy, and recently celebrated the birth of their first grandchild, Kim.

Race: White (0, 0)

Heather's maiden name was Jelacic, an Anglicization of the Croatian name Jelačić. She also has some Irish ancestry.

Religion: Roman Catholic (0, 0)

Heather was raised in a Catholic family and identifies as Catholic. She was mentioned in 2004 amid a controversy about John Kerry being denied Communion; Archbishop Brunett of Seattle asked pro-choice politicians such as Heather not to receive Communion, while confirming he would not withhold the Sacrament.

Education: College Degree from Public Ivy, Master's Degree from Public Ivy (5+10+5, 20)

Heather studied finance at UCLA, where she was on the swim team. She has an MBA from the UC Berkeley Business School.

Background: Super-Rich (Top 1%) (5, 25)

Heather grew up in a wealthy suburb of Anaheim. Her father was an advertising executive and her mother worked in fashion. Thanks to her business career she is ranked as one of the wealthiest individual members of Congress.

Career Information: Business Executive (20, 45)

Heather spent the 1980s forging a career on the financial side of Seattle's tech industry, having moved north from California with her husband after business school. She is the co-founder of Nexxus Capital, a venture capital firm.

Awards and Extras: N/A

Political Experience: Senate (2 terms), Senate Subcommittee Chair/RM (3 Congresses ×2), Senate Committee Chair/RM (1 Congress), House of Representatives (2 terms), State Legislature (upper house, 1 term) (2×5+6×3+1×5+2×3+1×2, 86)

Heather was elected to the Washington State Senate in 1988, running as a pro-business, pro-technology, pro-environment modern Democrat. Rather than run for reelection, she challenged for Washington's 1st congressional seat in 1992; at 37, she was one of the youngest women ever elected from the state, and as she moved quickly to establish her credentials as a New Democrat, it seemed the dawn of a promising political career. But she could not survive the 1994 Republican wave and found herself out of a job after just a single term. Her most notable vote was in supporting NAFTA, beginning her record of supporting trade deals to the irritation of her more progressive and labor-oriented Democratic peers. After returning to the private sector and considering a run for Governor, she decided to try again in 1998, running for her old seat and unseating moderate Republican Rick White, who had unseated her in 1994, partly thanks to a spoiler candidacy from an anti-abortion activist. In 2000 she ran for the Senate against incumbent Slade Gorton, winning an extremely close and extremely expensive election by barely 2,000 votes amid the drama of the 2000 Presidential election. She has been reelected twice by much more comfortable margins. In the Senate she has established herself as a leader on environmental issues and women's rights, but has been criticized from the left for her stances on national security, privacy, and trade. Heather has been Chair/RM of the Commerce subcommittee on the Internet for 3 Congresses and served as Chair/RM of the Energy and Natural Resources committee's Public Lands and Forest subcommittee before becoming Ranking Member in the most recent Congress.

 

Committee Assignments:

• Commerce, Science, and Transportation
  • Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
  • Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet (Ranking Member)
  • Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard
  • Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security
• Energy and Natural Resources (Ranking Member)
• Finance
  • Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
  • Health Care
  • International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
• Small Business and Entrepreneurship
• Indian Affairs

Key Votes: (2×5, 96)

• 103: (House) NAFTA YEA
• 104-105: not in Congress
• 106: (House) Gramm-Leach-Bliley YEA (+5)
• 107: Homeland Security Act YEA
• 108: Unborn Victims of Violence Act NAY
• 109:
  • Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act NAY
  • Cloture on Alito nomination NAY (+5)
• 110: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act NAY
• 111: Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act YEA
• 112: United States–Colombia Free Trade Agreement YEA
• 113:
  • Bipartisan Budget Act YEA
  • Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization YEA
• 114: Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act YEA
• Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 YEA

Edited March 2 by Hannah

[Jack]

APPROVED

[Hannah]

Can you hold off on masking me please, as I haven't decided on this character yet.

[Jack]

53 minutes ago, Hannah said:

Can you hold off on masking me please, as I haven't decided on this character yet.

 

Alright, gotcha. 

ON HOLD

[Hannah]

Ehhhh I'll just stick with this character, thanks.

[DMH]

APPROVED

[Hannah]

signed out

[jakeakins]

24 hours.

[Hannah]

I hadn't considered that without a Vice President, the PPT signing out would create an impasse in the Senate (and with all the quality debate flowing back and forth on the Senate floor, we wouldn't want that!) so for now I will sign back in.

 

But please advance the nominations soon, admins. Your total inactivity is killing the game.