Debbie Stabenow

Explore about the Famous Politician Debbie Stabenow, who was born in United States on April 29, 1950. Analyze Debbie Stabenow’s net worth, age, bio, birthday, dating, height-weight, wiki. Investigate who is Debbie Stabenow dating now? Look into this article to know how old is Debbie Stabenow?

Debbie Stabenow Biography

Politician and democrat who became the United States Senator for Michigan in 2001. She also served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 1979 to 1990, where she was the first woman to preside over the House.

She graduated from Michigan State University in 1972 and worked as a social worker prior to entering politics.

She became the Chairwoman of the integral Senate Agriculture Committee in 2011.

She divorced her husband Tom Athans in 2010.

She and athlete Keith Appling both graduated from Michigan State University.

Stabenow is only the second person from Michigan to have served in both houses of the Michigan State Legislature and in both houses of the United States Congress. Stabenow is also the first person to have served as a Michigan state legislator to be popularly elected to the U.S. Senate (until enactment of the Seventeenth amendment to the United States Constitution in 1913, U.S. Senators were selected by the state legislature).

Deborah Ann Greer Stabenow (/ˈ s t æ b ə ˌ n aʊ / ; born April 29, 1950) is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Michigan, a seat she was first elected to in 2000. A member of the Democratic Party, she became the state’s first female U.S. Senator after defeating Republican incumbent Spencer Abraham. Before her election to the Senate, she was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Michigan’s 8th congressional district (1997–2001). Previously she served on the Ingham County Board of Commissioners and in the Michigan State Legislature.

Stabenow was born in Gladwin, Michigan, the daughter of Anna Merle (née Hallmark) and Robert Lee Greer. She grew up in Clare. She graduated from Clare High School, and received a Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University in 1972 and a Master of Social Work magna cum laude from Michigan State University in 1975.

While in graduate school, Stabenow won her first election to public office: the Ingham County Board of Commissioners, a position in which she served from 1975 to 1978.

She served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 1979 to 1990, where she became the first woman to preside over the House. She also served in the Michigan Senate from 1991 to 1994.

Stabenow was first married to Dennis Stabenow; the couple divorced in 1990. They have two children, Michelle and Todd.

In 1994, she ran in Michigan’s Democratic gubernatorial primary to challenge incumbent Republican John Engler in the general election. U.S. Congressman Howard Wolpe defeated her in the primary, however, with a plurality of 35% to Stabenow’s 30%. After the primary, Wolpe chose Stabenow as his running mate, and she appeared on the general election ballot as the Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Stabenow failed to become Lieutenant Governor of Michigan as Engler defeated Wolpe 61%-38%.

In 1996, Stabenow ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives, challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Congressman Dick Chrysler for the opportunity to represent Michigan’s 8th congressional district. She defeated Chrysler 54%-44%. In 1998, she won re-election to a second term with 57% of the vote.

In the 2000 campaign she “promised to make the pharmaceutical industry lower prescription drug prices, to maintain Social Security benefits and to give Medicare a new prescription drug plan.” She pledged to “fight the pharmaceutical and insurance industries – the two industries that spend the most money lobbying federal officials” and accused the pharmaceutical industry of “making up to 20 percent net profit each year…on the backs of families, seniors and businesses,” Her spokesperson said: “In the last election, I think the pharmaceutical industry spent more campaigning against her than any other candidate…She was enemy number one.” Stabenow voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in December 2009, and she voted for the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. She also sponsored S. 2257, the Excellence in Mental Health Act.

Stabenow was re-elected to a fourth term, defeating Republican nominee John E. James by a margin of 52.3%-45.8%. Stabenow was re-elected by 275,660 votes (a 6.50% margin), making this the closest U.S. Senate election in Michigan since 2000.

Stabenow did not seek re-election to the House in 2000, choosing instead to challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham. She won the Democratic primary unopposed. In the general election, Stabenow defeated Abraham 49.5%-48% (a difference of 67,259 votes).

In 2003, Stabenow married Tom Athans, co-founder of Democracy Radio and former executive vice president of Air America. She and Athans have a stepdaughter, Gina. In 2008, Athans admitted to paying a prostitute for sex. They divorced in 2010.

Stabenow became the third-ranking Democratic Party member in the U.S. Senate on November 16, 2004, when she was elected as secretary of the Democratic caucus. As caucus secretary, she assisted Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to set the Democratic agenda and priorities. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) was elected Minority Whip, the second-ranking Democratic spot. In November 2006, Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that Stabenow would leave the caucus secretary position to succeed Hillary Clinton as chair of the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, charged with “engag[ing] Democratic Senators and community leaders across the country in an active dialogue”.

On August 31, 2006, Stabenow, along with Senator Carl Levin and Rep. John Dingell, announced an agreement that would completely cease Ontario’s dumping of solid waste in Michigan within four years. This had been an issue in Michigan for the past several years. Stabenow had previously introduced legislation in the Senate that was intended to reduce the dumping of Canadian trash in Michigan. In July 2006, the Senate unanimously passed a law sponsored by Stabenow requiring the payment of a $420 inspection fee for every truckload of Canadian trash being brought into Michigan.

In 2008, she voted against the Troubled Asset Relief Program proposed by President Bush.

Asked in 2009 by Bill Press whether she would support a return of the Fairness Doctrine, under which the federal government enforced an ideological “balance” on the airwaves, Stabenow said yes: “I absolutely think it’s time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves.” Asked whether she would push for Senate hearings on the subject, she said, “I have already had some discussions with colleagues and, you know, I feel like that’s gonna happen. Yep.” It has been noted that Stabenow’s then husband was Tom Athans, an executive in left-wing radio (Air America, Democracy Radio), whose career would have benefited from such legislation.

On August 10, 2009, Stabenow was reported by The Detroit News as saying “Global warming creates volatility. I feel it when I’m flying. The storms are more volatile. We are paying the price in more hurricanes and tornadoes.” She has, however, opposed regulation of greenhouse gases, enhanced fuel efficiency standards in California, and greenhouse gas emission reporting standards.

In 2009, Stabenow voted for President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan.

In 2010, Stabenow called for a total ban on drilling in the Great Lakes. Critics noted that “a U.S. federal ban on all oil and natural gas offshore drilling in the Great Lakes” had already “been in place since 2005,” and that Canada banned offshore oil drilling but had “roughly 500 offshore gas wells in Lake Erie,” plus 23 “slant wells” that “drill for oil on shore but extend under Lake Erie.” In 2015, Stabenow and Gary Peters introduced the Pipeline Improvement and Preventing Spills Act “to ban shipping of crude oil by vessel on the Great Lakes and require a comprehensive, top-to-bottom review of hazardous pipelines in the region.”

In 2010, she introduced the China Fair Trade Act, saying it would “prevent federal taxpayer dollars from being used to purchase Chinese products and services until they sign on to and abide by the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement.” The bill would also require a report on Chinese industrial policies and require the Department of Energy to monitor the development of China’s renewable energy sector.

Stabenow voted for the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011 (S.493). In March 2011, the Think Progress website accused her of joining “the pro-polluter frenzy sweeping the U.S. Senate,” saying that the legislation was “being used as a vehicle for senators who wish to prevent regulation of greenhouse pollution from oil refineries, coal-fired power plants, heavy industry, and other major emitters. Stabenow has added her amendment to three others intended to hamstring the Environmental Protection Agency on behalf of carbon polluters.”

In December 2011, Stabenow voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. The bill included highly controversial provisions, drafted by Senators Carl Levin and John McCain in closed session, that would allow for the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens deemed potential terrorists and enemies of the state.

In 2011, Stabenow introduced the Reengaging Americans in Serious Education Act (RAISE UP Act), whereby the Labor Department would fund programs to help “disconnected youth” get diplomas, degrees, and job certifications. In 2012, she co-sponsored a bill to freeze student loan interest rates at 3.4 percent and make additional funds available for Pell Grants.

In October 2011, Stabenow called for tax breaks for firms developing bio-based products, using crops like soybeans and corn to create prescriptions drugs, plastics, and soaps.

Along with eight other Senators, Stabenow tied for “Most Liberal Senator” in 2011, in the view of The National Journal.

Stabenow became the Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee in 2011, following the defeat of Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln. A controversial item during Stabenow’s tenure, has been the renewal and reform of the 2012 U.S. Farm Bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) reintroduced 2012’s Senate Farm Bill in the new 113th Congress in January 2013, saying that the Farm Bill was on his top priority list, and Stabenow voiced support for Reid’s move, stating “Majority Leader Reid has demonstrated that the Senate will once again make supporting our nation’s agriculture economy while cutting spending a top priority.”

Stabenow became the Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee in 2011, following the defeat of Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln. A controversial item during Stabenow’s tenure, has been the renewal and reform of the 2012 U.S. Farm Bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) reintroduced 2012’s Senate Farm Bill in the new 113th Congress in January 2013, saying that the Farm Bill was on his top priority list, and Stabenow voiced support for Reid’s move, stating “Majority Leader Reid has demonstrated that the Senate will once again make supporting our nation’s agriculture economy while cutting spending a top priority.”

In August 2012, Stabenow expressed support for “strategic partnerships between farmers and industry” and for a recent Obama directive to boost federal purchases of bio-based products.

Stabenow, as Senate Agriculture Committee Chair, added an amendment to the 2013-14 Farm Bill that prohibited state laws requiring labeling for foods containing GMOs. She has been criticized because this amendment aided Monsanto and other agribusinesses, which donated over three-quarters of a million dollars to her campaign during that election cycle. In 2016 she was criticized again for her role in the passage of a law that overruled state laws mandating GMO labeling.

Stabenow has received high marks from groups supporting increased immigration and amnesty (American Immigration Lawyers Association, 2013–14, 100%; National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, 2013–14, 100%) and low marks from groups opposed to illegal immigration: Federation for American Immigration Reform, 2014, 0%; Numbers USA, 2017, 0%.

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