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• Maria Cantwell is the junior Senator from Washington. A Democrat, she was first elected to the post in 2000. She won re-election in 2006. Cantwell was a featured speaker at the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver.

• Fast Facts:

  1. Born: October 13, 1958 in Indianapolis, Indiana
  2. Party: Democratic
  3. Assumed Office: January 3, 2001
  4. College: Miami University
  5. Marital Status: Single
  6. Campaign Slogan: "Your voice for a change"
  7. One of the first women to defeat elected incumbent senator

• Early Life and Career

  Cantwell was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and only moved to Washington in 1983, while campaigning for Alan Cranston in his unsuccessful 1984 bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination. In 1986, at the age of 28, Cantwell was elected to the Washington House of Representatives. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992, but failed to win re-election in 1994.

• Senator Cantwell

  In 2000, Cantwell ran for the Senate seat held by three-term incumbent Slade Gorton. In an extremely close election, Cantwell defeated Gorton by fewer than 2,500 votes. She won her campaign for re-election in 2006 in a landslide. In 2002, she voted to approve the joint resolution providing the President with the authorization to use force against Saddam Hussein.

• DNC Speech

  The following is an excerpt from the prepared transcript of Cantwell's speech at the 2008 Democratic Nation Convention.

  • "I'm fortunate to represent one of the most pristine and high-tech states in the nation. We know it's time for a president who will make energy independence America's top priority. After eight years of skyrocketing gas prices, eight years of families spending more and more of their paychecks at the pump, and eight years of two former oil men catering to big oil's agenda, it's time for a new energy day in America."StreetInsider.com: Democratic Convention Remarks by Maria Cantwell (August 26, 2008)

• Related Pages on Mahalo

  U.S. Senate | U.S. House of Representatives | John D. Rockefeller IV | Daniel Akaka | Kay Bailey Hutchison | Lamar Alexander | Wayne Allard | Max Baucus | Bob Bennett | Jeff Bingaman | Sherrod Brown | Jim Bunning | Debbie Stabenow | Barack Obama | 2008 Democratic Convention

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