Mike Lee

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Mike Lee (2011)

Michael Shumway "Mike" Lee (born June 4, 1971 in Mesa , Arizona ) is an American lawyer and politician of the Republican Party . Since January 3, 2011, he has represented the state of Utah in the US Senate .

Early years and legal career

Mike Lee is the son of Rex E. Lee , who served as the United States Solicitor General from 1981 to 1985 . The family moved to Provo , Utah, a year after the boy's birth , where Rex Lee became the founding dean of the Law School at Brigham Young University (BYU). After his father in 1975 as Assistant Attorney General had entered government service, spent Mike Lee most of his youth in McLean ( Virginia ), a suburb of Washington . He graduated from high school again in Provo in 1989. In the meantime, his father had become president of the university there, from which Lee received a Bachelor of Science degree in political science in 1994 .

In 1997 he passed his law exam at BYU Law School . He then went on to work as a paralegal with Dee Benson , a judge in the Utah District Court . After that, Lee worked in the same capacity for the future Supreme Court judge , Samuel Alito , who at that time was a member of the federal appeals court based in Newark . He eventually completed his legal training with Sidley Austin , Washington.

Lee held his first public service position a few years later as a deputy federal attorney based in Salt Lake City , where he prepared proceedings before the federal appeals court for the tenth district. Between January 2005 and June 2006 he was General Counsel to Utah Governor Jon Huntsman , before he went back to Washington for a year and worked there as assistant to Samuel Alito, who is now on the Supreme Court . He finally returned to Salt Lake City in the summer of 2007 and joined the Washington law firm Howrey LLP's there. There he specialized in constitutional law.

Mike Lee has been married since 1993. He lives in Alpine with his wife and their three children . He is a second cousin of the two Democratic Senators Mark Udall from Colorado and Tom Udall from New Mexico .

Candidate for the US Senate

Mike Lee held no political office until 2010. In the run-up to the 2010 Senate elections , he then ran for the seat of the US Senate, held by Republican Bob Bennett since 1993, and was one of seven candidates in his party's vote at the State Republican Convention against it. Lee received 982 votes (28.75 percent) in the first ballot, taking first place ahead of businessman Tim Bridgewater (917 votes, 26.84 percent). Bennett finished third with 885 votes (25.91 percent). In the second round of voting only these three candidates stood, this time Bridgewater (37.42 percent) ahead of Lee (35.99 percent); Bennett left with a 26.99 percent share. In the third round, Bridgewater came out on top with 57.28 percent.

However, this vote was not binding for the final nomination: It was dependent on the result of the party primary . In the run-up to this, Lee was then supported by the Tea Party movement , which enabled him to catch up with the liberal Bridgewater - on whose side Senator Bennett had stood - and finally defeated it with 51.2 percent of the vote.

Before the actual election, Lee was the clear favorite in traditionally conservative and Republican Utah. His democratic opponent, businessman Sam Granato, did not get more than 32 percent in the polls. Ultimately, there was no surprise: Lee prevailed clearly and replaced Bob Bennett on January 3, 2011 as Senator for Utah. He was confirmed in office on November 8, 2016 against the Democrat Misty Snow (with 68% of the vote); his term of office runs until January 3, 2023.

In Congress, Lee is a member of the Tea Party Caucus , a network of populist Republicans affiliated with the Tea Party.

On July 17, 2017, Mike Lee and Senator Jerry Moran announced they would not support Trump's bill to abolish Obamacare . So this bill does not have a majority in the US Senate.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Washington Post: Mike Lee wins in Utah, and so does the tea party
  2. ↑ ABC 4: Mike Lee defeats Granato for US Senate seat
  3. ^ Senate Tea Party Caucus Holds First Meeting - The New York Times. In: thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved July 19, 2017 .
  4. ↑ www.lee.senate.gov
  5. ↑ Republicans' health plans are about to end

Web links

Commons : Mike Lee  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Lee, Mike
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lee, Michael Shumway
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer and Republican Party politician
DATE OF BIRTH 4th June 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH Mesa , Arizona