Ander Crenshaw

Ander Crenshaw, a Republican, has represented the 4th District of Florida in the U. S. House of Representatives since 2001. He is a Deputy Majority Whip.

Interest group ratings and endorsements
Crenshaw voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that started the Iraq War.

Interest group ratings and endorsements
Supported the interests of the American Coalition for Ethanol 100% of the time.  Supported the interests of the American Wind Energy Association 100% of the time.  Supported the interests of the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund 10% of the time. 

Position
Crenshaw believes in the further development and use of alternative fuels to reduce pollution. He also believes in giving the states more powers in enforcing and funding environment regulations. He also requires states to fully compensate citizens when environmental regulations limit uses of privately owned land. 

Interest group ratings and endorsements
Representative Crenshaw was endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee and voted with it 100% of the time. 

Position
Crenshaw believes that abortions should be illegal when the fetus is viable, with or without life support and that abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape or the life of the woman is endangered. He also believes that abortions should be limited by waiting periods and notification requirements as decided by each state government. Crenshaw wants to prohibit the dilation and extraction procedure, also known as "partial birth" abortion and to prohibit public funding of abortions and public funding of organizations that advocate or perform abortions. Crenshaw would like to provide funding for family planning programs as a means to decrease the number of abortions. 

Interest group ratings and endorsements
Crenshaw hasn't ever supported the interests of The National Education Association.

Position
Crenshaw believes in allowing parents to use vouchers (equal opportunity scholarships) and tax-free savings accounts to send their children to any public, private, or religious school. He supports charter schools where teachers and professionals receive authorization and funding to establish new schools. He would like to increase funding for block grants to states to help them hire additional teachers, to support teacher testing and reward teachers with merit pay, increase funding for computers and computer training in public schools, and increase funding for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings and infrastructure). Crenshaw wants to eliminate restrictions on federal education funding, giving educators or local school districts more flexibility to design and implement their programs. In addition, Crenshaw believes in increasing funding of programs such as Pell grants and Stafford loans to help students pay for college as well as supports federal tax incentives to help families save for college. 

Interest group ratings and endorsements
Representative Crenshaw supported the interests of the Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants 20% of the time. 

Position
Crenshaw would like to broaden the use of the death penalty for federal crimes, increase spending to build more federal prisons. He supports imposing "truth in sentencing" for violent criminals so they serve full sentences with no chance of parole and increasing penalties for crimes committed on school grounds. He wants to provide block grants to states for implementation of programs to combat juvenile crime, impose harsher penalties for youths convicted of violent offenses, support the use of "boot camps" as alternative sentencing for juvenile offenders. 

Biography
Crenshaw was born September 1, 1944, in Jacksonville, Florida. He was educated at the University of Georgia and the University of Florida.

He served in the Florida State House 1972 through 1978 and in the Florida Senate from 1986 through 1994. He became the first Republican elected president of the Florida Senate in 118 years in November 1992, but agreed to serve only one year instead of the usual two as a compromise between Republicans and Democrats who were evenly split in the Senate that year.

In 1980, Crenshaw finished third in the Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat, earning roughly 13% of the vote.

In 1994, he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Governor, winning several counties but ultimately losing out to Jeb Bush.

In 2000, Crenshaw returned to politics when he was elected to the United States House of Representatives where he became a Deputy Majority Whip. In 2005, a grassroots effort was launched to convince the Congressman to run for U.S. Senate in the seat currently held by Bill Nelson.

2006 elections
In 2006, the Democrats nominated Bob Harms to face Crenshaw in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006) Crenshaw retained his seat.

Money in Politics
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Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * House Committee on Appropriations
 * Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans’ Affairs
 * Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

 * House Committee on Appropriations
 * Subcommittee on Foreign Operations Export Financing and Related Programs
 * Subcommittee on Homeland Security
 * Subcommittee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies
 * House Committee on Budget

Articles and resources

 * Official website
 * Draft Ander Crenshaw for U.S. Senate
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database
 * Campaign website