From OpenCongress Wiki

Niki Tsongas has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 5th District of Massachusetts, since 2007. She won the Democratic nomination to fill the seat left vacant by Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) in July 2007.

Contents 1 Positions, record and controversies 1.1 Iraq war 1.2 Health care 1.3 Energy and environment 1.4 Homeland security 1.5 Education 2 Bio 2.1 2007 elections 2.1.1 Won special elections 2.2 2008 election 2.2.1 2008 superdelegate 3 Money in politics 4 Committees and affiliations 4.1 Committees 4.1.1 Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008) 4.2 Affiliations 5 More background data 6 Contact 7 Articles and resources 7.1 See also 7.2 References 7.3 External resources 7.4 External articles

Positions, record and controversies

Congressional scorecards

Click through the score to see the records of other members of Congress and full descriptions of the individual votes. Want to see someone else's scorecard added to the list? You can do it! Organization 2007 Scorecard Score - Agree ratio 2008 Scorecard Score - Agree ratio American Civil Liberties Union not avail. not avail. American Conservative Union 0 - 0/25 not avail. AFSCME not avail. not avail. Americans for Democratic Action n/a - 7/7 100 - 20/20 Club for Growth not avail. not avail. Drum Major Institute not avail. not avail. Family Research Council not avail. not avail. Information Technology Industry Council not avail. not avail. League of Conservation Voters not avail. not avail. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People not avail. not avail. U.S. Chamber of Commerce 60 - 3/20 not avail.

Iraq war

Tsongas supports a fixed timeline for the withdrawal of American troops. On her official House Web site, Tsongas writes, "I believe the best and most responsible way to bring about this change is to set a timetable that requires the Iraqi government to step up to the plate and that fully engages with our concerted effort, the international community to bring about a political solution."^[1]

Health care

Tsongas supports expanding access to health care to all Americans. To achieve this, she supports a national plan based on the Massachusetts Health Care "Connector" Plan. On her official House Web site, she writes that she would support "the most immediate hope for providing health care to all Americans that can be passed and implemented quickly, equitably, and cost effectively." ^[2]

Energy and environment

Tsongas supports a cap on total emissions, fines for greenhouse gas emitters, additional funding for alternative energy sources and increased conservation efforts.^[3]

Homeland security

Tsongas supports increased funding for community policing efforts and for firefighters and the restoration of the assault weapons ban.</ref>"Homeland Security," Official Tsongas House Web site.</ref>

Education

Tsongas supports early education programs such as Head Start, and she wants to ensure full federal funding for No Child Left Behind. She also supports measures to keep the cost of college down, such as the expansion of the Pell Grant and Stafford Loan programs.^[4]

Bio

2007 elections

Tsongas sought to replace Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) who retired on July 1, 2007 to become Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. She ran against Jim Ogonowski, who won the Republican nomination.^[5][6]

On September 4, 2007, Tsongas won the special Democratic primary for the seat, defeating Lowell City Councilor Eileen Donoghue 36-32, with other candidates, James Eldridge, Barry Finegold and James Miceli, all State Reps, getting 14, 13 and 6 percent of the vote, respectively.^[7]

Won special elections

With a 51-46 lead over Republican Jim Ogonowski, on October 16, 2007, Tsongas won the Massachusetts special election replacing Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.). Tsongas, the widow of former Sen. Paul Tsongas (D-Mass.), was sworn into her husband's former seat. “Niki will be a tremendous asset to the Democratic caucus. Massachusetts voters sent a clear message: They support candidates who fight for their values to provide children’s health care and work to end the war in Iraq,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).^[8]

2008 election

Tsongas was uncontested in the November general election.^[9]

2008 superdelegate

Before Hillary Clinton conceded the race, Nicola Tsongas, as a superdelegate, had endorsed Barack Obama for President.

^[10]

Money in politics

This section contains links to – and feeds from – money in politics databases. For specific controversies, see this article's record and controversies section.

Top Contributors to during the 2008 Election Cycle
Donor	Amount (US Dollars)
American Health Care Assn	$ 10,000
Laborers Union	$ 10,000
Save Our Heritage	$ 10,000
Mintz, Levin et al	$ 8,800
Costas Provisions	$ 8,000
Raytheon Co	$ 7,750
Scansoft Inc	$ 7,500
FLIR Systems	$ 6,000
American Assn for Justice	$ 5,000
Beacon Health Strategies	$ 5,000
Source: The Center for Responsive Politics' www.OpenSecrets.org site. Note: Contributions are not from the organizations themselves, but are rather from the organization's PAC, employees or owners. Totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

Links to more campaign contribution information for Nicola Tsongas from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.
Fundraising profile:	2008 election cycle	Career totals
Top contributors by organization/corporation:	2008 election cycle	Career totals
Top contributors by industry:	2008 election cycle	Career totals

• Revolving door profile for Nicola Tsongas from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.
• 2006 privately funded travel profile for Nicola Tsongas from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.
• Personal finance profile for Nicola Tsongas from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org website.

Committees and affiliations

Committees

• House Committee on Armed Services
  • Military Personnel Subcommittee
  • Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces
• House Committee on Budget
• House Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
  • Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

• House Committee on Armed Services
• House Committee on Budget

Affiliations

More background data

Contact

DC office
1607 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Ph: 202-225-3411 Fax: 202-226-0771 Webform email
District offices
11 Kearney Square, 3rd Floor, Lowell, MA 01852 Ph: (978) 459-0101 Fax: (none entered) 305 Essex Street, 4th Floor, Lawrence, MA 01840 Ph: (978) 681-6200 Fax: (none entered)
On the Web
Official website YouTube channel
Campaign office
No campaign website entered. No campaign webform email entered. No campaign office information entered.

Articles and resources

See also

• 2008 U.S. congressional elections
  • 2008 U.S. congressional election dates
• Portal:Massachusetts and the U.S. Congress

References

1. ↑ "National Defense & Iraq," Official Tsongas House Web site.
2. ↑ "Health care," Official Tsongas House Web site.
3. ↑ "Enery & Environment," Official Tsongas House Web site.
4. ↑ "Education," Official Tsongas House Web site.
5. ↑ Aaron Blake. "Tsongas and Ogonowski win in Mass. special primary," The Hill, September 5, 2007.
6. ↑ "Niki Tsongas, Democrat for Congress in Massachusetts," Official Niki Tsongas for Congress website.
7. ↑ Aaron Blake. "Tsongas and Ogonowski win in Mass. special primary," The Hill, September 5, 2007.
8. ↑ Aaron Blake. "Tsongas declared winner of Mass. special election," The Hill, October 16, 2007.
9. ↑ "Election Center," CNN.com.
10. ↑ Dem Con Watch [1] As of June 10, 2008

Wikipedia also has an article on Nicola Tsongas. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.

External resources

• "Niki Tsongas, Democrat for Congress in Massachusetts," Official Niki Tsongas for Congress webiste.

External articles

• Aaron Blake. "Tsongas and Ogonowski win in Mass. special primary," The Hill, September 5, 2007.</ref>

Semantic data (Edit data)

From the Sunlight Foundation API
Current Office: U.S. House of Representatives
Title: Rep	First name: Nicola	Middle name: S.	Last name: Tsongas
Suffix:		Nickname: Niki
Party: D	State: MA	District: 05 District short: 5	Currently in office? True
Gender: F
Phone: 202-225-3411	Fax: 202-226-0771	Website: http://tsongas.house.gov/	Webform email: http://tsongas.house.gov/?sectionid=11 Email address:
DC office: 1607 Longworth House Office Building
Bioguide ID: T000465	Votesmart ID: 89417	FEC ID: H8MA05143	Govtrack ID: 412254
CRP ID: N00029026	Eventful ID:	Old Sunlight ID:	Twitter ID: ntsongas
OpenCongress Wiki URL: http://www.opencongress.org/wiki/Nicola_Tsongas		YouTubeID: user/RepTsongas	Senate class:

Entered manually within the Template:Politician
U.S. House of Representatives
111th Congress
Leadership Position:	Committees Chaired:	Committees, Ranking Member On:	Caucuses:
110th Congress
Leadership Position: None	Committees Chaired:	Committees, Ranking Member On:	Caucuses:
Committees:
Congressional Career
First Elected to Current Office: Special Election, October 16, 2007	First Took Current Office: October 18, 2007	Next Election: November 2, 2010	Term Ends:
Freshman Member? Yes	Previous Political Work? None or Not Available	Other Party Membership:
District Offices:
11 Kearney Square, 3rd Floor, Lowell, MA 01852 Phone: (978) 459-0101 / Fax: (978) 459-1907 305 Essex Street, 4th Floor, Lawrence, MA 01840 Phone: (978) 681-6200 / Fax: (978) 682-6070
Campaign Contact:
Website: Webform Email: / Email: Campaign Offices: Phone: / Fax:
Misc:
Date of Birth: April 26, 1946 Special Election, October 16, 2007