The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (colloquially referred to as The DCCC, The D Triple C or The D-Trip) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. They play a critical role in recruiting candidates, raising funds, and organizing races in districts that are expected to yield politically notable or close elections. The structure of the committee consists, essentially, of the Chairperson (who according to current Democratic Caucus rules is a fellow member of the Caucus appointed by the party leader in the House), their staff, and other Democratic members of Congress that serve in roles supporting the functions of the committee (candidate recruitment, fundraising, etc.).

The Chairperson of the DCCC is the fourth ranking position among House Democrats, after the Minority Leader, the Minority Whip and the Democratic Caucus Chairperson.

History[link]

The DCCC was founded in 1866 as the Democratic National Congressional Committee.

Due to campaign finance reform legislation that took effect in the 2004 election cycle, the DCCC splits into two organizations a few months before each Election Day. One organization(the "Coordinated" campaign) can continue to stay in contact with the individual congressional campaigns, offering advice and suggestions to candidates and their staffs in each race. The other organization (the "Independent Expenditure" campaign), which makes independent expenditures in congressional districts on behalf of the campaigns, is not allowed to coordinate activities with the campaigns. In recent elections, the DCCC has played an expansive role in supporting Democratic candidates with independently produced TV ads and mail pieces.

Chris Van Hollen, flanked by Democratic House challengers, speaks during the second day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, in his capacity as chair of the DCCC.

The position of DCCC committee chair was assumed by Rahm Emanuel after the death of the previous chair, Bob Matsui at the end of the 2004 election cycle. Emanuel led the Democratic Party's effort to capture the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2006 elections. After Emanuel's election as chairman of the Democratic Caucus, Chris Van Hollen became committee chair for the 110th Congress, and thus for the 2008 elections. He continued through the 2010 elections. For the 2012 election cycle, Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi appointed congressman Steve Israel to serve as the committee's chair.

Research department[link]

Of the four congressional campaign committees, the DCCC, with a staff of 25, has the largest in-house research department. In a February 2012 profile of the department, Roll Call wrote that “The DCCC’s team of mostly 20-somethings researches opposition targets for eight weeks at a time, scouring news clips and YouTube videos and traveling across the country to comb through public records, all in hopes of finding a good hit. Discoveries go into hundred-page research books on their targets that are used as bait to recruit candidates, leaked to reporters or cited in campaign advertisements and mail pieces.”^[1]

Support for Occupy Wall Street[link]

The DCCC's support for the Occupy Wall Street movement attracted attention and caused some controversy. Politico reported in October 2011 that the DCCC's position on Occupy Wall Street was making Democratic contributors in the banking and financial services sectors “livid.”^[2] After the DCCC sent out an email urging supporters to sign a petition backing the Occupy movement, banking executives called the DCCC’s office demanding answers, according to three financial services lobbyists. .”^[2]

List of Chairs[link]

See also[link]

• Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
• National Republican Congressional Committee
• National Republican Senatorial Committee

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

This article related to the politics of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Bobby Schilling
Official portrait, 2011
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 17th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Phil Hare
Personal details
Born	Robert Todd Schilling (1964-01-23) January 23, 1964 (age 48) Rock Island, Illinois
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Christie Schilling
Children	Ten
Residence	Colona, Illinois
Alma mater	Alleman High School Black Hawk College
Occupation	Restaurant owner, former union official
Religion	Roman Catholic
Movement	Tea Party movement
Website	Official website

Robert Todd "Bobby" Schilling (born January 23, 1964) is the U.S. Representative for Illinois's 17th congressional district, serving since 2011. Schilling is a member of the Republican Party and was backed by the Tea Party movement in the November 2010 election.^[1][2] He defeated incumbent Democrat Phil Hare 53 percent to 43 percent.^[3]

Early life, education, and business career[link]

Schilling was born and raised in Rock Island, Illinois. He graduated from Alleman Catholic High School and attended Black Hawk College.^[2]

Schilling worked at Container Corporation of America between 1983 and 1987 and was a union steward for the local chapter of the United Paper Workers International Union. He then worked as an insurance agent for Prudential Insurance Company between 1987 and 1995, where he was ranked in the top 5% of all Prudential agents during his last year.^[2][4] He was also the treasurer for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union^[2] for four of those years.^[4] In 1996, he and his wife opened Saint Giuseppe's Heavenly Pizza in Moline, Illinois;^[2] the restaurant is still owned by the family and Schilling ran the restaurant until taking office, when he left his son in charge.^[5]

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Elections[link]

2010

Schilling grew up as a Democrat, but has become more conservative over the years and now characterizes himself as a "Reagan Republican."^[1] He was also influenced by radio and television personality Glenn Beck. Schilling was one of the 9-12 Candidates, a group led by Beck, and signed the 9-12 contract of principles and values.^[2] Schilling has said he was inspired to run for office because he was preparing to franchise his restaurant, but cancelled his plans when he saw then-Presidential candidate Barack Obama telling Joe the Plumber that the government needed to "spread the wealth around."^[6][2] Schilling announced his candidacy in April 2009^[7][8] and officially filed for the Republican nomination in October 2009.^[9][10]

Schilling vowed not to participate in the congressional pension program, to keep his private health insurance instead of the congressional plan, to donate any pay raises he receives, to limit himself to no more than eight years in Congress, and not to vote for any bill he hasn't read.^[11][12][13] "I'm not going to make a career out of this," he says.^[14]

Early in the campaign, political websites rated the 17th District race "safe Democratic." However, by Election Day the race was rated "leans Republican" by RealClearPolitics, Cook Political Report, CQ Politics, and the New York Times.^{[15][16][17][18]} The race was profiled on CNN as one of the country's top 100 House races, in which they said, "Schilling trails in the overall money race, but he's raised enough to get his message out and give the incumbent something to worry about."^[19]

In September 2010 Schilling was named to the National Republican Congressional Committee's "Young Guns" program.^[20]

Hare criticized Schilling for living 0.99 miles outside the 17th District, though the Constitution only requires congressmen to live in the state they wish to represent.^[1] Schilling's wife notes that the family's restaurant is in the 17th and employs people and pays taxes there.^[1] She also says the family fell out of the district because of gerrymandering.^[1]

Unopposed in the primary election,^[2] in the general election, Schilling won by an unexpectedly large margin, taking 53 percent of the vote to Hare's 43 percent.^[3] After the election, Schilling hired as his chief of staff Mike Roman, a political consultant known for posting a video showing alleged voter intimidation during the 2008 presidential election.^[21] Roman, along with policy director Scott Tranter, resigned from Schilling's office in April 2011.^[22]

Schilling's campaign set an off-year fundraising record for a challenger in the 17th district, amassing about $89,000 in 2009. Schilling's campaign fundraising relied largely on individual donors, who accounted for about 80 percent of the $1 million raised by his campaign.^[23] Hare depended more heavily on political action committees, who contributed about two-thirds of his campaigns $1.3 million total. Following his election, Schilling has relied more on political action committees to help retire his campaign debt, with the bulk of his December 2010 fundraising coming from PACs, including Wal-Mart, the American Medical Association, Caterpillar Inc. and Archer Daniels Midland Co.^[23]

Schilling ended the campaign with a total of $1,095,167 raised and $1,078,911 spent.^[24]

The following organizations endorsed Schilling in his 2010 run for Congress: The Illinois Federation for the Right to Life PAC;^[25] CatholicVote PAC;^[26] the Quincy Tea Party group;^[11] John Deere PAC;^[27] and the United States Chamber of Commerce.^[28]

Individuals who endorsed Schilling included: U.S. Representative Aaron Schock (R-IL);^[29] U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN);^[30] former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney;^[31] political figure and author Joe the Plumber (Joe Wurzelbacher);^[32] and, Sgt. John F. Baker, Jr., recipient of the Medal of Honor.^[33]

Newspapers were evenly dividend in endorsing Schilling over Hare, with the Chicago Tribune and ^[34] the Sauk Valley News among those supporting Schilling.^[35] In October 2010 Schilling was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune.^[34]

2012

Schilling is running for re-election in 2012.^[36] He has been added to the National Republican Congressional Committee's Patriot Program, which is designed to defend incumbent Republicans.^[37] The 17th District boundaries were redrawn by the Democratic-controlled legislature to make it significantly more Democratic, but Illinois' Republican congressional delegation has filed a lawsuit to overturn the redistricting.^[38] Schilling said he won't campaign in the new parts of his district until the result of the lawsuit has been decided.^[39]

The National Journal's Cook Political Report named Schilling one of the top 10 Republicans most vulnerable to redistricting in 2012.^[40]

Schilling raised $238,681 in the third quarter of 2011 and had $450,290 cash on hand as of September 30, more than any of his prospective opponents.^[41][42]

In November, 2012, Representative Schilling will face former health care executive and former East Moline City Council Alderwoman Cheri Bustos, Democrat, for the 17th District congressional seat.^[43]

Tenure[link]

Schilling's wife and 10 children attended the congressional swearing-in on January 5, 2011, attracting some notice and an interview with Diane Sawyer.^[44] His early actions as a congressman included joining 25 other freshman Republicans in voting against extending the USA PATRIOT Act; Schilling stated he believed that the bill may not provide sufficient safeguards on who is allowed to access personal information,^[45] and that the 45 minutes allotted for floor debate was inadequate to discuss these concerns.^[46] Following Obama's late January 2011 State of the Union address in which the President said he was "eager" to work with critics of his health care reform law, Schilling sent a letter to Obama requesting a one-on-one meeting.^[47]

In February 2011, Schilling joined 130 House Republicans in voting against a $450 million budget cut for an extra F-35 fighter-jet engine—a project that the U.S. Department of Defense had repeatedly tried to kill, and that Defense Secretary Robert Gates called "a waste of nearly 3 billion."^[48][49] Schilling voted for a package of cuts that included a $230 million federal grant to build an Amtrak line from Chicago to Iowa City, though he had supported the project during his campaign, calling it "critically important to both the economy and the environment of the Midwest."^[2] The planned rail line was a celebrated project by many in his district, including local mayors.^[50] Schilling defended his vote, arguing it was a question of prioritizing, separating wants from needs, and when he looked at the big picture, the rail service did not make the cut.^[50] He also stated that his constituents elected him to address national debt and deficit problems in Washington, not to take a business-as-usual approach.^[51]

In June 2011, Schilling introduced a bill to prevent members of Congress from receiving their congressional pension before they reach the Social Security retirement age.^[52]

During the 2011 debt ceiling crisis, Schilling voted to raise the debt ceiling.^[53]

In October 2011, a California resident issued a death threat promising a reward to anyone who assassinated Schilling.^[54] The threat is being investigated by the FBI and the United States Capitol Police.^[55] Schilling said he was advised by authorities to "lay low" while they investigated the threat^[56] and a spokeswoman for Schilling said the Schilling family was taking the "recommended precautions".^[57] According to The Hill, the person behind the threat may be the one behind similar threats against George W. Bush, several high-ranking current and former security and defense officials, and Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado.^[58] Schilling said, "It's a general threat to all members of Congress, but they specifically called my name out in the threat. You just don't know what people are thinking...It's something we're not going to take lightly."^[54]

Schilling gave the Republican response to the President's weekly radio address on October 29, 2011.^[59]

Schilling was considered to be a tea party candidate in the 2010 election.^{[11][60][61][62]} He holds the following positions:

• He is pro-life,^[2][63] and spoke at the 2011 March for Life.^[64]
• He opposes gun control legislation.
• He has said that the federal government should stop regulating education and that local schools should be under local control.^[2]
• He views health care reform as a top priority.^[65] but supports repealing the Democrats' version of health care reform, believing it is unconstitutional.^[66] He supports tort reform and legalizing the purchase of insurance across state lines.^[67]
• He is fiscally conservative,^[68] and believes in small government.^[69]
• He supports term limits for members of Congress.^[70]
• He opposes the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
• He supports lowering the corporate tax rate.^[67]
• He supports a troop surge in the War in Afghanistan.^[67], and He oppposes bringing Guantanamo Bay detainees to Thomson, Illinois;^[71] instead he supports bringing the detainees to trial before military courts rather than the U.S. civilian, federal courts.^[67]
• He supports expanding and updating missile defense systems.

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management
  • Subcommittee on Rural Development, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture
• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Readiness
  • Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
• Committee on Small Business

Electoral history[link]

Personal life[link]

Schilling has been married to Christie Schilling for 25 years and they have ten children (the youngest of whom was born in February 2010) and two grandchildren.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

Conservatism portal

• Congressman Bobby Schilling official U.S. House site
• Bobby Schilling for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Political positions questionnaire at The Chicago Tribune

Dan Benishek
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Bart Stupak
Personal details
Born	Daniel Joseph Benishek (1952-04-20) April 20, 1952 (age 60)[1] Iron River, Michigan[1]
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Judy Benishek[1]
Children	5 children[1]
Residence	Iron County, Michigan
Occupation	Surgeon
Religion	Roman Catholic[1]
Website	Official website

Daniel Joseph "Dan" Benishek (born April 20, 1952) is an American physician and politician currently serving as the U.S. Representative for Michigan's 1st congressional district.^[2] He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life, education, and medical career[link]

Benishek was born in Iron River, Michigan in 1952, the son of Helen (née Kovaleski) and Joseph Benishek. Three of his paternal great-grandparents were Bohemian (Czech) immigrants, while his maternal grandparents were Polish immigrants.^[3] His father was killed in local iron mines in 1957, so Benishek was raised by his widowed mother and extended family. He worked in the family business, the Iron River Hotel, until he went to college. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1974 with a degree in biology. From there, he graduated from Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1978. Prior to his election to Congress, he was a general surgeon in the Dickinson County Healthcare System.^[4]

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Benishek speaks at a reception at the Republican Party headquarters in Bay County.

2010 election[link]

Dan Benishek formally announced his candidacy for Congress on March 16, 2010, running against incumbent Democrat Bart Stupak.^[4] Stupak's vote in support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act fueled an outpouring of support for Benishek, who had no Internet presence aside from a basic website on the day the bill was passed. He received more than $50,000 in unsolicited donations in the first 48 hours after Stupak's vote for the bill on March 21, 2010.^[5][6] "It's amazing, I just can't believe it," he said regarding the support he has gotten. "I need to use this momentum to repeal this health care bill and I'm going to do it. We're going to take over, the Republicans are going to regain the House of Representatives and we're going to repeal this health care bill."^[7] The American Spectator called him "The Most Popular Republican in America" on March 21, in the wake of Stupak's yea vote.^[8] Stupak announced his retirement on April 9, 2010.^[9][10] Benishek won the Republican primary against State Senator Jason Allen by 15 votes.^[11]

On November 2, 2010, in the general election, Dan Benishek defeated Democratic nominee State Representative Gary McDowell, Independent Glenn Wilson, Libertarian Keith Shelton, Green Ellis Boal, and UST Patrick Lambert. Benishek was sworn into office on January 5, 2011, as a member of the 112th United States Congress; he succeeded Bart Stupak.^[12]

Tenure[link]

Benishek considers himself fiscally and socially conservative, pro-life and pro-gun rights.^[13] In healthcare reform, he supports the Republican position of tort reform and allowing insurance companies to compete across state lines without federal regulation.^[14] He staunchly opposes federal funding for elective abortions. He supports lower taxes and secure borders.^[15]

Benishek endorsed Herman Cain in the 2012 Republican presidential primary.^[16]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Natural Resources
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Personal life[link]

Benishek lives with his wife Judy in Iron County. They have five children. They also have two grandchildren.^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Congressman Dan Benishek official U.S. House site
• Benishek for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs

Vicky Hartzler
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Ike Skelton
Member of the Missouri House of Representatives from the 124th district
In office 1995–2000
Preceded by	Gene Olson
Succeeded by	Rex Rector
Personal details
Born	(1960-10-13) October 13, 1960 (age 51) Archie, Missouri
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Lowell Hartzler
Residence	Harrisonville, Missouri
Alma mater	University of Missouri (B.S.) Central Missouri State University (M.S.)
Profession	Teacher, farm equipment dealer
Religion	Fellowship of Evangelical Churches

Vicky Jo Hartzler^[1] (born Vicky Jo Zellmer on October 13, 1960) is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's 4th congressional district. She is a member of the Republican Party. The district takes in most of the western-central part of the state, from Jefferson City, the state capital, to the eastern Kansas City suburbs. Besides Jefferson City, it includes other cities such as Sedalia, Warrensburg, Marshall, and Lebanon.

Hartzler represented District 124 in the Missouri House from 1995 to 2000.^[2]