Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann

Republican Party

Prior offices

Minnesota State Senate

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U.S. House Minnesota District 6

Successor: Tom Emmer

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Compensation

Net worth

$1,186,007

Education

High school

Anoka High School, Anoka, MN

Bachelor's

Winona State University

Law

Coburn School of Law, Oral Roberts University

Personal

Religion

Christian

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Personal website

Michele Marie Bachmann (b. April 6, 1956, in Waterloo, IA) was previously a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Minnesota's 6th Congressional District. Bachmann was first elected to the House in 2006.

On May 29, 2013, Bachmann announced that she would not be seeking re-election to Minnesota's 6th Congressional District for a fifth term. She was also under a Federal Election Commission (FEC) investigation of her 2012 presidential campaign's finances.

Biography

Bachmann was born in 1956 in Waterloo, IA. She graduated from Anoka High School in 1974 and went on to earn her B.A. from Winona State University in 1978 and her J.D. from Oral Roberts University's Coburn School of Law in 1986. She also earned an L.L.M. from the College of William and Mary in 1988. Prior to her political career, Bachmann worked as a tax attorney in the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Bachmann's professional and political career:

• 2001-2007: Minnesota State Senate
• 2007-2015: U.S. House of Representatives, 6th Congressional District of Minnesota

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Bachmann served on the following committees:

• Financial Services Committee
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
• United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
  • Subcommittee on Oversight
  • Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence

2011-2012

Bachmann served on the following House committees:

• Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
  • Subcommittee on Oversight
  • Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence
• Financial Services Committee
  • Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Key votes

113th Congress

The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 224 out of the 3215 introduced bills (7 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session. For more information pertaining to Bachmann's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections.

National security

NSA surveillance programs amendment

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on July 24, 2013 and narrowly defeated an amendment brought by Justin Amash meant to halt the National Security Agency's bulk collection of surveillance data. The amendment would have stripped funding for an NSA program that collects the telephone records of people in the United States, but not the content of calls.

The vote scrambled the usual ideological fault lines in the House, with conservative Republicans siding with liberal Democrats. The House voted 205-217 to defeat the amendment with more Democrats than Republicans voting in favor of the amendment. From Amash's own party, 134 Republicans voted against the amendment, with only 94 agreeing with it, while 111 Democrats voted for the amendment, with 83 voting against.

Among the Republicans opposing the measure was Michele Bachmann. Bachmann defended the NSA's data collection programs, arguing that "here’s no Fourth Amendment expectation of privacy or right to the business-record exception" concerning the collection of phone metadata. She continued by saying, “If we take this program and remove from the United States the distinct advantage that we have versus any other country, it will be those who are seeking to achieve the goals of Islamic jihad who will benefit by putting the United States at risk, and it will be the United States which will be at risk. I believe that we need to win the War on Terror. We need to defeat the goals and aims of Islamic jihad, and for that reason I will be voting no on the Amash amendment.” Bachman was joined by, among others, Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor in opposing the amendment.

The House on July 24, 2013, overwhelmingly passed a separate NSA amendment, put forward by Rep. Mike Pompeo, that was intended as a middle ground but was blasted by civil liberties advocates as achieving nothing. The measure would ensure that the NSA is barred from acquiring or storing the content of emails and phone calls of people in the United States, but it would allow the NSA to continue storing phone metadata.

NDAA

Bachmann did not vote on HR 1960 - the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The bill passed the House on June 14, 2013, with a vote of 315 - 108. Both parties were somewhat divided on the vote.

DHS Appropriations

Bachmann voted in support of HR 2217 - the DHS Appropriations Act of 2014. The bill passed the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 245 - 182 and was largely along party lines.

Keystone Pipeline Amendment

Bachmann opposed House Amendment 69, which would have amended HR 3 to "require that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, conduct a study of the vulnerabilities of the Keystone XL pipeline to a terrorist attack and certify that necessary protections have been put in place." The amendment failed on May 22, 2013, with a vote of 176 - 239 and was largely along party lines.

Economy

Farm Bill

See also: United States Farm Bill 2013

Bachmann voted for the Farm Bill on July 11, 2013. The bill passed in a 216-208 vote. The bill passed included farm policy, but did not include food stamps.

Government shutdown

See also: United States budget debate, 2013

On September 30, 2013, the House passed a final stopgap spending bill before the shutdown went into effect. The bill included a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and would have also stripped the bill of federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. It passed through the House with a vote of 228-201. At 1 a.m. on October 1, 2013, one hour after the shutdown officially began, the House voted to move forward with going to a conference. In short order, Sen. Harry Reid rejected the call to conference. Bachmann voted against the stopgap spending bill that would have delayed the individual mandate.

The shutdown ended on October 16, 2013, when the House took a vote on HR 2775 after it was approved by the Senate. The bill to reopen the government lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies. The House passed the legislation shortly after the Senate, by a vote of 285-144, with all 144 votes against the legislation coming from Republican members. Bachmann voted against HR 2775.

Immigration

Morton Memos Prohibition

Bachmann voted for House Amendment 136 - Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order. The amendment was adopted by the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 224 - 201. The purpose of the amendment as stated on the official text is to "prohibit the use of funds to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the Morton Memos." These memos would have granted administrative amnesty to certain individuals residing in the United States without legal status. The vote largely followed party lines.

Healthcare

Repealing Obamacare

Bachmann has supported all attempts to repeal or delay the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Bachmann criticized President Obama in December 2013 on Fox News. She said, "He has rewritten the Constitution for himself as a part of his effort to fundamentally transform the United States of America." She added, "What are these delays about, what do they have in common? They all put off the very negative effects of Obamacare until the next election. That’s what this is all about. This is all political management. But we believe the constitution has to be respected." In a final jab, Bachamann said, "He doesn’t want to be bound by any law, and that’s the rub. The Constitution says no man is above the law, including the president of the United States. I think the president would be very, sorely unimpressed with what he hears today."

Social issues

Abortion

Bachmann voted for HR 1797 - Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The resolution passed the House on June 18, 2013, with a vote of 228 - 196. The purpose of the bill was to ban abortions that would take place 20 or more weeks after fertilization.

Violence Against Women Act

Bachmann voted against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act which provides aid to prosecute cases of violent acts against women and men.

Government affairs

HR 676

See also: Boehner's lawsuit against the Obama administration

On July 30, 2014, the U.S. House approved a resolution 225 to 201 to sue President Barack Obama for exceeding his constitutional authority. Five Republicans—Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Paul Broun of Georgia, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Walter Jones of North Carolina and Steve Stockman of Texas—voted with Democrats against the lawsuit. Bachmann joined the other 224 Republicans in favor of the lawsuit. All Democrats voted against the resolution.

Previous congressional sessions

Fiscal Cliff

Bachmann voted against the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. She was 1 of 151 Republicans that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257-167 vote on January 1, 2013.

National security

Bachmann voted in favor of extending the PATRIOT Act's roving wiretaps in 2011.

Removal of troops from Afghanistan

Bachmann opposed a resolution to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

American involvement in Libya

Bachmann supported a ban on using armed forces in Libya without Congressional approval in 2011.

Issues

FEC fines

Bachmann's House campaign committee had to pay $8,000 in fines for failing to report $208,502 in contributions and $206,499 in spending during the 2010 election cycle. Her committee also sent a representative to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) conference and had an external review of her 2013 and 2014 filings.

Bachmann was also under FBI scrutiny over campaign funding misuse related to her 2012 presidential campaign. Andy Parrish, her former chief of staff, reportedly said in a sworn affidavit that Bachmann "knew and approved of" payments to Iowa state Senator Kent Sorenson. Legislators are not allowed to be employed by political campaigns. Peter Waldron, national field coordinator in Iowa for Bachmann's campaign, filed a FEC complaint alleging that Bachmann paid Sorenson and misused leadership PAC funds to pay campaign staff, including consultant Guy Short.

In addition, Bachmann also faced an investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics over the campaign funding misuse allegations. Both Sorneson and Bachmann denied that any payments were made.

In November 2013, Sorenson's residence in Des Moines was raided by the FBI. According to attorney Theodore Sporer, "They took computers and things that would be used to verify or validate communications with presidential entities."

Israel trip

Bachmann was gifted a free trip to Israel in November 2013 by the U.S. Israel Education Association. Bachmann took her son along with her on the trip. According to Roll Call, "The purpose of the trip was to receive briefings on the U.S. Israel relationship and Israel’s relationship to other countries in the region." The trip agenda included sightseeing and tours of the Defense Ministry and Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. The trip cost a total of $25,274.

WWII Memorial

A group of World War II veterans, associated with the Mississippi Gulf Coast Honor Flight, wanting to pay their respects at the WWII Memorial were met with signs and barriers upon their arrival. They refused to let their trip be affected by the government shutdown and made their way through the barriers. Many congressional members from both parties spoke their approval of the move, including Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Michele Bachmann, who was in attendance. Rep. Steve King and Rep. Steve Palazzo aided the veterans by distracting park police and helping move the gates.

Elections

2014

See also: Minnesota's 6th Congressional District elections, 2014

On May 29, 2013, Bachmann announced she would not seek re-election in 2014, explaining, "The law limits anyone from serving as president of the United States for more than eight years. And in my opinion, well, eight years is also long enough for any individual to serve as a representative for a specific congressional district."

A May 15, 2013, poll by Public Policy Polling showed Jim Graves, Bachmann's likely Democratic challenger in 2014, leading Bachmann 47 percent to 45 percent, respectively, with a 4.4 point margin of error. This race would have been a rematch of the 2012 election, one that Graves lost by only 1.2 percent. Bachmann had already started to run campaign ads.

2012

Congressional run

See also: Minnesota's 6th Congressional District elections, 2012

Bachmann ran successfully for re-election for the 6th Congressional District. She defeated Aubrey Immelman and Stephen Thompson in the Republican primary. She defeated Jim Graves in the November general election.

U.S. House, Minnesota District 6 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Michele Bachmann Incumbent	50.5%	179,240
	Democratic	Jim Graves	49.3%	174,944
	NA	Write-in	0.3%	969
Total Votes				355,153
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State, "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" (dead link)

Minnesota's 6th Congressional District Republican Primary, 2012

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Michele Bachmann Incumbent	80.3%	14,569
Stephen Thompson	12.8%	2,322
Aubrey Immelman	6.8%	1,242
Total Votes		18,133

Presidential run

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Bachmann launched her campaign to run in the 2012 presidential election on June 13, 2011. After finishing in sixth place in the Iowa caucuses, she suspended her campaign, making the announcement on January 4, 2012. She received only 5 percent of the vote in her home state of Iowa.

Full history

To view the full congressional electoral history for Michele Bachmann, click [show] to expand the section.

2010 On November 2, 2010, Michele Bachmann (R) won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Tarryl Clark (D), Aubrey Immelman (I), Bob Anderson (Independence) and Dennis S. Ferche (I) in the general election. U.S. House, Minnesota District 6 General Election, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Michele Bachmann incumbent 52.5% 159,476      Democratic Tarryl Clark 39.8% 120,846      Independent Bob Anderson 5.8% 17,698      Independence Aubrey Immelman 1.8% 5,490      Write-in Dennis S. Ferche 0% 3      N/A Write-in 0.1% 178 Total Votes 303,691 2008 On November 4, 2008, Michele Bachmann (R) won re-election to the United States House. She defeated El Tinklenberg (D), Bob Anderson (Independence) and Aubrey Immelman (Write-In) in the general election. U.S. House, Minnesota District 6 General Election, 2008 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Michele Bachmann incumbent 46.5% 187,817      Democratic El Tinklenberg 43.5% 175,786      Independence Bob Anderson 10.1% 40,643      N/A Aubrey Immelman 0% 20 Total Votes 404,266 2006 On November 7, 2006, Michele Bachmann (R) won election to the United States House. She defeated Patty Wetterling (D) and John Paul Binkowski (Independence) in the general election. U.S. House, Minnesota District 6 General Election, 2006 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Michele Bachmann 50.1% 151,248      Democratic Patty Wetterling 42.1% 127,144      Independence John Paul Binkowski 7.8% 23,557      N/A Write-in 0.1% 239 Total Votes 302,188

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Michele Bachmann campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2012	U.S. House (Minnesota, District 6)	Won	$14,995,937	N/A**
2010	U.S. House (Minnesota, District 6)	Won	$13,562,811	N/A**
2008	U.S. House (Minnesota, District 6)	Won	$3,494,045	N/A**
2006	U.S. House (Minnesota, District 6)	Won	$2,626,866	N/A**
Grand total			$34,679,659	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only availabale data.

Personal Gain Index

See also: Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress)

The Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress) is a two-part measurement that illustrates the extent to which members of the U.S. Congress have prospered during their tenure as public servants.
It consists of two different metrics:

• Changes in Net Worth
• The Donation Concentration Metric

PGI: Change in net worth

See also: Changes in Net Worth of U.S. Senators and Representatives (Personal Gain Index) and Net worth of United States Senators and Representatives

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Bachmann's net worth as of 2012 was estimated between $67,016 and $2,304,998. That averages to $1,186,007, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican representatives in 2012 of $7,614,097.96. Bachmann ranked as the 188th most wealthy representative in 2012. Between 2006 and 2012, Bachmann's calculated net worth decreased by an average of 0 percent per year. Between 2004 and 2012, the average annual percentage increase for a member of Congress was 15.4 percent.

Michele Bachmann Yearly Net Worth
Year	Average Net Worth
2006	$1,206,062
2012	$1,186,007
Growth from 2006 to 2012:	−2%
Average annual growth:	−0%
Comparatively, the American citizen experienced a median yearly decline in net worth of -0.94%.

The data used to calculate changes in net worth may include changes resulting from assets gained through marriage, inheritance, changes in family estates and/or trusts, changes in family business ownership, and many other variables unrelated to a member's behavior in Congress.

PGI: Donation Concentration Metric

See also: The Donation Concentration Metric (U.S. Congress Personal Gain Index)

Filings required by the Federal Election Commission report on the industries that give to each candidate. Using campaign filings and information calculated by OpenSecrets.org, Ballotpedia calculated the percentage of donations by industry received by each incumbent over the course of his or her career (or 1989 and later, if elected prior to 1988). Bachmann received the most donations from individuals and PACs employed by the Retired industry.

From 2005-2014, 15.96 percent of Bachmann's career contributions came from the top five industries as listed below.

Michele Bachmann Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$35,358,331
Total Spent	$30,619,535
Top five industries that contributed to campaign committee
Retired	$2,818,434
Republican/Conservative	$1,520,508
Real Estate	$453,130
Leadership PACs	$438,021
Health Professionals	$412,117
% total in top industry	7.97%
% total in top two industries	12.27%
% total in top five industries	15.96%

Analysis

Ideology and leadership

See also: GovTrack's Political Spectrum & Legislative Leadership ranking

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Bachmann was a far-right Republican leader as of July 2014. This was the same rating Bachmann received in September 2013.

Like-minded colleagues

The website OpenCongress tracks the voting records of each member to determine with whom he or she votes most and least often. The results include a member from each party.

Bachmann most often voted with:

• Steve Chabot
• Jim Matheson

Bachmann least often voted with:

• Chris Gibson
• Jan Schakowsky

Lifetime voting record

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, Bachmann missed 640 of 6,234 roll call votes from January 2007 to July 2014. This amounts to 10.3 percent, which is worse than the median of 2.5 percent among current congressional representatives as of July 2014.

Congressional Staff Salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Bachmann paid her congressional staff a total of $891,620 in 2011. Overall, Minnesota ranked 26th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.

National Journal vote ratings

See also: National Journal vote ratings

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Click the link above for the full ratings of all members of Congress.

2013

Bachmann ranked 62nd in the conservative rankings in 2013.

2012

Bachmann ranked 80th in the conservative rankings in 2012.

2011

Bachmann ranked 101st in the conservative rankings in 2011.

Voting with party

The website OpenCongress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus.

2014

Bachmann voted with the Republican Party 94.5 percent of the time, which ranked 106th among the 234 House Republican members as of July 2014.

2013

Bachmann voted with the Republican Party 95.9 percent of the time, which ranked 125th among the 234 House Republican members as of June 2013.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Bachmann (nee Amble) has been married to her husband, Marcus, for over thirty years. They have five biological children and have raised 23 foster children. They live in Stillwater, MN.

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term Michele + Bachmann + Minnesota + House

Michele Bachmann News Feed

See also

• Portal:Elections
• Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election
• United States House of Representatives
• Minnesota's 6th Congressional District elections, 2014
• Minnesota's 6th Congressional District
• List of U.S. Congress incumbents who did not run for re-election in 2014

External links

 

• Social media:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
• Biographies:
  • U.S. Congress
  • NNDB
  • Wikipedia
• Political profiles:
  • GovTrack
  • CongressMerge
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Roll Call
• Fact-checking:
  • FactCheck
  • PolitiFact
• Financial (federal level):
  • FEC contributions
  • OpenSecrets.org
  • LegiStorm.com
• Financial (state level):
  • Follow The Money
• Interest group ratings:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions:
  • On The Issues
  • Project Vote Smart
• Legislation:
  • Congress.gov
• Public statements:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Voting record:
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Washington Post
• Works by or about:
  • WorldCat
• Media appearances:
  • C-SPAN
  • IMDb
• Media coverage:
  • Bloomberg
  • Guardian
  • New York Times
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Washington Post

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Mark Kennedy	U.S. House of Representatives - Minneosta District 6 2007–2015	Succeeded by Tom Emmer (R)
Preceded by '	Minnesota State Senate 2001–2007	Succeeded by '

[show]

Minnesota's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Amy Klobuchar (D)

Tina Smith (D)

Representatives

District 1

Brad Finstad (R)

District 2

Angie Craig (D)

District 3

Dean Phillips (D)

District 4

Betty McCollum (D)

District 5

Ilhan Omar (D)

District 6

Tom Emmer (R)

District 7

Michelle Fischbach (R)

District 8

Pete Stauber (R)

Democratic Party (6)

Republican Party (4)