Frank Kratovil
Frank Kratovil | |
---|---|
Judge of the Queen Anne's County District Court | |
Assumed office February 6, 2012 | |
Appointed by | Martin O'Malley |
Preceded by | John Clark |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 1st district | |
In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011 | |
Preceded by | Wayne Gilchrest |
Succeeded by | Andy Harris |
State's Attorney of Queen Anne's County | |
In office January 2003 – January 3, 2009 | |
Preceded by | David Gregory |
Succeeded by | Lance Richardson |
Personal details | |
Born | Frank Michael Kratovil Jr. May 29, 1968 Lanham, Maryland, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Kimberly Kratovil (1992–present) |
Children | 5 |
Education | McDaniel College (BA) University of Baltimore (JD) |
Frank Michael Kratovil Jr. (born May 29, 1968) is an American politician who was the
Early life, education and career
Frank Kratovil was born in
In 1997, Kratovil moved to the Eastern Shore and was appointed Assistant State's Attorney for Queen Anne's County, Maryland. During his tenure as Assistant State's Attorney he served as the county's only full-time Prosecutor and Community Prosecutor.[5] He continued to serve as Assistant State's Attorney until 2001 when he was appointed as Deputy State's Attorney in Kent County, Maryland.[6] He also served as the President of the Young Democrats of Maryland from 1997 to 1998, and in 1998 was selected to represent the United States on the American Council of Young Political Leaders' delegation to Taiwan.[7] He was also a member and on the executive committee of the Queen Anne's County local management board.
Queen Anne's County State's Attorney
In 2002, Kratovil ran for the office of
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2008
On June 4, 2007, Kratovil announced that he would run for Congress in Maryland's 1st congressional district.[11] During the February 12 primary, Kratovil defeated fellow Democrats Christopher Robinson, Steve Harper, and Joseph Werner.
Kratovil expected to face nine-term Republican incumbent Wayne Gilchrest, a leading Republican moderate, in the general election. However, Gilchrest was ousted in the Republican primary by a considerably more conservative Republican, State Senator Andy Harris. This significantly changed the race, as Kratovil was now running for an open seat rather than against a long-term incumbent.
Kratovil was initially a heavy underdog due to the district's election history. Although Democrats and Republicans were nearly tied in registration, the district has a strong tinge of
The November election was close, as expected. On election night, Kratovil led Harris by 915 votes. After two rounds of counting absentee ballots, Kratovil's lead grew to 2,000 votes. Forecasting that it would be nearly impossible for Harris to close the gap, most media outlets declared Kratovil the winner on the night of November 7.[17] Harris finally conceded on November 11.
Kratovil's election dramatized the geographic split that characterizes the 1st District. An Eastern Shore resident, Kratovil carried all nine counties on the Shore. However, he lost badly in the district's portion of
2010
Harris announced in May 2009 that he would seek a rematch against Kratovil, citing Kratovil's vote for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in its final form.[18]
Kratovil based his 2010 re-election bid on his independent streak in Washington. He was quoted as saying, "We can send someone to Washington who is going to continue to be independent and put the interests of the people of his district first, or we can send people that are going to put their own extreme ideological views ahead of the best interests of the people of this district."[19] He also pointed to his overall record in Congress as proof. He was ranked as being in the top ten of independent voting records in Congress by CQ Politics in 2009.[20]
A "Super PAC" group called The Concerned Taxpayers of America paid $150,000 for ads attacking Kratovil, and $300,000 for ads attacking Peter DeFazio of Oregon. Mid-October 2010 quarterly FEC filings showed that the group was solely funded by $300,000 from Daniel G. Schuster Inc., a concrete firm in Owings Mills, Maryland, and $200,000 from New York hedge fund executive Robert Mercer, the co-head of Renaissance Technologies of Setauket, New York. According to Dan Eggen at The Washington Post, the group said "it was formed in September 'to engage citizens from every walk of life and political affiliation' in the fight against 'runaway spending.'" Its only expenditures were for these ads. Schuster was the top contributor to Harris.[21][22][23][24]
Kratovil was defeated, taking 42 percent of the vote to Harris' 54 percent. He is one of only three Democrats since 1992 to win 40 percent or more of the district's vote.
Tenure
Kratovil aligned himself with the conservative House Blue Dog Coalition.[25] Despite the conservative bent of the 1st, he still supported many Democratic priorities. An analysis conducted by The Washington Post and others found Kratovil voted with the House Democratic Leadership 85% of the time. Major Democratic priorities Kratovil voted for included:
- The American Clean Energy and Security Act
- The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
- The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
- The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act
- The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
- The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010
- The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
- The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010
- The Employee Free Choice Act
- The Employment Non-Discrimination Act
An analysis of major legislation only by Congressional Quarterly and Centerline.org concluded Kratovil was one of the most centrist congressmen in the country. Kratovil voted against the
Committee assignments
- Committee on Agriculture
- Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research
- Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture
- Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
- Committee on Armed Services
- Subcommittee on Readiness
- Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces
- Committee on Natural Resources
- Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife
Electoral history
Year | Office | Election | Subject | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | Queen Anne's County State's Attorney[27] | General | Frank Kratovil | Democratic | 9,169 | 57.23% | Paul W. Comfort | Republican | 6,830 | 42.63% | ||||||||||||
2006 | Queen Anne's County State's Attorney[8] | General | Frank Kratovil | Democratic | 13,894 | 100% | ||||||||||||||||
2008 | U.S. House, Maryland's 1st district[28] | Primary | Frank Kratovil | Democratic | 28,566 | 40.2% | Christopher Robinson | Democratic | 21,892 | 30.8% | Steve Harper | Democratic | 11,904 | 16.7% | Joseph Werner | Democratic | 8,753 | 12.3% | ||||
2008 | U.S. House, Maryland's 1st district[29] | General | Frank Kratovil | Democratic | 177,065 | 49.1% | Andy Harris
|
Republican | 174,213 | 48.3% | Richard James Davis | Libertarian | 8,873 | 2.5% | Write-ins | 35 | 0.1% | |||||
2010 | U.S. House, Maryland's 1st district[30] | General | Andy Harris
|
Republican | 155,118 | 54.1% | Frank Kratovil | Democratic | 120,400 | 42.0% | Richard James Davis | Libertarian | 10,876 | 3.8% | Write-ins | 418 | 0.15% |
Judicial career
In late December 2011, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley appointed Kratovil as a judge for the Queen Anne's County District Court. Kratovil had been nominated by the Trial Courts Judicial Nominating Commission to fill a vacancy due to the retirement of Judge John T. Clark III.[31] He was reappointed by Governor Larry Hogan, confirmed by the State Senate, and sworn-in to another 10-year term in April 2022.[32]
References
- ^ "Men's Soccer All-Time Captains". McDaniel College. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- ^ "Men's Soccer All-Time Honor Role". McDaniel College. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- ^ "Men's Soccer Career History". McDaniel College. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- ^ "Charles W. Havens Award Winners". McDaniel College. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- ^ a b c Office of State's Attorney, Queen Anne's County Archived 2009-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "Frank M. Kratovil, Jr., Maryland District Court Judge". Maryland State Archives. September 29, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- ^ "Frank Kratovil history". kratovil.com. Archived from the original on August 27, 2008.
- ^ a b 2006 Gubernatorial General Election Results - qacelections.com Archived 2008-07-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Castaneda, Ruben (February 11, 2007). "Bill Seeks To Expand Prosecution Of Gangs". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
- ^ "Gang Problems Spreading Across Maryland". wjz.com. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009.
- ^ "Frank Kratovil candidacy announcement" (PDF). kratovil.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 27, 2008.
- ^ Lake, Sarah (September 9, 2008). "Gilchrest crosses party lines to support Kratovil". The Salisbury Flyer. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
- ^ DCCC announces third round of Red to Blue (DCCC.org)
- ^ "Congressional race in Maryland gets tight – The Washington Blade". Archived from the original on 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
- ^ Two local GOP figures endorse Kratovil – The Star Democrat
- ^ 'Blue Dog Coalition' gives endorsement to Kratovil – The Capital
- ^ Kratovil Wins 1st District Seat Over Harris Archived 2011-09-30 at the Wayback Machine. Associated Press via WBAL-TV, 2008-11-07.
- ^ "Rematch: Harris versus Kratovil". baltimoresun.com. The Baltimore Sun. May 7, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
- ^ Knauss, Chris (June 27, 2010). "Kratovil says common sense solutions needed in Washington". The Star Democrat. Easton, Maryland. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
- ^ "CQ Vote Studies: 2009". CQ Roll Call. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
- ^ DeFazio tries to find out who is behind mysterious attack ads, Karen Tumulty, The Washington Post, September 25, 2010
- ^ Wealthy financier is mysterious funder of ads attacking DeFazio, Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian, October 15, 2010
- ^ Concerned Taxpayers group is powered by only two donors, Dan Eggen, The Washington Post, October 17, 2010
- ^ Pioneering Fund Stages Second Act, Scott Patterson and Jenny Strasburg, The Wall Street Journal, March 16, 2010
- ^ Baltimore Sun.
- ^ "Kratovil Statement on Health Care Reform Legislation". kratovil.house.gov (Press release). Congressman Frank Kratovil. March 21, 2010.[dead link]
- ^ Oueen Anne's County Board of Elections – Statement of Votes Cast Queen Anne's General; November 5, 2002; State of Maryland, Queen Anne's County (11/15/2002)
- ^ "Representative in Congress Results". Maryland State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 11, 2008.
- ^ "Representative in Congress Results". Maryland State Board of Elections. Retrieved on Jun. 14, 2009
- ^ "Representative in Congress Results". Maryland State Board of Elections. Retrieved on November 6, 2011
- ^ "O'Malley Appoints Kratovil to be a Judge". WBOC. December 29, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
- ^ Paul Bishop (April 2022). "Kratovil sworn in for second term as District Court Judge". Bay Times and Record.
External links
- Frank Kratovil for U.S. Congress official campaign site
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Profile from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)
- Maryland State's Attorneys' Association (MSAA)
- National District Attorneys Association (NDAA)
- Queen Anne's County Community Partnerships for Children (Local Management Board)
- Appearances on C-SPAN