Jeff Flake

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Jeff Flake
United States Ambassador to Turkey
Assumed office
January 26, 2022
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byDavid M. Satterfield
United States Senator
from Arizona
In office
January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2019
Preceded byJon Kyl
Succeeded byKyrsten Sinema
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Arizona
In office
January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2013
Preceded byMatt Salmon
Succeeded byMatt Salmon (redistricting)
Constituency1st district (2001–2003)
6th district (2003–2013)
Personal details
Born
Jeffry Lane Flake

(1962-12-31) December 31, 1962 (age 61)
Snowflake, Arizona, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Cheryl Bae
(m. 1985)
Children5
RelativesJake Flake (uncle)
William J. Flake (great-great-grandfather)
EducationBrigham Young University (BA, MA)

Jeffry Lane Flake[1] (born December 31, 1962) is an American politician and diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Turkey. A member of the Republican Party, Flake served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013 and in the United States Senate from 2013 to 2019, representing Arizona. He was nominated by Democratic president Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate for his ambassador post on October 26, 2021.[2][3] He presented his credentials to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Presidential Complex of Turkey in Ankara on January 26, 2022.[4]

Born in

2000 census redefined the district to be Arizona's 6th congressional district
, which he then represented until he entered the Senate in 2013.

Flake sought the Republican nomination for

Throughout his Senate career, Flake suffered from consistently low approval ratings. In April 2013, less than three months after taking office, he had 32% approval and 51% disapproval ratings.[6] By mid-2017, he dropped to 18% approval and 62% disapproval ratings,[7] but recovered slightly near the end of his term, with 30% approval and 51% disapproval ratings as of July 2018.[8]

On January 29, 2019, Flake was hired by CBS as a contributor for CBS News.[9]

Early life, education, and early career

Jeffry Lane Flake

missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Africa and Zimbabwe in the early 1980s. He speaks Afrikaans. He worked in the public affairs sector after college and was the executive director of the Foundation for Democracy in Namibia and executive director of the Goldwater Institute before entering the House of Representatives. He opposed economic sanctions on South Africa in the 1980s, arguing that sanctions would harm the black population who were already suffering under apartheid policies.[15]

Political career

U.S. House of Representatives (2001–2013)

Elections

Flake was first elected to Congress in 2000 from what was then the 1st District, after Republican incumbent

2000 census. Flake easily defeated his primary challenger.[16]

In his campaign in 2000, Flake had pledged to serve no more than three terms in Congress which would see him serve no later than January 2007. Shortly after being elected for a third time, Flake announced in early 2005 that he had changed his mind on pledging term limits and was planning to run for reelection in 2006. "It was a mistake to limit my own terms," Flake said.[17]

In that same election, three out of five mayors in his home district opposed his reelection because, according to Flake, he did not "bring

pork barrel spending" to the mayors' cities.[13] In 2006, several Democrats had announced their intention to run for the seat but only one met the June filing deadline, and that particular filing was rejected due to an insufficient number of nominating signatures. "I did expect to have a primary opponent. I deserve one," Flake said, referring to the term-limit pledge which he had broken. "By all rights, I ought to have an opponent. I just got lucky, I guess."[18]

In the

2006 midterm elections, Flake had no Democratic Party opponent and easily defeated the Libertarian Party candidate, Jason Blair, with 74% of the vote.[19]

Tenure

Flake during the
113th Congress

Flake was a member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, a group of libertarian-leaning Republican congressmen.[20] He was also a member of the Republican Study Committee.

Committee assignments

U.S. Senate (2013–2019)

2012 election