Mimi Walters
Mimi Walters | |
---|---|
37th district (2012–2015) | |
Member of the California State Assembly from the 73rd district | |
In office December 6, 2004 – November 30, 2008 | |
Preceded by | Patricia Bates |
Succeeded by | Diane Harkey |
Personal details | |
Born | Marian Elaine Krogius May 14, 1962 Pasadena, California, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | David Walters |
Children | 4 |
Education | University of California, Los Angeles (BA) |
Marian Elaine "Mimi" Walters (née Krogius; born May 14, 1962) is an American businesswoman and politician. A Republican, she served from 2015 to 2019 as the U.S. representative for California's 45th congressional district.
Before running for office, Walters was an
Walters was elected to represent
Early life and education
In 1962, Walters was born as Marian Elaine Krogius in Pasadena, California. Walters' father is Tristan Krogius.[4] Walters graduated from Dana Hills High School (1980) before earning a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1984.[5]
Career
Walters was an investment banker from 1988 to 1995.
Laguna Niguel City Council
After serving as chair of
During her time on the City Council, Walters also served on the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, and opposed efforts to convert Marine Corps Air Station El Toro into a commercial airport.[4]
California State Assembly
In 2004, Walters was elected to represent the 73rd Assembly District, which includes the coastal Orange and San Diego county communities of Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Oceanside, Dana Point, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, and Aliso Viejo.[6] Her term ran from January 2005 to January 2007. In November 2006, she was re-elected to a second term in the Assembly.[7]
California State Senate
Walters was elected to the State Senate in November 2008.[7]
In 2013, the California Fair Political Practices Commission cleared Walters of wrongdoing in a conflict of interest investigation "into phone calls made by her office on behalf of a company once co-owned by her husband".[8]
2010 California State Treasurer election
In January 2010, Walters announced that she would run for California State Treasurer against Democratic incumbent Bill Lockyer.[9] Walters became the Republican nominee for State Treasurer, but lost to Lockyer in the general election.[10]
2012 California State Senate race
Democratic candidate and trial lawyer Steve Young filed an unsuccessful civil lawsuit in an attempt to keep Walters' name off of the 2012 ballot. Young's lawsuit challenged Walters' residency in the 37th District; after the California Citizens Redistricting Commission re-drew the state's legislative districts in 2011, Walters announced that she had moved from Laguna Nigel to Irvine, in order to be eligible to run in the 37th Senate District.[11]
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2014
On July 2, 2013, Walters formally announced her candidacy for Congress, to replace Congressman
She was endorsed by a number of Republican members of Congress from California, including Campbell, Kevin McCarthy, Darrell Issa, and Ed Royce.[13] Prior to the 2014 election, she set up the Blessings of Liberty Leadership PAC.[14]
Walters was placed in the National Republican Congressional Committee's (NRCC) "Contender" category of their "Young Guns" program.[15] In September 2014, the NRCC named Walters along with 13 other candidates to their "Vanguard" program.[16] In the non-partisan blanket primary, she came in first place in a field of three candidates, with 45% of the vote. In the general election, she defeated Democratic candidate Drew Leavens with 65% of the vote.[17]
2016
In November 2016, Walters won re-election by 17 points over her Democratic opponent, Ron Varasteh.[18] For the campaign, Walters raised over $2 million.[19]
2018
Walters ran for re-election in 2018. She and Democrat Katie Porter advanced out of the top-two primary in June 2018. Walters and Porter, a consumer lawyer and UC Irvine law professor, faced off in the general election on November 6, 2018.[20]
In May 2018, Politico reported that Democrats were confident they would oust Walters, given that in 2016, Hillary Clinton had carried the 45th district, writing that Walters had "backed some of the most polarizing planks of President Donald Trump's agenda", and that Walters was "upbeat about surviving the much-predicted Democratic wave". Politico noted her support for a popular November ballot referendum. "The only reason I'm a target is because Hillary Clinton won my district", said Walters. "I got 37,000 more votes than President Trump did."[21]
In September 2018, the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), the largest Republican super PAC active in U.S. House races, announced a $400,000 ad buy in support of Walters' campaign.[22] In October 2018, the Los Angeles Times reported that the CLF had not purchased advertisements for Walters in its opening round of broadcast television advertising buys in Southern California.[23] The CLF pushed back on the Los Angeles Times report, saying they had reserved over $3 million in Walters' district and had begun advertising there in August.[24]
At the end of election night, Walters was in the lead, but over the following days, Porter gained votes and eventually overtook Walters as more ballots were counted. In fund-raising e-mails sent to supporters, Walters made unsubstantiated claims of fraud, alleging that Democrats were seeking to "steal" her seat by tampering with votes.[25][26][27]
On November 15, 2018, the Associated Press called the race for Porter.[28]
Committee assignments
- Committee on the Judiciary
- Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
- Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Anti-Trust Law
- Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
- Committee on Ethics
- Committee on Energy and Commerce
- Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
- Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce
- Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
- Republican Main Street Partnership[29]
- Republican Study Committee[30]
Electoral history
Primary election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Republican | Mimi Walters | 39,631 | 45.1 | |
Democratic | Drew E. Leavens | 24,721 | 28.1 | |
Republican | Greg Raths | 21,284 | 24.2 | |
No party preference
|
Al Salehi | 2,317 | 2.6 | |
Total votes | 87,953 | 100.0 | ||
General election | ||||
Republican | Mimi Walters | 106,083 | 65.1 | |
Democratic | Drew E. Leavens | 56,819 | 34.9 | |
Total votes | 162,902 | 100.0 | ||
Republican hold |
Primary election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Republican | Mimi Walters (incumbent) | 65,773 | 40.9 | |
Democratic | Ron Varasteh | 44,449 | 27.6 | |
Republican | Greg Raths | 30,961 | 19.2 | |
Democratic | Max Gouron | 19,716 | 12.3 | |
Total votes | 160,899 | 100.0 | ||
General election | ||||
Republican | Mimi Walters (incumbent) | 182,618 | 58.6 | |
Democratic | Ron Varasteh | 129,231 | 41.4 | |
Total votes | 311,849 | 100.0 | ||
Republican hold |
Primary election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Republican | Mimi Walters (incumbent) | 86,764 | 51.7 | |
Democratic | Katie Porter | 34,078 | 20.3 | |
Democratic | Dave Min | 29,979 | 17.8 | |
Democratic | Brian Forde | 10,107 | 6.0 | |
No party preference
|
John Graham | 3,817 | 2.3 | |
Democratic | Kia Hamadanchy | 3,212 | 1.9 | |
Total votes | 167,957 | 100.0 | ||
General election | ||||
Democratic | Katie Porter | 158,906 | 52.1 | |
Republican | Mimi Walters (incumbent) | 146,383 | 47.9 | |
Total votes | 305,289 | 100.0 | ||
Democratic gain from Republican |
Political positions
The American Conservative Union gave Walters an 89% evaluation in 2017.
Abortion and Planned Parenthood
Walters opposed abortion, but had de-emphasized the issue during her political campaigns.[33] In 2015, during her freshman term, she served on the Select Panel to Investigate Planned Parenthood.[34]
Cannabis
Walters had a "D" rating from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, an advocacy group supporting the legalization of marijuana.[35][failed verification][36][37]
Donald Trump
In July 2016, FiveThirtyEight labeled Walters an "Eager Unifier", for having endorsed Trump wholeheartedly, but not until after the Indiana primary.[38][39]
In February 2017, Walters voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request 10 years of Trump's tax returns, which would then have been reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee in a closed session.[40]
FiveThirtyEight had found that Walters voted with President Trump 99% of the time, and was the eighth-most partisan Trump supporter in the House, when compared to her district's voting patterns.[41]
Federal taxation legislation of 2017
In November 2017, Walters voted in favor of the
Environment
In 2015, Walters sponsored and voted for H.R. 1732, a bill that opposed the
Also in 2015, Walters voted to repeal the limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants set by the Clean Power Plan. "Forcing a shift away from traditional energy resources", she explained, "would ultimately stifle the economy for years to come and harm consumers' pocketbooks." Walters also co-sponsored the Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2017, which became law, and which declares that there is no legal requirement to regulate global warming.[45]
Walters was originally a
In October 2017, after President Trump pulled out of the
Health care
Walters supported the repeal of Obamacare, and voted in 2015 for H.R. 596, the House bill to repeal Obamacare.[49] She also voted for H.R. 3762, the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, which would have repealed Obamacare.[50]
Walters supported repealing and replacing the
On May 4, 2017, Walters voted to repeal the
Gun control
A May 2018 profile of Walters referred to her long-time "reputation as a gun-rights advocate". In the State Assembly, "she twice voted against bills requiring the micro-stamping of bullets from automatic firearms", against "background checks for ammunition buyers", against a ban on "large-capacity conversion kits", and against "prohibiting people under domestic violence restraining orders from obtaining firearms". But during her years in the House, "California voters' concerns about school shootings had risen dramatically, with 73 percent of respondents admitting they were worried about a mass shooting at their public school", with high-school students in Walters's district holding gun violence protests.[48]
Keystone pipeline
Walters voted in support of the
LGBT rights
As an Assemblywoman, Walters endorsed
Military
In January 2018, Walters voted for H.R. 695, the 2018
Nuclear waste
In March 2018, Walters signed a bi-partisan letter in support of funding to re-start the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. "Just south of California's 45th district", she stated, "1,800 tons of spent nuclear fuel sits at the inactive San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). Unfortunately, our Nation's nuclear waste management system is broken, and spent fuel sits at nuclear sites like Songs, with nowhere to go. By law, the Federal government is obligated to take ownership of, and safely store, spent fuel at a permanent repository."[63]
Strikes
In 2014, Walters voted for a bill in committee that banned public transit workers from going on strike.[64]
Human trafficking
In February 2018, the House passed H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA), introduced by Walters, Ann Wagner (R-Missouri), and Carolyn Maloney (D-New York). It included an amendment written by Walters that would permit enforcement of criminal and civil sex trafficking laws against websites that facilitate online sex trafficking. The amended legislation passed with bi-partisan support.[65]
Personal life
Walters is married, and has four children.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Messina, Frank (December 19, 1996). "Council Names Walters to Seat Wilson Vacated". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ^ a b c "Mimi Walters' background". Los Angeles Times. May 26, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- Washington Post. November 16, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- ^ a b Moxley, R. Scott (July 29, 1999). "This Is War?". OC Weekly. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ^ a b c "Mimi Walters Biography". house.gov. December 11, 2012. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
- ^ "California-45: Mimi Walters". National Journal. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
- ^ a b "Rep. Mimi Walters, R-Calif". Roll Call. Congressiona Quarterly. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
- Orange County Register. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ^ a b Goldmacher, Shane (October 29, 2010). "Actions of two top state treasurer hopefuls raise questions". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ^ "2010 State Treasurer General Election Results". U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
- ^ Joseph, Brian (October 22, 2012). "Mimi Walters' name to remain on ballot". Orange County Register. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
- ^ "Mimi Walters Formally Enters Congressional Race in 45th District - Mimi Walters for U.S. Representative". Mimi Walters. July 2, 2013. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ^ "Endorsements - Mimi Walters for U.S. Representative". Mimi Walters. June 20, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ^ "Profile: campaignmoney.com". Retrieved March 25, 2017.
- ^ "17 Republican Candidates Announced as 'Contender' as Part of NRCC's 'Young Guns' Program - National Republican Congressional Committee". National Republican Congressional Committee. March 26, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ^ "Young Guns Vanguard - NRCC Young Guns". National Republican Congressional Committee. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ^ "California Election Results". The New York Times. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
- ^ California U.S. House 45th District Results: Mimi Walters Wins; New York Times; https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/california-house-district-45-walters-varasteh
- ^ "Rep. Mimi Walters: Campaign Finance/Money - Summary". OpenSecrets. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
- ^ Harwood, John (September 8, 2018). "House candidates in critical California district face off on Trump, taxes, and the prospect of a Democratic Congress". CNBC. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
- ^ Bade, Rachael; A GOP surprise: House mid-term hope in California; Politico; May 14, 2018; https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/14/california-republicans-midterms-walters-584289
- ^ DeBonis, Mike (September 20, 2018). "GOP super PAC enters five new House races after adding $1.5 million to hold Ryan's seat". Washington Post. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
- ^ Barabak, Michael Finnegan, Mark Z. (October 13, 2018). "Top GOP funding group snubs incumbents Rohrabacher and Walters 3 weeks before mid-term election". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Keller, Meghan (October 15, 2018). "GOP super PAC pushes back on report it skipped ad buys for California's Rohrabacher, Walters". The Hill. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
- ^ "California Rep. Mimi Walters' campaign accuses Democrats of planning to 'steal' her seat as her lead shrinks in tough re-election bid". Business Insider. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
- ^ Hiltzik, Michael (November 30, 2018). "California Republicans see what happens when more voters vote, and they don't like it one bit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
- ^ Finnegan, Michael (November 15, 2018). "Republicans Walters and Kim adopt Trump tactic of charging vote fraud with no evidence of wrongdoing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
- ^ "Democrat Katie Porter flips U.S. House seat in California's Reagan country, beats GOP incumbent Mimi Walters". Associated Press. November 16, 2018.
- ^ "Members". Republican Mains Street Partnership. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
- ^ "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
- ^ "2018 California primary election results" (PDF). Retrieved June 10, 2019.
- ^ "2018 California general election results" (PDF). Retrieved June 10, 2019.
- Orange County Register(July 23, 2015).
- ^ Congresswoman Mimi Walters (October 7, 2015), Rep. Mimi Walters on Select Panel to Investigate Planned Parenthood, archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved March 26, 2017
- ^ "California Scorecard - NORML.org - Working to Reform Marijuana Laws". norml.org. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
- ^ "On The Issues". On The Issues. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
- ^ "Drug Sense". Drug Sense. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
- ^ "The 7 Levels Of Trump Support In Congress". FiveThirtyEight. July 20, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- ^ Wire, Sarah D. "Endorsement tracker: Some California Republicans still not ready for Trump". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- ^ "These are all the Republicans who don't want you to see Donald Trump's tax returns". indy100. February 28, 2017. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
- ^ Tracking Congress in the Age of Trump, accessed September 25, 2018
- ^ Lauren Fox; Deirdre Walsh. "House Republicans pass tax plan". CNN. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ^ ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ^ "Rep. Mimi Walters Supports Bill to Block EPA Water Regulations". Congresswoman Mimi Walters. May 12, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ^ Mosko, Sarah “Steve” (March 27, 2018). "Mosko: Is Mimi Walters Changing Her Stance on Climate Change?". Voice of OC.
- ^ "'Keep going' attitude brought Rep. Mimi Walters to Climate Caucus". Citizens' Climate Lobby. October 30, 2017.
- ^ "90 Current Climate Solutions Caucus Members". Citizen´s Climate Lobby. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- ^ a b Lewis Mernit, Judith (May 3, 2018). "California Politics: The Education Of Rep. Mimi Walters". International Business Times. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
- ^ "Rep. Mimi Walters Votes to Repeal Obamacare". Congresswoman Mimi Walters. February 3, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ^ "Rep. Walters Votes to Strip Core Provisions of Obamacare". Congresswoman Mimi Walters. October 23, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- Project Vote Smart. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- ^ "The fight's on in 4 California districts where Republicans represent people who voted for Hillary". Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- ^ Rubin, Jennifer; Rubin, Jennifer (March 15, 2017). "Republicans who voted for the AHCA better watch out". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
- ^ "How the House voted to pass the GOP health-care bill". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
- ^ Heidi M Przybyla (May 4, 2017). "Health care vote puts pressure on dozens of vulnerable GOP reps". USA Today. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
- ^ a b "Health care vote puts pressure on dozens of vulnerable GOP reps". USA Today. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
- ^ The Access to Sober Living Act will stop unethical practices at sober living homes; OC Register; June 16, 2018; https://www.ocregister.com/2018/06/16/the-access-to-sober-living-act-will-stop-unethical-practices-at-sober-living-homes/
- ^ "Rep. Mimi Walters Stands for Jobs in Keystone Pipeline Vote". Congresswoman Mimi Walters. January 9, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ^ "Proposition 8 Endorsements". ProtectMarriage.com. November 4, 2008. Archived from the original on November 4, 2008. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
- ^ "7 Republicans Flipped Their Vote on LGBT Amendment, Setting Them Up for Attack". Roll Call. May 19, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
- ^ "Amid shouts of 'shame', House GOP defeats gay rights measure". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
- ^ Congressional Roll Call June 22, 2018; Concord Monitor; June 24, 2018; https://www.concordmonitor.com/Congressional-roll-call-18370098
- ^ Taking responsibility for spent nuclear fuel; OC Register; July 15, 2017; https://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/15/taking-responsibility-for-spent-nuclear-fuel/
- ^ McGreevy, Patrick (January 13, 2014). "Panel defeats bill banning public transit strikes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ^ Jackman, Tom; "House passes anti-online sex trafficking bill, allows targeting of websites like Backpage.com"; Washington Post; February 27, 2018
- ^ "Mimi Walters Congressional Financial Disclosure, 2017" (PDF).
- ^ Religious affiliation of members of 115th Congress (PDF) (Report). Pew Research Center. January 3, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
External links
- Mimi Walters at Curlie
- Campaign contributors (at Open Secrets)
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Join California Mimi Walters
- Mimi Walters at Ballotpedia