Jeb Bradley
Encyclopedia
Joseph E. "Jeb" Bradley is a Republican
member of the New Hampshire State Senate, currently serving as Senate Majority Leader. He represents his hometown of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
and 16 other towns in east-central New Hampshire
. He was formerly a U.S. Representative
for from 2003 to 2007 and also ran for that seat unsuccessfully in 2008.
, graduating in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts
with a major in sociology. He once lived in Switzerland
and worked as a street magician, returning in 1981 to New Hampshire, where he later opened an organic grocery called Evergrain Natural Foods. He and his wife sold the natural foods store in 1997. He also ran a painting business, and managed real estate. He lost his seat to Carol Shea-Porter in the 2006 elections and failed to re-gain it in 2008.
Planning Board in 1986; three years later, he was named to the Budget Committee. He was a registered Democrat until 1989, when he switched to the Republican party.
Bradley won a seat in the New Hampshire House in November 1990 and was re-elected five times. In the legislature, he sponsored the Clean Power Act, which set limits on power plant emissions. He was chairman of the Science, Technology and Energy Committee, as well as the Joint Committee on Ethics.
He returned to the New Hampshire legislature in April 2009, when he won a special election for his local State Senate seat. The seat became vacant because the newly elected incumbent, Bill Denley, resigned the seat after being charged with drunk driving.
for the seat left vacant when Republican incumbent John E. Sununu
ran for the Senate. He defeated Democrat Martha Fuller Clark in the general election, winning with 58 percent of the vote. In 2004, Bradley defeated political newcomer Justin Nadeau of Portsmouth to win a second term, receiving 63% of the vote. Bradley outspent Nadeau 3 to 1.
Bradley's chief of staff, Debra J. Vanderbeek, ran his 2004 campaign. Tom Anfinson, the financial administrator in Bradley’s government office, said that Vanderbeek was paid 100 percent of her salary until the end of May 2004, 80 percent between June and September, and 50 percent between October and early November. Bradley’s re-election committee paid her $13,561 in salary for the campaign, which she failed to report as outside income to the Clerk of the House, plus $3,317 in reimbursements for un-itemized campaign expenses.
In that 2004 campaign, two of his children, Sebastian and Noel, were paid a total of almost $27,000 in salary and expenses. Both were recent high school graduates; their jobs were described as "field coordinators".
, the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, the prohibition of federal funding of overseas abortion, the $5 billion subsidy for the Chinese nuclear program. However, he opposed President Bush's energy bill and supported the Medicare Part D prescription drug subsidy. He has cosponsored bills to loosen regulations on embryonic stem cell research.
Bradley served on the Armed Services, Budget, Veterans' Affairs and Small Business committees.
Bradley has belonged to Christine Todd Whitman
's It's My Party Too!, The Republican Main Street Partnership
, The Republican Majority For Choice
, Republicans For Choice
and Republicans for Environmental Protection.
In 2004, Bradley said he opposed gay marriage, but was not sure he'd support amending the U.S. Constitution to bar it. Despite this, Bradley voted in favor of the 2006 "Same Sex Marriage Resolution", which would have amended the Constitution, requiring that marriage "shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman." (He also voted against gay marriage in 2009 as a New Hampshire State Senator.)
Bradley opposed an increase in the national minimum wage during his time in Congress.
Bradley, who has visited Iraq three times, has been a supporter of the Iraq War. In January 2006 he said "It is not possible to predict exactly when stability in Iraq will occur, but the progress is significant." In June 2006 he said that he did not support a specific timetable for withdrawing American troops from the country, but that he saw signs of progress that the United States would be able to leave "sooner rather than later". In August 2006 he said that Iraq needed a stable government and more security forces before the United States could set a withdrawal date. In October 2006 he said "I look at the fact that Iraq has become central to the war on terror", and "We have got to achieve stability in Iraq and prevent it from becoming a launching pad for terrorists."
He lost his seat in 2006 to an outspokenly antiwar candidate, Carol Shea-Porter. That year (and in 2008), the Democrats
swept the state legislature and both U.S. House seats.
Bradley and Shea-Porter met October 24 for a debate sponsored by WMUR-TV
and the New Hampshire Union Leader
, and debated again on October 31.
Bradley's former Congressional aide, Frank Guinta
(also a former mayor of Manchester
and former state representative), is running as a Republican for Bradley's old Congressional seat. Bradley did not endorse his former aide in the primary. In mid-August 2010, a month before the primary, Bradley even stated that Guinta should consider dropping out of the race if he was unable to explain some possible irregularities in his campaign finance reports. Guinta did not drop out of the race and was in fact nominated and later elected to Congress.
Bradley has a portfolio of stocks and bonds worth over $5 million. In October 2006, he said that putting his personal investments in a blind trust may be a "good idea", and that he was going to look into that option. The point became moot in January 2007, when he became a private citizen again.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the New Hampshire State Senate, currently serving as Senate Majority Leader. He represents his hometown of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
Wolfeboro is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,269 at the 2010 census. A venerable resort area situated beside Lake Winnipesaukee, Wolfeboro includes the village of Wolfeboro Falls...
and 16 other towns in east-central New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
. He was formerly a U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for from 2003 to 2007 and also ran for that seat unsuccessfully in 2008.
Education and career prior to Congress
Bradley was born in Rumford, Maine to Helen Jockers Bradley and Joseph Edmund Bradley, Jr. After graduating from Governor Dummer Academy, he attended Tufts UniversityTufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, graduating in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
with a major in sociology. He once lived in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and worked as a street magician, returning in 1981 to New Hampshire, where he later opened an organic grocery called Evergrain Natural Foods. He and his wife sold the natural foods store in 1997. He also ran a painting business, and managed real estate. He lost his seat to Carol Shea-Porter in the 2006 elections and failed to re-gain it in 2008.
New Hampshire legislature
Bradley was elected to the WolfeboroWolfeboro, New Hampshire
Wolfeboro is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,269 at the 2010 census. A venerable resort area situated beside Lake Winnipesaukee, Wolfeboro includes the village of Wolfeboro Falls...
Planning Board in 1986; three years later, he was named to the Budget Committee. He was a registered Democrat until 1989, when he switched to the Republican party.
Bradley won a seat in the New Hampshire House in November 1990 and was re-elected five times. In the legislature, he sponsored the Clean Power Act, which set limits on power plant emissions. He was chairman of the Science, Technology and Energy Committee, as well as the Joint Committee on Ethics.
He returned to the New Hampshire legislature in April 2009, when he won a special election for his local State Senate seat. The seat became vacant because the newly elected incumbent, Bill Denley, resigned the seat after being charged with drunk driving.
2002 and 2004 elections
Bradley was first elected to Congress in 2002, winning the Republican nomination in a field of eight candidates,for the seat left vacant when Republican incumbent John E. Sununu
John E. Sununu
John Edward Sununu is a former Republican United States Senator from New Hampshire, of Lebanese and Palestinian Christian ancestry. Sununu was the youngest member of the Senate for his entire six year term. He is the son of former New Hampshire Governor John H...
ran for the Senate. He defeated Democrat Martha Fuller Clark in the general election, winning with 58 percent of the vote. In 2004, Bradley defeated political newcomer Justin Nadeau of Portsmouth to win a second term, receiving 63% of the vote. Bradley outspent Nadeau 3 to 1.
Bradley's chief of staff, Debra J. Vanderbeek, ran his 2004 campaign. Tom Anfinson, the financial administrator in Bradley’s government office, said that Vanderbeek was paid 100 percent of her salary until the end of May 2004, 80 percent between June and September, and 50 percent between October and early November. Bradley’s re-election committee paid her $13,561 in salary for the campaign, which she failed to report as outside income to the Clerk of the House, plus $3,317 in reimbursements for un-itemized campaign expenses.
In that 2004 campaign, two of his children, Sebastian and Noel, were paid a total of almost $27,000 in salary and expenses. Both were recent high school graduates; their jobs were described as "field coordinators".
Political positions
Members of the media, colleagues and opponents described Bradley as a moderate in the Republican Party when he was elected in 2002. However, others point to areas and positions that might complicate this label. He sided with his party by supporting the war in IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, the prohibition of federal funding of overseas abortion, the $5 billion subsidy for the Chinese nuclear program. However, he opposed President Bush's energy bill and supported the Medicare Part D prescription drug subsidy. He has cosponsored bills to loosen regulations on embryonic stem cell research.
Bradley served on the Armed Services, Budget, Veterans' Affairs and Small Business committees.
Bradley has belonged to Christine Todd Whitman
Christine Todd Whitman
Christine Todd "Christie" Whitman is an American Republican politician and author who served as the 50th Governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001, and was the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the administration of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003. She was New...
's It's My Party Too!, The Republican Main Street Partnership
Republican Main Street Partnership
The Republican Main Street Partnership is a group of moderate members of the United States Republican Party. They tend away from the dominant social conservatism of many Republicans and towards a moderate fiscal conservatism and limited government to a degree. The group is the rough equivalent of...
, The Republican Majority For Choice
Republican Majority for Choice
The Republican Majority for Choice is a Republican organization in the United States dedicated to preserving legal access to abortion. The group also supports federal funding for all kinds of stem cell research, including Embryonic stem cell research.....
, Republicans For Choice
Republicans for Choice
Republicans for Choice, an organization based in the Washington, D.C. area is a political action committee composed of members of the United States Republican Party who support legalized abortion.-History of Republicans for Choice:Republicans for Choice was founded in 1989 by Ann Stone...
and Republicans for Environmental Protection.
In 2004, Bradley said he opposed gay marriage, but was not sure he'd support amending the U.S. Constitution to bar it. Despite this, Bradley voted in favor of the 2006 "Same Sex Marriage Resolution", which would have amended the Constitution, requiring that marriage "shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman." (He also voted against gay marriage in 2009 as a New Hampshire State Senator.)
Bradley opposed an increase in the national minimum wage during his time in Congress.
Bradley, who has visited Iraq three times, has been a supporter of the Iraq War. In January 2006 he said "It is not possible to predict exactly when stability in Iraq will occur, but the progress is significant." In June 2006 he said that he did not support a specific timetable for withdrawing American troops from the country, but that he saw signs of progress that the United States would be able to leave "sooner rather than later". In August 2006 he said that Iraq needed a stable government and more security forces before the United States could set a withdrawal date. In October 2006 he said "I look at the fact that Iraq has become central to the war on terror", and "We have got to achieve stability in Iraq and prevent it from becoming a launching pad for terrorists."
He lost his seat in 2006 to an outspokenly antiwar candidate, Carol Shea-Porter. That year (and in 2008), the Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
swept the state legislature and both U.S. House seats.
2006 re-election campaign
Bradley sought a third term in 2006. He defeated Michael Callis in the Republican primary on September 12, 2006, winning 87% of the vote. Bradley faced Democrat Carol Shea-Porter and Libertarian party candidate Dan Belforti in the November 2006 general election. In what was considered an upset, Bradley lost his bid for re-election to Shea-Porter.Bradley and Shea-Porter met October 24 for a debate sponsored by WMUR-TV
WMUR-TV
WMUR-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the state of New Hampshire that is licensed to Manchester. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter on the south peak of Mount Uncanoonuc in Goffstown. Owned by Hearst Television, the station has studios...
and the New Hampshire Union Leader
New Hampshire Union Leader
The New Hampshire Union Leader is the daily newspaper of Manchester, the largest city in the state of New Hampshire. As of September 2010 it had a daily circulation of 48,342 and the circulation of its Sunday paper, the New Hampshire Sunday News, was 63,991. It was founded in 1863.It was called...
, and debated again on October 31.
2008 election campaign
In January 2007, Bradley announced his intention to reclaim his former seat. He said he'd made up his mind a few days after his loss. http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/01/28/bradley_to_run_for_his_congressional_seat_again/ He lost the General Election to incumbent Carol Shea-Porter, 52%-46%.2009 State Senate campaign
A few weeks into the new legislative session, Bradley's local State Senator, Bill Denley, resigned the seat after being charged with drunk driving for the third time. Bradley won a special election over Willard "Bud" Martin, who had lost to Denley in 2008.2010 election campaign
Bradley successfully ran for re-election as a State Senator during the 2010 election cycle. He was unopposed in the September 14 Republican state primary, and faced Democratic candidate Beverly Wood in the November 2 general election. After the elections, in which the Republican party regained the majority in the State Senate, Bradley was appointed Senate Majority Leader.Bradley's former Congressional aide, Frank Guinta
Frank Guinta
Frank Guinta is the U.S. Representative for . He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served as the mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire, an alderman, a state representative and a congressional aide.- Early life, education, and business career :...
(also a former mayor of Manchester
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...
and former state representative), is running as a Republican for Bradley's old Congressional seat. Bradley did not endorse his former aide in the primary. In mid-August 2010, a month before the primary, Bradley even stated that Guinta should consider dropping out of the race if he was unable to explain some possible irregularities in his campaign finance reports. Guinta did not drop out of the race and was in fact nominated and later elected to Congress.
Personal
Bradley lives in Wolfeboro, NH. He and his wife Barbara have four children: Jan, Ramona, Urs and Sebastian. An avid hiker, Bradley has ascended all of New Hampshire's 48 4,000-foot peaks and is a member of the Appalachian Mountain Club's Four Thousand Footer Club.Bradley has a portfolio of stocks and bonds worth over $5 million. In October 2006, he said that putting his personal investments in a blind trust may be a "good idea", and that he was going to look into that option. The point became moot in January 2007, when he became a private citizen again.
External links
- Jeb Bradley for Senate campaign website
- Profile at SourceWatchSourceWatchSourceWatch is an internet wiki site that is a collaborative project of the liberal Center for Media and Democracy...
CongresspediaCongresspediaCongresspedia was a wiki that ran from April 2006 to March 2009, designed to hold information on the workings of the U.S. Congress. It was fully contained within SourceWatch, a larger wiki meant to document the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda. The Congresspedia portion of...