Jeff Flake

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Jeff Flake
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st and 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2001
Preceded by	Matt Salmon
Born	December 31, 1962 (1962-12-31) (age 45) Snowflake, Arizona
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Cheryl Flake
Residence	Mesa, Arizona
Alma mater	Brigham Young University
Occupation	public affairs director
Religion	Mormon

Jeffrey "Jeff" Flake (born December 31, 1962), an American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2001, representing Arizona's 6th congressional district.

He was born in Snowflake, Arizona (named in part for his great-great-grandfather, William J. Flake),^[1] was educated at Brigham Young University and was a Mormon missionary. He worked in the public affairs sector after college and served as Executive Director of the Foundation for Democracy in Namibia and Executive Director of the Goldwater Institute before entering the House.

Flake is a critic of government waste and advocates reducing federal spending.^[2]

[edit] Congressional career

Jeff Flake is known as one of the more libertarian House Republicans, often among a handful of Republicans casting 'no' votes on bills most of his party supports.^[3]

Some believe Flake harbors further political ambitions, including possible future runs for Governor of Arizona or the United States Senate. The conservative Club for Growth recruited him to run against John McCain (who represented Flake's district from 1983 to 1987) in 2004.

He also serves on the Liberty Caucus (sometimes called the Liberty Committee), a group of libertarian-leaning Republican congressmen.^[4] Other members include Jimmy Duncan of Tennessee, Virgil Goode of Virginia, Ron Paul of Texas, Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Zach Wamp of Tennessee and Walter B. Jones of North Carolina.^[5]

[edit] Issues and positions

Flake supports creating a temporary worker program for border security, leading some anti-illegal immigration conservative activists to give Flake the Republican In Name Only label.^[6] However, others consider him one of the most consistently conservative members of the House and strongly support him. He is one of eight House members to receive a 100% approval rating from the American Conservative Union.[5]

Flake voted against No Child Left Behind, Sarbanes-Oxley, Medicare Part D, Homeland Security Act^[3], and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. He joined John McCain and Jim Kolbe in sponsoring bills to increase legal immigration and establish a guest worker program.

Flake initially supported the Patriot Act and the Iraq War, but more recently has changed his position to one of cautious opposition, including voting against appropriations for both. He also supports ending the Cuba Trade Embargo and has been a proponent of reform in the House, particularly in the wake of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's ethical and fundraising controversies. He co-authored a letter with now former Congressman Charlie Bass of New Hampshire, which called for DeLay to step down ahead of his decision not to seek re-election to the House.^{[citation needed]}

Flake is strongly pro-life, with a rating of zero from NARAL; he has likewise received a zero rating from the Human Rights Campaign for his votes in favor of legislation that denies equal rights to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender/transsexual people.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] "The Flake Hour"

Rep. Flake is opposed to the current and former earmarking processes, frequently challenging earmarks proposed by other members of Congress. Since May 2006, he has become prominent with the "Flake Hour," a tradition at the end of spending bill debates in which he asks earmark sponsors to come to the house floor and justify why "taxpayers should pay for their "pet projects."^[7]

Flake issues a press release listing an "egregious earmark of the week" every Friday.^[2] Usually the earmark will be followed by Flake making a supposedly humorous comment; as an example, Rep. Flake once said of Congressman Jose Serrano's $150,000 earmark to fix plumbing in Italian restaurants, "I would argue this is one cannoli the taxpayer doesn’t want to take a bite of."^[1]

In 2007, Flake was removed from the Judiciary Committee for "bad behavior." According to one source, the group that made this decision was dominated by Appropriations members resentful of Flake's opposition to earmarks.^[8]

In July 2007, Flake was ruled the least profligate spender in Congress by Citizens Against Government Waste and designated a "taxpayer superhero."^[2]

[edit] Elections

Rep. Flake was first elected (to what was then the First district) in 2000, after the incumbent, Republican Matt Salmon, stepped down in honor of a self-imposed term limit. The district was then renumbered to the 6th district as Arizona gained two Congressional seats due to the results of the 2000 census.

In his campaign of the year 2000, Mr. Flake had pledged to serve no more than three terms in Congress, leaving no later than January of the year 2007, but in early 2005, shortly after being elected for a third time, Rep. Flake announced that he had changed his mind and would in fact run for re-election in the year 2006. "It was a mistake to limit my own terms," Rep. Flake said.^[9]

Rep. Flake's departures from the Republican party-line on certain issues earned him a closely watched primary challenge in the year 2004. He easily defeated the challenger.^[10] In that same election, three out of five mayors in his home district opposed his re-election as he did not "bring pork barrel spending" to the mayors' cities.^[1] In the year 2006, several Democrats had announced their intention to run for the seat; however, only one met the June filing deadline and that particular filing was rejected due to an insufficient amount 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."^[11]

In the 2006 mid-term elections, Rep. Flake had no Democratic party opponent and easily defeated the Libertarian Party candidate, Jason Blair, with 74% of the vote over Mr. Blair's 26%.^[12]

[edit] Personal life

Jeff Flake is married to Cheryl Flake and they have five children. They are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He spent time in Zimbabwe and South Africa as a Mormon missionary.^[1][13] The Flakes have been married since ca. 1985. ^[2]

Flake's uncle Jake Flake was an Arizona state senator.

[edit] Electoral history

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• U.S. Congressman Jeff Flake official U.S. House site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia