Connie Mack IV | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's14th district | |
| In office January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Porter Goss |
| Succeeded by | Trey Radel (redistricted) |
| Member of theFlorida House of Representatives from the91st district | |
| In office November 7, 2000 – October 10, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Debby P. Sanderson |
| Succeeded by | Ellyn Bogdanoff |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cornelius Harvey McGillicuddy IV (1967-08-12)August 12, 1967 (age 58) Fort Myers, Florida, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent |
|
| Relatives | John Levi Sheppard (great-great-grandfather) Morris Sheppard (great-grandfather) Connie Mack (great-grandfather) Earle Mack (granduncle) Roy Mack (granduncle) |
| Education | Santa Fe College University of Florida (BA) |
Cornelius Harvey McGillicuddy IV (born August 12, 1967), known popularly asConnie Mack IV, is an American politician and lobbyist. He is the formerU.S. representative forFlorida's 14th congressional district, serving from 2005 to 2013. ARepublican, he ran for theU.S. Senate in 2012, losing toDemocratBill Nelson.[1] He is the son of former Republican U.S. SenatorConnie Mack III and the great-grandson of baseball managerConnie Mack.
Mack was born inFort Myers, Florida, the son of former U.S. SenatorConnie Mack III and cancer prevention advocate Ludie Priscilla (née Hobbs).[2][3] His father represented the district from 1983 to 1989 (when it was numbered as the 13th District), before serving two terms in theU.S. Senate.
Through his father, Mack is the great-grandson of Cornelius McGillicuddy ("Connie Mack"), themanager and owner of baseball'sPhiladelphia Athletics and member of theBaseball Hall of Fame; the great-grandson ofMorris Sheppard, U.S. Senator and Representative fromTexas; and the great-great-grandson ofJohn Levi Sheppard, a U.S. Representative from Texas.[4]
In June 1988, Mack earned hisAssociate of Arts fromSanta Fe Community College[5] and In 1993, Mack earned his Bachelor of Arts[6] from theUniversity of Florida. After college, Mack became a marketing executive, working as a consultant to promote the restaurant chainHooters.[7]
In 2000, incumbent Republican State Representative Debby Sanderson decided to retire to run for a seat in theFlorida Senate. Mack decided to run for the open seat in the Fort Lauderdale–based91st House District. He defeated Democratic nominee Kevin Rader 56%–44%.[8] In 2002, he won re-election with 79% of the vote.[9]
Mack was Chairman of the Committee on State Administration, and in his second term he became the Deputy Majority Leader.[10]
In 2003, incumbent Republican CongressmanPorter Goss announced his intention to retire in order to serve asDirector of the CIA. That October, Mack resigned from the Florida Legislature and moved back to his hometown of Fort Myers to run for his father's old seat.[11] Had he not resigned his state house seat, he would have been unable to vote for himself in the primary or general election in the 14th District, as theFlorida Constitution requires state legislators to be residents of the district they represent. Mack stated, "The people of the 14th District deserve to be represented in Washington by someone who shares our mainstream conservative Republican values in the mold of my father and Congressman Porter Goss".[12] He narrowly won a four-way Republican primary—the real contest in this heavily Republican district—with a plurality of 36% of the vote, defeating more experienced challengers State RepresentativeCarole Green andLee CountyCommissioner Andy Coy.[13] He won the general election with 68% of the vote.[14]
Mack consistently won re-election without serious difficulty, with his closest bid in 2008, when he won 59% in a three-way election.[15][16][17]
Mack is a vocal supporter of cutting federal spending and lower taxes. He is a signer of theTaxpayer Protection Pledge. Additionally, he is a co-sponsor of a constitutionalamendment to require a balanced federal budget and was one of the most outspoken opponents offederal bailouts. Mack has also been a prominent advocate for greater congressional oversight ofgovernment surveillance. He voted againstGeorge W. Bush's domestic eavesdropping program in 2006 andForeign Intelligence Surveillance Act Reform in 2007.[18]
Mack was an outspoken critic of lateVenezuelan PresidentHugo Chávez,[19] as well as one of the most vocal opponents of theLatin American television networkteleSUR.[20] He is also a member of theCongressional Cuba Democracy Caucus. As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Mack helped secure over $81 million to expandInterstate 75 in Southwest Florida, a project of significant concern to the region.
Unlike many members of Congress, Mack has been a vigorous and outspoken defender of thewhistle-blowing websiteWikiLeaks.[21]
Early in the election cycle, Mack was considered a potential candidate against incumbent Democratic SenatorBill Nelson in the 2012 Senate election. However, he declined to run on March 25, 2011, citing family and his work in the House of Representatives.[22] On October 26, 2011, it was announced Mack had changed his mind and that he would seek the Republican nomination because he felt no one in the current field was able to defeat Nelson.[23] His opponent in the primary was former RepresentativeDave Weldon, whom Mack defeated, winning 58% of the vote. Mack then lost to Nelson by over one million votes.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Connie Mack IV | 226,662 | 67.59 | |
| Democratic | Robert M. Neeld | 108,672 | 32.41 | |
| Total votes | 335,334 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Connie Mack IV* | 151,615 | 64.37 | |
| Democratic | Robert M. Neeld | 83,920 | 35.63 | |
| Total votes | 235,535 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Connie Mack IV* | 224,602 | 59.44 | |
| Democratic | Robert M. Neeld | 93,590 | 24.77 | |
| Independent | Burt Saunders | 54,750 | 14.49 | |
| Independent | Jeff George | 4,949 | 1.31 | |
| Total votes | 377,891 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Connie Mack IV* | 188,341 | 68.57 | |
| Democratic | James Lloyd Roach | 74,525 | 27.13 | |
| Independent | William Maverick St. Claire | 11,825 | 4.31 | |
| Total votes | 274,691 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Connie Mack IV | 657,331 | 58.7 | |
| Republican | Dave Weldon | 226,083 | 20.2 | |
| Republican | Mike McCalister | 155,421 | 13.9 | |
| Republican | Marielena Stuart | 81,808 | 7.3 | |
| Total votes | 1,120,643 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Nelson (incumbent) | 4,523,451 | 55.23% | −5.07% | |
| Republican | Connie Mack IV | 3,458,267 | 42.23% | +4.13% | |
| Independent | Bill Gaylor | 126,079 | 1.54% | N/A | |
| Independent | Chris Borgia | 82,089 | 1.00% | N/A | |
| Write-in | 60 | 0.0 | N/A | ||
| Total votes | 8,189,946 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
| Democratichold | |||||
In 2013, Mack was hired as a partner at lobbying firm Liberty Partners Group, where his father was a chairmanemeritus.[25] Following his unsuccessful bid for the Senate, Mack founded two lobbying and consulting firms, Mack Strategies and Liberty International Group. In March 2014, he registered to become a lobbyist forAmerican Task Force Argentina. As of September 2014, he was an executive vice president ofpublic relations firm Levick as well as a registered lobbyist for Levick,Doral Financial andLas Vegas Sands.[26] Mack considered enteringFlorida's 19th congressional district special election in 2014 to replaceTrey Radel but, in January 2014, officially declined to enter the race.[27]
Mack has also worked extensively as a lobbyist for the government ofHungary.[28][29] In December 2020, Mack joined Platinum Advisors DC to lobby in support of increased humanitarian assistance toEthiopia.[30] In 2017, he was accused of holding a "sham hearing" in the U.S. Capitol on behalf of a Ukrainian television studio.[31]
In 1992, Mack was involved in a bar fight with professional baseball playerRon Gant in Georgia. Mack suffered a broken ankle in the fight but a jury ultimately found that Gant was not liable for Mack's injuries.[32][33]
Mack and Ann Galluzzo were married in 1996 and divorced in 2006. They have a son named Connie Mack V and a daughter named Addison Mack.
In 2007, while representing his Florida district in the U.S. House of Representatives, Mack married then-U.S. Representative from CaliforniaMary Bono (R-CA), former wife of Glenn Baxley and widow ofSonny Bono.[34] They were the third married couple to serve in the House of Representatives simultaneously.[35] Mack and Bono divorced in 2013.[36] He married Jennifer Key, an international development expert, in 2018. They have a son named William Arthur McGillicuddy.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 14th congressional district 2005–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromFlorida (Class 1) 2012 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
