Michael Steinberg | |
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| Born | (1959-02-06)February 6, 1959 (age 66) |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | University of Florida |
| Political party | Democratic (before 2016) American Delta (2016) Reform (2016–present) |
| Spouse | Miriam Steinberg |
| Children | 3 |
Michael Alan Steinberg (born February 6, 1959) is anAmericanlawyer and politician. He has been an unsuccessful candidate in severalFlorida state legislature elections, and a candidate for theDemocraticpresidential nomination in the2016 election. He was also theReform Party's nominee forVice President of the United States in the 2016 election.
Steinberg has been practicing law for over 30 years, and his firm, Michael Steinberg & Associates, provides legal services to clients insocial security,veteran's compensation, long-termdisability insurance, andstate disability matters.[1] TheTampa Bay Times cited him saying that the aging population of Tampa Bay and the area's declining economy were the cause of an increase in local legal claims. Between 2008 and 2009, the 21 percent increase in social security disability legal claims in Tampa Bay broke the nationwide record.[2]
In 2014, his wife Miriam ran for a Florida state legislature seat in District 64, where he had run unsuccessfully in 2002.[3]
Steinberg married his wife Miriam in 1984. Miriam is originally from Israel. The two have three adult daughters. He is a member of a Conservative synagogue in Tampa, Florida.[4]
Steinberg received his bachelor's degree in economics and aJ.D. degree from theUniversity of Florida. In addition to his career as an attorney practicing social security law, he has served on theFlorida Bar Association's military law subcommittee.[5]
In 2002, Steinberg ran for election for the Florida state legislature in District 64; his candidacy was endorsed by theSt. Petersburg Times.[6] Two months after losing the election, Steinberg filed a lawsuit against thestate Republican party forpush polling against him in the election. The Florida Republican Party hired Tarrance Group, a Virginia-based polling company, to survey voters across the state. Towson Fraser, spokesman for the Republican Party of Florida at the time, denied that his party used push polls.[7]
Steinberg ran again for this seat in 2010 and lost.[citation needed]
In 2006, Steinberg received 1,334 votes (3.4% of the popular vote) in the Democratic primary race forFlorida's 11th congressional district.[8]
When his wife, Miriam Steinberg, was running for office in 2014, he filed a lawsuit to disqualify a competingwrite-in candidate. Although the lawsuit was successful, the election was ruled invalid, and the seat was vacant until a special election could be held. As a result,J. W. Grant, who was out of office for a period, was automatically the winner of the election despite having reached histerm limit.[9] Miriam lost the election to Grant by a 59:40 margin.[10]
It was later ruled that write-in candidate should not have been disqualified, and subsequently, the election was ruled unconstitutional and the Florida legislature voted not to accept the result.[11] Miriam then failed to file new fees to run again against Grant in a special election; although Michael filed a claim against theFlorida Election Commission disputing the fee requirement.[12] This resulted in Grant's only opponent being a write-in candidate. No write-in candidate has ever won an election in Florida.[13][14]
Grant was about to be running up against a Florida term limit law, but because the regular election was ruled invalid the seat was vacant for most of 2015 legislative session.[13][15][16]
Steinberg filed papers with theU.S. Federal Election Commission in November 2013 to run for president in the 2016 election as aDemocrat.[17][18]
After failing to gain traction for his presidential bid, he was then nominated by theAmerican Delta Party, and by theReform Party of the United States as the vice-presidential running mate of 2016 presidential candidateRocky De La Fuente.[19][20]
Steinberg and his wife Miriam live inFlorida. The couple has three children.[5]
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| Preceded by | Reform nominee forVice President of the United States 2016 | Most recent |