Joe Lieberman

Independent

Prior offices:

U.S. Senate Connecticut

Years in office: 1989 - 2013

Successor:Christopher S. Murphy (D)

---

Attorney General of Connecticut

Years in office: 1983 - 1988

---

Connecticut State Senate District 10

Years in office: 1973 - 1981

---

Connecticut State Senate District 11

Years in office: 1971 - 1973

Education

Bachelor's

Yale, 1964

Law

Yale, 1967

Personal

Religion

Jewish

Profession

Attorney

Joe Lieberman (b. February 24, 1942) was anindependent member of theU.S. Senate from the state ofConnecticut. However, Lieberman aligned himself with theDemocratic party, and was a member of the Senate Democratic Caucus, having been officially listed as an Independent Democrat.^[1] Lieberman served in the U.S. Senate from 1989 to 2013.

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship byGovTrack, Lieberman was a "centrist Independent."^[2]

Lieberman did not seek re-election in2012. Eleven candidates ran for Lieberman's Senate seat in the primary election on August 14, 2012.^[3] DemocratChris Murphy won the general election on November 6, 2012, to succeed Lieberman.

Lieberman passed away on March 27, 2024.^[4]

Biography

Lieberman was born in Stamford,Connecticut, on February 24, 1942, and attended public schools there. He received his bachelor's degree from Yale College in 1964 and his law degree from Yale Law School in 1967.^[5]

Career

• 1970-1980:Connecticut State Senate, Majority Leader 1974-1980
• 1980-1982: Returned to private legal practice
• 1983-1988: Connecticut's 21st Attorney General.^[6]
• 1989-2013:U.S. Senate
• 2013-2024: Senior counsel at Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP; Co-chairman of the American Enterprise Institute's American Internationalism Project; Chairman of the executive board of Victory Park Capital^[7]

Committee assignments

U.S. Senate

2011-2012

• United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental AffairsChairman
• United States Senate Committee on Armed Services
  • Airland Subcommittee
  • Seapower Subcommittee
  • Personnel Subcommittee
• United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Issues

Political positions

During his re-election bid in 2006, Lieberman lost the Democratic Party primary election but won re-election in the general election as a minor party candidate under the party label "Connecticut for Lieberman." Lieberman himself was not a member of the Connecticut for Lieberman party; he was a registered Democrat.^[8]

Lieberman was officially listed in Senate records for the 110th, 111th, and 112th Congresses as an "Independent Democrat" and sat as part of the Senate Democratic Caucus.^[9]

Fiscal Cliff

Lieberman voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. The bill was passed in the Senate by an 89 - 8 vote on January 1, 2013.^[10]

Lobbying position after leaving office

Lieberman was listed in March 2013 byUSA Today as one of 16 former lawmakers who had taken on a lobbying related position after leaving office since January 2011. Former lawmakers may take positions with either lobbying firms or trade associations. FormerU.S. House members are barred from lobbying their former colleagues for one year, and formerU.S. Senate members are barred for two years. There are no restrictions, however, on providing advice to those who seek to shape federal legislation. Former legislators can also immediately lobby the executive branch and officials in state and local governments.^[11]

Elections

2012

See also:United States Senate elections in Connecticut, 2012

Lieberman did not run for re-election in 2012.^[12]Chris Murphy (D) defeatedLinda McMahon (R) in the general election on November 6, 2012.

2006

On November 7, 2006, Lieberman won re-election to theUnited States Senate. He defeated Ned Lamont (D), Alan Schlesinger (R), Ralph A. Ferrucci (G), Timothy A. Knibbs (I), and Carl E. Vassar (I)in the general election.^[13]

United States Senate, Connecticut General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Ct. for Lieberman	Joe LiebermanIncumbent	49.7%	564,095
	Democratic	Ned Lamont	39.7%	450,844
	Republican	Alan Schlesinger	9.6%	109,198
	Green	Ralph A. Ferrucci	0.5%	5,922
	Independent	Timothy A. Knibbs	0.4%	4,638
	Independent	Carl E. Vasar	0%	80
Total Votes				1,134,777

Campaign donors

2006

Breakdown of the source of Lieberman's campaign funds before the 2006 election.

Lieberman won re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2006. During that re-election cycle, Lieberman's campaign committee raised a total of $20,219,460 and spent $19,099,162.^[14]

Analysis

Congressional staff salaries

See also:Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The websiteLegistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Lieberman paid his congressional staff a total of $2,780,865 in 2011. He ranked first on the list of the highest paid Independent senatorial staff salaries and ranked 76th overall of the lowest paid senatorial staff salaries in 2011. Overall,Connecticut ranked 14th in average salary for senatorial staff. The averageU.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.^[15]

Net worth

See also:Changes in Net Worth of U.S. Senators and Representatives (Personal Gain Index) andNet worth of United States Senators and Representatives

Based oncongressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available byOpenSecrets.org, Lieberman's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $907,082 and $3,056,000. That averages to $1,981,541, which was lower than the average net worth of Independent Senators in 2010 of $1,205,273.^[16]

National Journal vote ratings

See also:National Journal vote ratings

2012

Each yearNational Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Lieberman ranked 50th in the liberal rankings among U.S. senators in 2012.^[17]

2011

Each yearNational Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Lieberman ranked 51st in the liberal rankings among U.S. senators.^[18]

Voting with party

Joe Lieberman voted with the Democratic Party0 of the time, which ranked 0 among the 51 House Democratic members as of November 2011.^[19]

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the termJoe + Lieberman + Connecticut + Senate

Personal

Lieberman lived in Stamford and Washington with his wife Hadassah. He had four children and 11 grandchildren.^[20] The Liebermans keep a kosher home and observe Shabbat.^[21] Lieberman was previously married to Betty Haas. The couple divorced in 1981.^[22]

External links

Footnotes

	v • e State ofConnecticut Hartford (capital)
Elections	What's on my ballot? |Elections in 2025 |How to vote |How to run for office |Ballot measures
Government	Who represents me? |U.S. President |U.S. Congress |Federal courts |State executives |State legislature |State and local courts |Counties |Cities |School districts |Public policy