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Betty McCollum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMinnesota's4th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Bruce Vento |
| Member of theMinnesota House of Representatives from the 55B district | |
| In office January 5, 1993 – January 3, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Harriet McPherson |
| Succeeded by | Scott Wasiluk |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Betty Louise Dierich (1954-07-12)July 12, 1954 (age 71) Minneapolis,Minnesota, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (DFL) |
| Education | St. Catherine University (BA) |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Betty Louise McCollum (/məˈkɒləm/mə-KOL-əm; born July 12, 1954)[1] is an American politician serving as theU.S. representative forMinnesota's 4th congressional district, serving since 2001. She is a member of theDemocratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). McCollum's district centers onSt. Paul, Minnesota's capital city. She is the second woman elected to Congress from Minnesota. McCollum has been the dean of Minnesota's congressional delegation since 2021, when RepresentativeCollin Peterson lost reelection.
Before her election to the U.S. House, McCollum served eight years as a state representative.
McCollum was born inMinneapolis. She graduated from theCollege of St. Catherine inSt. Paul, Minnesota, in 1976. McCollum has worked as a high school social sciences teacher and as a sales manager.
She first won election to theNorth St. Paul city council in 1986.[2] In 1992 she was elected to theMinnesota House of Representatives after she defeated an incumbent state representative in theDFL primary. She served four terms in the Minnesota House before being elected toCongress in 2000.[3]
After 4th district RepresentativeBruce Vento decided not to seek a 13th term due to illness in 2000 (he died before the election), McCollum won the DFL nomination to succeed him. The district is heavily Democratic; among Minnesota's congressional districts, only the neighboringMinneapolis-based 5th district is considered more Democratic. The DFL has held the seat without interruption since 1949.
McCollum's main concern during the campaign wasn't herRepublican opponent, State SenatorLinda Runbeck, butIndependence Party candidate Tom Foley. Foley had previously been county attorney forRamsey County (almost all of which is in the 4th district) as a Democrat. Many thought Foley might siphon off enough votes from McCollum to allow Runbeck to win. But McCollum defeated Runbeck by 17 points, with Foley in a distant third place. Foley held McCollum to 48% of the vote, making her the only Democrat not to win at least 50% of the vote since Democrats began their dominance in the district. The district has since reverted to form, and McCollum has been reelected nine times with no substantive opposition.
According to theMcCourt School of Public Policy atGeorgetown University, McCollum held a Bipartisan Index Score of -0.1 in the116th United States Congress for 2019, which placed her 219th out of 435 members.[4] Based onFiveThirtyEight's congressional vote tracker atABC News, McCollum voted with Donald Trump's statedpublic policy positions 11.4% of the time,[5] which ranked her average in the 116th United States Congress when predictive scoring (district partisanship and voting record) is used.[6] In the117th Congress, she voted with PresidentJoe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.[7]
For the118th Congress:[8]
McCollum is the first woman elected to Congress from Minnesota sinceCoya Knutson in the 1950s.
McCollum received a 91%progressive rating from Progressive Punch, a self-described nonpartisan group that provides a "searchable database of Congressional voting records from a Progressive perspective",[18] and a 13%conservative rating from the conservative SBE Council.[19]
McCollum ispro-choice and supportsPlanned Parenthood,NARAL Pro-Choice America, and National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association.[21] The latter organization aims to provide access tofamily planning and reproductive health care services and advocates for reproductive freedom.[22] She indicated on the 2002National Political Awareness Test that she believed abortions should always be legally available, but only within the first trimester of pregnancy.[23]
McCollum has consistently supported the rights of members in theLGBTQ community.[24] TheHuman Rights Campaign, one of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, has continually approved of her voting record.[25][24] In a speech opposing the proposedFederal Marriage Amendment, McCollum said, "Gay and lesbian Americans are citizens who must never be treated as second-class citizens".[26]
She has supported the interests of the elderly with regard to preservingSocial Security. She has backed organizations such as theAlliance for Retired Americans and theNational Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, which share the mission to ensure social and economic justice and full civil rights for all citizens so that they may enjoy lives of dignity, personal and family fulfillment and security.[27] In aposition paper, McCollum defended her position on Social Security, writing, "We can secure the future of Social Security with common sense and a shared, bipartisan commitment to economic security and fiscal responsibility for all Americans. This is my commitment, and you can count on me to work to protect Social Security and to find a solution that truly protects the retirement security of every American."[28]
McCollum advocates shifting America's energy consumption to cleaner,non-carbon-based sources. Along withAl Franken andKit Bond, she introduced the Renewable Energy and Efficiency Act, a bill to utilize thermal energy sources and create renewable energy production tax credits.[29] She also voted for theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment in 2009.[30]
In 2004, McCollum gained national visibility when she and fellow DemocratJim McDermott ofWashington called forSecretary of EducationRod Paige to resign for claiming theNational Education Association was "a terrorist organization."
She also introduced amendments in June 2011 and 2012 tocut funding for military bands by $125 million, a proposal opposed by theFleet Reserve Association and which theNational Association for Music Education called "potentially devastating."[31]
McCollum opposes Conceal-and-Carry legislation and voted against Right-to-Carry reciprocity in November 2011.[23]
In July 2019, McCollum voted against a House resolution introduced by RepresentativeBrad Schneider of Illinois opposing the GlobalBoycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement targetingIsrael.[32] The resolution passed 398-17.[33] In February 2020, McCollum calledAIPAC ahate group and accused it ofhate speech.[34]
In April 2021, McCollum introduced the Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living under Israeli Military Occupation Act, a bill that aims to prohibit Israel from usingU.S. aid to detain Palestinian minors, demolish Palestinian homes, or furtherannex West Bank land. The bill requires theState Department to file an annual report to Congress detailing the extent to which U.S. aid from the previous fiscal year was used to bankroll any of the aforementioned activities.[35]
On July 18, 2023, McCollum voted "present" on acongressionalnon-binding resolution proposed byAugust Pfluger that "the State of Israel is not aracist orapartheid state", that Congress rejects "all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia", and that “the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel".[36]
On July 19, 2024, McCollum called for Joe Biden to withdraw from the2024 United States presidential election.[37]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Betty McCollum | 130,403 | 48.04% | – | |
| Republican | Linda Runbeck | 83,852 | 30.89% | – | |
| Independence | Tom Foley | 55,899 | 20.59% | – | |
| Constitution | Nicholas Skrivanek | 1,285 | 0.47% | – | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Betty McCollum | 164,597 | 62.22% | +14.18% | |
| Republican | Clyde Billington | 89,705 | 33.91% | – | |
| Green | Scott J. Raskiewicz | 9,919 | 3.75% | – | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Betty McCollum | 182,387 | 57.48% | −4.74% | |
| Republican | Patrice Bataglia | 105,467 | 33.24% | – | |
| Independence | Peter F. Vento | 29,099 | 9.17% | – | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Betty McCollum | 172,096 | 69.54% | +12.06% | |
| Republican | Obi Sium | 74,797 | 30.23% | – | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Betty McCollum | 216,267 | 68.44% | −1.10% | |
| Republican | Ed Matthews | 98,936 | 31.31% | – | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Betty McCollum | 136,746 | 59.09% | −9.30% | |
| Republican | Teresa Collett | 80,141 | 34.63% | – | |
| Independence | Steve Carlson | 14,207 | 6.14% | – | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Betty McCollum | 216,685 | 62.27% | +3.18% | |
| Republican | Tony Hernandez | 109,659 | 31.51% | – | |
| Independence | Steve Carlson | 21,135 | 6.07% | −0.07% | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Betty McCollum | 147,857 | 61.19% | −1.08% | |
| Republican | Sharna Wahlgren | 79,492 | 32.90% | – | |
| Independence | Dave Thomas | 14,059 | 5.82% | – | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Betty McCollum | 203,299 | 57.76% | −4.03% | |
| Republican | Greg Ryan | 121,032 | 34.39% | – | |
| Legal Marijuana Now | Susan Pendergast Sindt | 27,152 | 7.71% | – | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Betty McCollum | 216,866 | 65.99% | +8.23% | |
| Republican | Greg Ryan | 97,746 | 29.75% | −4.64% | |
| Legal Marijuana Now | Susan Pendergast Sindt | 13,777 | 4.19% | −3.52% | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Betty McCollum | 245,813 | 63.2% | −2.8% | |
| Republican | Gene Rechtzigel | 112,730 | 29.0% | − | |
| Grassroots | Susan Sindt | 29,537 | 7.6% | − | |
| Write-in | 1,034 | 0.3% | - | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Betty McCollum | 200,055 | 67.59% | +4.4% | |
| Republican | May Lor Xiong | 95,493 | 32.26% | − | |
| Write-in | 425 | 0.14% | - | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Betty McCollum (incumbent) | 242,802 | 67.2 | |
| Republican | May Lor Xiong | 117,618 | 32.6 | |
| Write-in | 623 | 0.2 | ||
| Total votes | 361,043 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic (DFL)hold | ||||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMinnesota's 4th congressional district 2001–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 34th | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Order of precedence of the United States | Succeeded by |
| People | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
