Connie Mack | |
|---|---|
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| United States Senator fromFlorida | |
| In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Lawton Chiles |
| Succeeded by | Bill Nelson |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's13th district | |
| In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | William Lehman |
| Succeeded by | Porter Goss |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy III (1940-10-29)October 29, 1940 (age 85) Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Ludie Hobbs |
| Children | Connie Mack IV |
| Relatives | Connie Mack (grandfather) Morris Sheppard (grandfather) Tom Connally (step-grandfather) Earle Mack (paternal uncle) Roy Mack (paternal uncle) |
| Education | University of Florida (BBA) |
Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy III (born October 29, 1940), also known asConnie Mack III, is an American politician who served as a member of theUnited States House of Representatives fromFlorida's 13th congressional district from 1983 to 1989 and then as aUnited States Senator from 1989 to 2001. He served as chairman of theSenate Republican Conference from 1997 to 2001.
He was twice considered for the Republican vice-presidential nomination byBob Dole in 1996 andGeorge W. Bush in 2000. He is the grandson ofConnie Mack (1862–1956), former owner andmanager of baseball'sPhiladelphia Athletics and a member of theBaseball Hall of Fame. "The Macks" were once considered one of the major political dynasties in theUnited States.[1]
Mack was born Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy III[2] inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania in 1940, the son of Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy Jr. and Susan (née Sheppard) McGillicuddy.[3] He graduated from theUniversity of Florida with aBBA in 1966. He is a member of theSigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Florida Blue Key.
His paternal grandfather wasConnie Mack (1862–1956), former owner andmanager of baseball'sPhiladelphia Athletics and member of theBaseball Hall of Fame. Mack's maternal grandfather wasMorris Sheppard, U.S. Senator and Representative fromTexas. His maternal step-grandfather wasTom Connally, who also served as U.S. Senator from Texas; Mack's widowed grandmother married Connally the year after Sheppard died.[4] Mack's father's line were Irish immigrants. Mack's maternal great-grandfather wasJohn Levi Sheppard, who served as a U.S. Representative from Texas.
Mack made his first run for public office in 1982, when he ran in the Republican primary for the 13th District, a newly created district along theGulf Coast that stretched from Sarasota to Naples. The old 13th, represented by DemocratWilliam Lehman, had been renumbered as the 17th district. Mack led the field in a crowded four-way Republican primary with 28 percent of the vote and won a run-off election in October against State Representative Ted Ewing 58% to 42%.[5] In the November general election, he won with 65% of the vote.[6] In 1984, he won re-election unopposed and in 1986 won with 75% of the vote.
Incumbent Democratic U.S. SenatorLawton Chiles decided to retire. After three terms in the U.S. House, Mack decided to run for the U.S. Senate. He won the primary with 62% of the vote againstRobert Merkle.[7] In the general election, he defeated Democratic U.S. CongressmanBuddy MacKay with just 50% of the vote.[8]
In the general election, Mack defeated Democratic attorneyHugh Rodham (brother ofHillary Clinton) 71% to 29%, winningevery county in the state.[9] He was the only Republican Senator in Florida history to be elected to more than one term untilMarco Rubio did so in2016.
During his congressional career, Mack supported the passage of laws dealing with health care, fiscal policies, modification of the tax code, and public housing reform.[10] A cancer survivor, Mack has also been a strong advocate for cancer research, early detection and treatment.[11] Mack led a bipartisan congressional effort to double funding for biomedical research through theNational Institutes of Health and worked to secure the necessary appropriations.[12] He also secured Medicare coverage for clinical trials and was a leading Republican advocate of theWomen's Health Initiative.[13] He worked to strengthen and reform theU.S. Food and Drug Administration.[14]
Mack retired in 2000.[15] DemocratBill Nelson, theFlorida State Treasurer and a former U.S. Representative, won the open seat. Mack's son, U.S. CongressmanConnie Mack IV, ran unsuccessfully against Nelson in2012.[16]
In 2005, Connie Mack III was appointed by PresidentGeorge W. Bush as Chairman of thePresident's Advisory Panel for Federal Tax Reform. Since early 2007, Mack has served as the Senior Policy Advisor to Liberty Partners of Tallahassee, a Florida-based lobbying firm.
On April 15, 2010, Mack resigned as campaign chairman forCharlie Crist's race for the U.S. Senate.[18]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 13th congressional district 1983–1989 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Florida 1989–2001 Served alongside:Bob Graham | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Vice Chair of the Senate Republican Conference 1995–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of the Senate Republican Conference 1997–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromFlorida (Class 1) 1988,1994 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Senator | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Senator | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Senator |
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| Class 1 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
