Mike Capuano | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts | |
| In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph P. Kennedy II |
| Succeeded by | Ayanna Pressley |
| Constituency | 8th district (1999–2013) 7th district (2013–2019) |
| 33rdMayor of Somerville | |
| In office January 1, 1990 – January 3, 1999 | |
| Preceded by | Eugene Brune |
| Succeeded by | Dorothy Kelly Gay |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michael Everett Capuano (1952-01-09)January 9, 1952 (age 73) Somerville,Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Chris Evans (nephew) Scott Evans (nephew) |
| Education | Dartmouth College (BA) Boston College (JD) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Personal website |
Michael Everett Capuano (/ˌkæpjuˈɑːnoʊ/KAP-ew-AH-noh; born January 9, 1952) is an American politician and attorney who served as aU.S. Representative ofMassachusetts from 1999 to 2019. ADemocrat, his district included the northern three-fourths ofBoston, as well as parts ofCambridge, his hometown ofSomerville, and other communities immediately north and south of Boston. Prior to being elected toCongress, he served as anAlderman andMayor of Somerville.
Capuano was born and raised in Somerville. After graduating fromDartmouth College andBoston College Law School, he worked as an attorney and Somerville alderman. After losing two mayoral elections in 1979 and 1981, he worked as legal counsel for theMassachusetts General Court. In 1989 Capuano ran for mayor a third time and won, serving from 1990 to 1999.
In 1998 Capuano won a crowded Democratic primary to replaceJoseph Kennedy II in Congress and was re-elected nine times. He represented the state's8th district until it was redrawn in 2013 into the7th district. In Congress he was a staunchliberal and member of theCongressional Progressive Caucus.[1] He ran in the2010 special election to fill the seat in theUnited States Senate made vacant by the death ofTed Kennedy, his Congressional predecessor's uncle, but lost the primary toMartha Coakley, who in turn lost the general election to RepublicanScott Brown. In 2018, he was defeated byAyanna Pressley in a House Democratic primary.[2]
In March 2019, Capuano joined the law firmFoley & Lardner, to serve as public affairs director.[3] The same month, he also joinedBoston University to teach at the university'sInitiative on Cities and help organize the program.[4]
Capuano was born January 9, 1952, in theSpring Hill neighborhood ofSomerville, Massachusetts, the son of Rita Marie (née Garvey) (1919-2010) and Andrew Capuano (1914-1994). His father left to serve inWorld War II shortly after his marriage, and after returning ran for the Somerville Board of Aldermen, and became the firstItalian American elected to the board. His mother was of Irish descent.[5][6]
Capuano graduated fromSomerville High School in 1969, and later attendedDartmouth College, where he graduated with aBachelor of Arts in 1973. Capuano later went on to earn hisJuris Doctor in 1977 fromBoston College Law School, specializing in tax law.[7]
In 1976, Capuano was elected to the Somerville Board of Aldermen representing Ward 5, once served in by his father.[7][8] Capuano served one term, stepping down in 1979 to run forMayor of Somerville.[9] In the 1979 mayoral election he faced Eugene Brune, Paul Haley, and incumbent, Thomas August. He lost the nomination to Brune, who went on to defeat August.[10] Capuano ran again in 1981 to challenge Brune, placing second in a three-person runoff election.[11] Capuano promoted his opposition to the state ballot questionProposition 2½ and criticized Brune for expanding the mayoral staff in the face of tight city budgets, while Brune touted his prevention of service cuts after the proposition passed.[12] Capuano lost in the general election with 40% of the vote.[13]
From 1978 to 1984 Capuano served as chief legal counsel for theMassachusetts General Court's Joint Committee on Taxation.[14] Capuano left the committee in 1984 to join theBeacon Hill law firm and lobbying group Joyce & Joyce.[9] In 1985 he returned to the Somerville Board of Aldermen as an at-large member.[14]
In 1989 Capuano ran for mayor a third time and won.[7] Capuano served as mayor from 1990 to 1999, where he earned a reputation as a hands-on administrator.[15][16] One of his priorities was to lower the city's population density, which at the time was the highest of anyNew England municipality, by using state grants to demolish several buildings and replace them with playgrounds and parking spaces.[17] As mayor, Capuano oversaw the reduction of school class sizes to a maximum of 19 students.[15]
In 1998,Joseph Kennedy II announced his retirement after six terms in what was then the 8th District. Capuano entered a crowded 10-way Democratic primary—the real contest in this heavily Democratic district, which was once represented byJohn F. Kennedy andTip O'Neill. The early front-runner was formerBoston Mayor andUS Vatican AmbassadorRaymond Flynn. However, Capuano won the primary with 23%, largely due to large turnout in Somerville, all but assuring him of election in November.[15][16] He easily won the general election in November, taking 81 percent of the vote. He was reelected nine times, never dropping below 80% of the vote in what has long been the most Democratic district in New England. Since his initial run for the seat, Capuano was unopposed in all but two reelection bids; he faced a minor-party candidate in 2006 and an independent in 2012. He faced aRepublican only once, during his initial run in 1998.
Capuano was defeated by Boston City CouncilorAyanna Pressley in the September 4, 2018, primary election, receiving 41.3% of the vote versus Pressley's 58.5%.[18]The Boston Globe reported that Capuano did not get the endorsement of either U.S. Senator from Massachusetts,Elizabeth Warren andEdward J. Markey, nor was he endorsed by RepresentativesSeth Moulton andNiki Tsongas. Capuano did receive the support of the majority of the Massachusetts federal delegation, including RepresentativesWilliam Keating,Katherine Clark,James McGovern,Joseph Kennedy III,Stephen Lynch, andRichard Neal.[19] Capuano was endorsed by CongressmanJohn Lewis (D-GA), on March 7, 2018; Lewis described Capuano as "a champion and fierce advocate for those who have often been forgotten or left behind" and "a leader alongside those of us opposing the unfair and immoral policies of the Trump Administration."[20] In its editorial endorsement of Pressley, theBoston Globe noted that the state Legislature had drawn the 7th district to favor minority candidates.[21] No Republican even filed, all but assuring Pressley of being the district's next congresswoman.
| Committee assignments |
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| 115th Congress(2017–19)[22] |
During his tenure, Capuano helped found five congressional caucuses, on: Community Health Centers;[23] Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities;[24]Sudan;[25] andKorea;[26] as well as one for formerMayors.[27]
Capuano voted against theWar in Iraq and supported immediate withdrawal of troops. In 2005 Capuano visited Iraq and met with military leaders to assess the future of the region.[28] Capuano is considered to be one of the biggest supporters in Congress for increasing international aid funding,[29] and has advocated bringing attention to thecrisis in Sudan and helped secure funding aimed at assisting developing African nations.[30]
Capuano ispro-choice and supports open access to abortions. In 2012 a fundraiser hosted byPope John XXIII High School where Capuano and fellow Massachusetts CongressmanEd Markey were to receive awards was cancelled due to their "positions [being] inconsistent withchurch doctrine;" both were humble in response to the news.[31] During the2010 Senate Democratic primary Capuano criticized his opponentMartha Coakley, claiming she wouldn't have voted for thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act withStupak–Pitts Amendment which would have barred federal funding of abortions; which Capuano said he only did to "keep the health care debate alive."[32] Capuano's comments were characterized byWBUR political analyst as "an empty charge against her since he has the same position as she does."[33]
After the2006 election that created a Democratic majority in the House, he was appointed Chairman of the Speaker's Task Force on Ethics Enforcement byNancy Pelosi, with whom he has a close relationship. After serving as the Chairman of the Task Force on Ethics Enforcement, in 2008 Capuano introducedH.R. 895 which established theOffice of Congressional Ethics.[34] Capuano has had a long-running relationship with former CongressmanAnthony Weiner, whom he shared aWashington, D.C. apartment with for 12 years. Following Weiner'ssexting scandal Capuano did not call on him to resign, saying: "I am not the guy who likes to judge other people. I figure that is between them and the people who are appropriately named to do that – and that is the Ethics Committee."[35]
Capuano is a strong supporter of labor rights and unions; in February 2011 during a rally atBeacon Hill in Boston, in support of the2011 Wisconsin budget protests, Capuano told the crowd, "I'm proud to be here with people who understand that it's more than just sending an email to get you going. Every once and awhile you need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody when necessary". Following criticism, especially when such a statement was made just days after theattempted assassination ofGabby Giffords, Capuano expressed regret for his "choice of words."[36]
After the2008 financial crisis and subsequentbank bailouts, at aHouse Financial Services Committee hearing, Capuano berated the bankCEOs for their practices, saying at one point: "You come to us today on your bicycles after buying Girl Scout cookies and helping outMother Teresa and telling us, 'We're sorry, we didn't mean it, we won't do it again, trust us.' Well, I have some people in my constituency that actually robbed some of your banks and they say the same thing."[37] Capuano's speech was included in the 2010documentary filmInside Job, described bydirectorCharles H. Ferguson as being about "the systemic corruption of the United States by thefinancial services industry and the consequences of that systemic corruption."[38]
A self-described "fiscal conservative" who opposed the Bush-era tax cuts that provided tax reductions for the wealthy because they "created a deficit for no good reason,"[39] in 2013 Capuano joinedSenatorElizabeth Warren andBoston MayorThomas Menino in a rally against the then-upcomingsequester, with Capuano calling it "stupid."[40] In 2012 Capuano along with fellow Massachusetts CongressmanBarney Frank introduced legislation to combine theSecurities and Exchange Commission andCommodity Futures Trading Commission into the "Securities and Derivatives Commission."[41]
Capuano was a member of theCongressional Arts Caucus[42] and theU.S.-Japan Caucus.[43]
Capuano ran forMassachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth in the1994 election, running against formerState RepresentativesAugusto Grace andWilliam F. Galvin for the Democratic nomination. During the race he framed himself as an advocate for the poor and urban communities, and criticized aid formulas which he argued left less-wealthy municipalities with less per-capita revenue. To appear on the Democratic primary required the support of at least 15% of delegates in the state party convention. In what theBoston Globe deemed "an embarrassing defeat," he failed to obtain the necessary delegate votes to be nominated to participate in the primary election, with only 13%. When asked why he undertook the difficult race to begin with, he responded, "Because I wasn't ready to run forGovernor."[17]
After the death of incumbent SenatorTed Kennedy, a special election to succeed him was scheduled. On September 8, 2009, Capuano collected nomination papers to run for the seat[44] and on September 18, he announced his candidacy.[45] Capuano ran as a "Washington insider," comparing himself to Kennedy saying: "was [Kennedy] not the ultimate insider ... I think that's probably one of the best things that we share."[46] In his campaign Capuano received several high-profile endorsements, including House Speaker Pelosi and former Massachusetts Governor and1988 Democratic presidential nominee,Michael Dukakis.[47][48]
Consistently polling below incumbentMassachusetts Attorney General,Martha Coakley, on December 8, 2009, Capuano lost the Democratic primary to Coakley, winning only 28% of the vote to Coakley's 47%, amongst a field of four candidates.
Capuano considered running forGovernor of Massachusetts in2014.[49] On January 21, 2013, former mayor ofSpringfield, Massachusetts, and member of theMassachusetts Governor's CouncilMichael Albano endorsed Capuano to run, posting on hisFacebook page: "while the Congressman has not made a decision to compete for the [Democratic] nomination [for Governor] at this time, it is not too early to make the case and encourage his candidacy."[50] When asked in February 2013 whether he might run for governor, Capuano responded: "Part of me thinks that some of the more interesting, more important fights over the next several years might be conducted at statehouses around the country and not necessarily onCapitol Hill."[51] In a statement in September 2013, Capuano announced he would not run for governor, and would instead focus on running for re-election to Congress.[52]
Capuano was named after his two grandfathers,[6] and has seven siblings, one of whom died in infancy, and another who died ofpolio at the age of 5.[5] Capuano married Barbara Teebagy in 1974, and together they have two sons: Michael and Joseph.[7] He is the uncle of actorsChris Evans of theCaptain America film series, andScott Evans of the soap operaOne Life to Live through his sister Lisa.[53] In 2003, the City of Somerville dedicated a new school in Capuano's honor; the Michael E. Capuano Early Childhood Center officially opened in September that year.[54]
Capuano is a Roman Catholic.[55] BeforePope Francis became pope and shifted the tone of the Church, Capuano used to fear that his mother would be embarrassed if he was ever denied communion because of his support for gay marriage and abortion rights.[55]
{{cite book}}:|first3= has generic name (help)| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts's 8th congressional district 1999–2013 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Chair of the House Ethics Enforcement Task Force 2007–2008 | Position abolished |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts's 7th congressional district 2013–2019 | 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 |
