Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)

U.S. Senator (since January 2008)

Why He Matters

Mississippi's junior senator, Wicker served seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before Gov. Haley Barbour (R) appointed him to take the seat of retiring Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) in January 2008. Eleven months later he rode the advantage of incumbency to a 10-point victory in a special election over former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D-Miss.). Wicker will serve out the remainder of Lott's term until 2012.

Wicker is an attorney and former member of the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a judge advocate before leaving active duty and entering the reserves. His first taste of politics came in 1980 when he became Trent Lott's aide on the House Rules Committee. In 1987 he won a seat in the Mississippi Senate and in 1994 was elected to the U.S. House.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: U.S. Representative (1994 to 2007); Mississippi state senator (1987 to 1994); Tupelo City Judge Pro Tem (1986 to 1987)
Birthday: July 5, 1951
Hometown: Pontotoc, Miss.
Alma Mater: University of Mississippi, B.A., 1973; University of Mississippi Law School, J.D., 1975
Spouse: Gayle
Religion: Baptist
Committees: Commerce, Science and Transportation ; Veterans' Affairs ; Armed Services ; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs

DC Office: 555 Dirksen, 202-224-6253
State Office: Jackson, 601-965-4644; Gulfport, 228-604-2383; Pascagoula, 228-762-5400; Tupelo, 662-844-5010; Hernando,662-429-1002
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Path to Power

A Mississippi boy, Wicker was born in Tupelo and grew up in Pontotoc, 20 miles west. His father was a prominent local politician who, like many Southerners of his generation, identified as a conservative Democrat. Wicker on the other hand became interested in the GOP while in high school. At 16, he served as a page to U.S. Rep. Jamie Whitten (D-Miss.).

Wicker earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi in 1973 after serving as president of his student body. Two years later he graduated from the Ole Miss Law School and quickly joined the Air Force. From 1976 to 1980 he served as a judge advocate.

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In 1980 Wicker left the Air Force and became Sen. Lott's staff aide on the Senate Rules Committee. He joined the Air Force reserves, where he would serve until 2004 when he retired as a lieutenant colonel. In 1987 Wicker felt the pull of elected politics and, at age 36, became the first Republican from northern Mississippi since Reconstruction to win election to the state Senate.

1994 House Race

In 1994, Whitten announced his retirement from the U.S. House. At that point he had racked up the longest term in the history of the U.S. House, serving 53 years and 62 days. Whitten's half century in office left many local politicians eagerly awaiting his retirement, leading to a primary that lured six Republicans and three Democrats as candidates.

With 27 percent of the vote, Wicker led the primary over Grant Fox, a 27-year-old former aide to Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.). Fox and Wicker went to a runoff, with Wicker touting his conservative credentials and winning the party's nomination, 53 to 47 percent.

The general election pitted Wicker against state Rep. Bill Wheeler (D-Miss.), who rode to his party's nomination with the support of African Americans and labor unions. In a district that elected the same Democrat in five straight decades, Wicker won a blowout victory, 63 to 37 percent.

Wicker's rise in the Republican Party started shortly after he arrived in the House. He was elected president of the 1994 freshman class and quickly began following in Whitten's footsteps by landing a seat on the House Appropriations Committee, where he sat on the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee.

Senate Appointment

In 2007, Lott retired, giving Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) the power to appoint a replacement until a regular election could be held in 2008. Wicker said he would run for Senate whether or not he won Barbour's appointment. Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) and businessman Jim Barksdale were also in the running for the vacant seat.

On Dec. 31, 2007, Barbour appointed Wicker to fill Lott's seat. A special election had to be scheduled and Democrats and Republicans disagreed over when it should be held. Barbour favored holding it on Nov. 4, 2008, to coincide with the presidential election. Democrats wanted it held within 90 days of Lott's resignation.

In February 2008, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that the special election would be held in November. "Economically, a special election is unjustifiable in this election year. Reason and economy must prevail," Justice Chuck Easley wrote.

2008 Election

Wicker had to quickly enter campaign mode for the special election.Democrats nominated former Gov. Musgrove who criticized Wicker for his soft stance immigration and appetite for earmarks. Hoping to capitalize on President Bush's unpopularity, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee targeted the race and spent more than $3 million to support Musgrove.

Still, Musgrove was at a disadvantage in a state that hadn't elected a Democrat to an open Senate seat in 60 years. Musgrove was also hurt by an issue that helped result in his 2003 loss of the governor's mansion-that is, the Democrat's support for eliminating the Confederate emblem from the state's flag. Wicker seized on this issue, running anad that said Musgrove "tried to kill our state flag."

Wicker and Musgrove, who had lived together when each served in the state Senate and were considered friends, also criticized one another on campaign contributions. Wicker hit Musgrove for taking large donations from executives of a beef -processing plant that had defaulted on $34 million state loan. And Wicker came under attack for obtaining earmarks for companies that had executives who donated to his campaign.

In the end, Wicker was able to ride the wave of incumbency and a generally more conservative state a 55 to 45 percent victory. He also benefitted from choice committee posts engineered by the Senate Republican leadership to protect its newest member. He will serve out the remained of Lott's term and is next up for re-election in 2012.

The Issues

A reliable Republican vote, Wicker sided with his party 90 percent of the time in the 110th Congress. He has come under fire from members of his own party and spending watchdog groups for his appetite for earmarks.

Wicker backed by the war in Iraq since voting to authorize it in 2002. He played a key role in keeping Democratic restrictions on war expenditures out of a 2008 spending bill.

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Earmarks

Despite Wicker's association with the fiscal hawks of the House Class of '94, Wicker has shown a consistent willingness to bring money to his state. He's passed bills to bring research dollars to Mississippi and attract the defense industry. He lobbied for direct federal aide to parts of the state harmed by Hurricane Katrina and, during his time in the House, was more likely to side with his Appropriations colleagues on spending issues than the rest of his earmark-weary party.

For fiscal year 2008, Wicker sponsored 42 earmarks totaling $159 million, making him one of the House's top spenders. Some of the executives from companies that received earmarks from Wicker had previously donated to his campaign and others had hired lobbyists who had previously worked for Wicker. The lawmaker denied that campaign donations influenced earmarks in any way. "No, it doesn't enter into the decision, in terms of making a request for a congressional project," Wicker said.

The Economy

Wicker was among 25 Senators to vote in fall 2008 against the government's $700 billion bailout of the financial industry. He said free- market approaches would be more effective than the federally-designed "band-aid" and blamed the problem, ultimately, on high energy prices. "If people hadn't been having to pay so much for gas prices at the pumps and their power prices at home, I think a lot of them would not be in financial straits with their mortgages," he said.

In February 2009, Wicker also opposed President Obama's economic stimulus package. He said it would spend too much money on programs that wouldn't help the economy and stressed that the total handed to states was too great, inviting them to go on a spending spree.

Health Care

From the beginning of his legislative career, Wicker has been active on health-care issues. In 1998, he received the American Heart Association's National Public Service Award for spearheading state-based disease-prevention plans and programs to educate people on heart disease. Wicker has also used his seat on the Appropriations Committee to send federal money for cancer research in Mississippi universities.

The first bill Wicker introduced as a senator was the Making Health Care More Affordable Act. Dismissed as an "election year gambit" by Musgrove, the bill called for restructuring the tax code to provide individuals with incentives to purchase health insurance and a plan to allow small businesses to band together to purchase health insurance collectively.

"It is vitally important that we get as many Americans and as many Mississippians covered with good insurance in the private sector that is affordable and helps bring down the cost of healthcare, and avoids this idea of nationally socialized healthcare that they have in Canada, Europe and England," he said. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

The Network

In the 2008 Republican presidential primaries, Wicker endorsed former Sen. Fred Thompson (R -Tenn.). He often works closely with fellow Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran (R) and the state's Gov. Haley Barbour (R), who appointed him to the Senate.

Among Wicker's closest legislative allies are Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), who he worked closely with on the Appropriations Committee and Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), who ran Wicker's campaign to be president of the 1994 House class and is running for Tennessee governor in 2010.

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