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Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.)

U.S. Senator (since January 2001)

(Robert A. Reeder/TWP)

Why He Matters

Carper, a centrist Democrat with a strong record of brokering bipartisan consensus, is expected to play a central role in upcoming Senate debates about the budget, health-care reform and climate-change legislation. Since Carper entered politics in 1972, he has won 12 statewide elections, more than any other Delaware politician.

Carper's career in public office includes positions as treasurer, congressman, governor and senator of the First State. He has twice unseated popular Republican incumbents and has posted comfortable margins of victory in his own re-election bids.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Delaware governor (1992 to 2000); U.S. House (1982 to 1992); Delaware Treasurer (1976 to 1982); U.S. Navy (1968 to 1973)
Birthday: Jan. 23, 1947
Hometown: Beckley, West Virginia
Alma Mater: Ohio State University, B.A, 1968; University of Delaware, MBA, 1975
Spouse: Martha
Religion: Presbyterian
Committees: Homeland Security and Government Affairs; Environment and Public Works, Finance
DC Office: 513 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510, 202/334-2441

State Office: Dover, 302/674-3308; Georgetown 302/856-7690; Wilminton, 302/573-6291
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Path to Power

Carper, who was raised in Virginia, graduated from Ohio State University in 1968 with a degree in economics. He attended the university on a Navy ROTC scholarship. His post-graduation military service first brought him to Delaware when he flew into Dover Air Force Base.

Carper was a naval flight officer and served three six-month tours during the Vietnam War. He returned to Delaware in 1973 to pursue an M.B.A at the University of Delaware and continued to serve in the Naval Reserve until 1991. He also worked as an industrial development specialist for Delaware's Division of Economic Development.

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Carper was first elected to statewide office in 1972, when he won his first of three terms as state treasurer. He ran on a whim after hearing news reports that the Democrats did not select a candidate at the state party convention.

In 1982, Carper defeated three-term Rep. Thomas B. Evans Jr., 53 percent to 47 percent, to be elected to the U.S. House. He entered the race just 90 days before the election and rooted his campaign on criticism of President Reagan's economic policies. During his five terms in the House his greatest achievement was defeating legislation that would have made it more difficult for banks to enter securities and insurance markets. He also worked to prevent sludge dumping in oceans.

Carper ran for governor in 1992, after term limits forced current Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) to vacate the post. Carper won 66 percent of the vote to beat a Republican real estate executive. In his first few years as governor; he was criticized by state legislators for being aloof and relying too heavily on a team of outside advisers. He developed a fairly conservative economic record by reducing income, business and utility taxes, and ultimately was successful in spearheading reforms of the state's education and welfare systems.

He was elected to his second term in 1996, during which he also served as chairman of the National Governors' Association.

In 2000, Carper unseated longtime Sen. William Roth (R-Del.). Former Senate Finance Committee Chairman Roth, who had held the seat since 1970 and had high approval ratings, outspent Carper $4.3 million to $2.3 million. Carper, then 53, highlighted the contrast in age between himself and the 79-year-old Roth and campaigned relentlessly within the state. Carper won with 56 percent of the vote.

In his most recent re-election bid, Carper defeated Jan Ting, a law professor who had worked in the George H.W. Bush administration.

Carper sits on the Senate Finance, Environment and Public Works and Homeland Security committees. He is also the chair of the Clean Air, Nuclear Plant Security and Community Development Subcommittee.

The Issues

Carper is a centrist Democrat with a moderate voting record. He is chairman of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council and one of 15 Senate Democrats who form the Moderate Dems Working Group. He is also an honorary co-chair of Third Way, a progressive Democratic policy group.

Carper has voted with his party about 95 percent of the time in the 111th Congress, but he has also voted with Republicans on a number of key issues.He was the fifth most likely Senate Democrat to oppose his party's positions in 2008, according to Congressional Quarterly's annual vote study.

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Postal Service Reform

Carper was key in shepherding through the Senate the largest overhaul to the Postal Service since the 1970s.

Several of his early efforts to overhaul the current postal system stalled because of resistance from the Bush administration and unions.

But in December 2006, the Senate passed an overhaul of the Postal Service introduced by Carper and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). The "Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act" created a system for setting postage rates for magazines, parcels and other products and instituted caps on raising the prices of stamps by linking the rates with the consumer price index. The measure repealed a law that required the Postal Service to place unused pension payments into an escrow fund, freeing up $78 billion over 60 years to fund retirement benefits and pay off the department's debt. It also created a three-day waiting period for postal employees who file workers' compensation claims for injuries sustained on the job. The House version of his bill was signed into law later that month.

The Environment

Carper, who sits on the Environment and Public Works Committee, is a key supporter of legislation aimed at slowing climate change. He supports tax credits for renewable energy sources such as wind and biofuels and has worked to curb emissions of greenhouse gasses and other chemicals by implementing stricter standards for power plants and other industries. Carper was critical of the Bush administration's environmental policies, and in 2005 temporarily attempted to block a confirmation vote for former EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.

He is an original sponsor of the "Clean Low-Emissions Affordable New Transportation Efficiency Act (CLEAN TEA)," a bipartisan measure that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector over the next 10 years. The bill would direct funds toward public transit and greenhouse gas reduction programs.

Carper worked with former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) to increase fuel-efficiency standards in 2007, but has been wary of supporting California's fight to implement statewide standards for fuel efficiency that are stricter than national standards. He has said California's strict standards are outdated and too tough for the automobile industry.

He also worked with Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on legislation to limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants through a market-based cap-and-trade system. The two later co-authored a bill to include farmers who cut their emissions in a cap-and-trade program targeting the industrial sector. A cap-and-trade system would seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by issuing a limited number of permits capping the amount of a specific pollutant a company can release each year. Companies could secure the permits, or allowances, through auctions or by trading with other permit-holders on a market-based system.

Carper also serves as chairman of the Senate Nuclear Caucus and the Senate Recycling Caucus.

The Economy

Carper continued the policies of his Republican predecessors as governor, cutting taxes across the board. State spending increased by 40 percent during his eight years in office, but the state's credit ratings remained at an all time high.

The Senate Finance Committee member, who voted for the $787 economic stimulus package in February 2009, has joined other centrist Democrats in demanding a smaller budget than the one President Obama has proposed. He has said he hopes to reduce the budget by stepping up efforts to collect unpaid taxes and curbing waste and overpayments instead of cutting particular programs.

Health Care Reform

Carper kept quiet during much of the health care debate. But in October 2009, he began trying to broker a deal that would allow individual states to determine whether they create a public option or co-op. This plan appeals to some moderates, who see it as a way to pass health care reform with at least a hint of a public option and to Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), the lone Republican who might sign on the bill.

The Network

Carper is known for his efforts to reach out and build relationships with his fellow senators.

"He has a way of sort of breaking the ice in a room and just bringing some levity," Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) told the Delaware News Journal.

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Additional Resources