Frank Wolf
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Frank Wolf | |
 |
|
|
|
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 5, 1981 |
|
| Preceded by | Joe Fisher |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Born | January 30, 1939 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Carolyn Stover |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
Frank Rudolph Wolf, born January 30, 1939, American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1981. He represents Northern Virginia's 10th congressional district. He is the most senior of Virginia's eleven Congressmen.
[edit] Early life
Wolf was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Pennsylvania State University where he was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and earned a degree in political science. He received a law degree from Georgetown University.
After graduating from college, Wolf joined the United States Army as a reservist and became a lawyer for the military. He got his start in politics when he became a legislative assistant to U.S. Representative Edward Biester, beginning in 1968. From 1971 to 1975, Wolf served as an assistant to Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton.
[edit] Congressional career
Wolf first ran for Congress in 1976, losing in the Republican primary. He won the Republican nomination, but lost the election in 1978. In 1980, Wolf was finally elected to Congress by narrowly defeating Democrat Joseph L. Fisher.
The Tenth District has seen extensive changes since Wolf took office. Initially a purely Northern Virginia district covering Fairfax, Arlington, and Loudoun, the 1990 redistricting by a Democratic Virginia General Assembly moved the district away from Arlington to the west and south to allow for the creation of a new congressional district and also to gerrymander Wolf and Congressman George Allen into the same District. Allen chose not to challenge Wolf, instead running for and winning the Virginia Governorship in 1993. The Tenth kept approximately the same complexion after the 2000 apportionment by a Republican Virginia General Assembly, but lost territory in the outlying areas of the district to allow for population growth in Fairfax and Loudoun. Today (November 2006) the Fairfax portion of the district holds about 40% of the population, with Loudoun at 30% and the remainder of the district at 30%.
He is a member of the House Appropriations Committee. In his bid for re-election in 2006, he faced Democrat Judy Feder, and was once again re-elected 57%-41%. However, there is thought that because of the demographics of the 10th district shifting Democratic and Wolf's inability to deliver the Silver Line Metro extension to Dulles Airport, he may be becoming more vulnerable [1].
Wolf has vocally criticized the human rights record of China [2]. He was one of the leading congressman trying to stop the grant of MFN status to China in 1999 [3].
In March 2006, Congress, at Wolf's suggestion, announced the creation of the Iraq Study Group to reassess the US strategy in Iraq.
On June 10, 2008, Wolf defeated Republican primary challenger Vern McKinley with 91.74% of the vote to McKinley's 8.25%[4], securing the 2008 Republican nomination for the 10th district House seat. He will once again face Democrat Judy Feder in the the general election [5] whom he defeated in 2006.
[edit] External links
- Congressman Frank Wolf official U.S. House website
- Frank Wolf for Congress official campaign website
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
- Congressional profile at GovTrack.us
- Appearance at YouTube at Ethnic Community Campaign Rally, VA, September 9, 2006
- Appearance at YouTube at GOP Civic Picnic at Vint Hill, September 16, 2006
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Joseph L. Fisher |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 10th congressional district 1981 – present |
Incumbent |
|
||||||||||||||
