Nancy Skinner
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- This article is about the progressive talk radio commentator and Congressional candidate from Michigan. For the local Berkeley politician currently running for the California State Assembly, see Nancy Skinner (California politician).
Nancy Skinner was an American commentator on progressive talk radio in Chicago and Detroit, before embarking on a career in Congressional politics.
In 2004, she was a Democratic candidate for an open U.S. Senate seat in Illinois, losing in the Democratic primary election to Barack Obama. In 2006, she began her second campaign([1]), as a Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives seat from Michigan's 9th Congressional District, opposing Republican incumbent Joe Knollenberg.
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[edit] Biography
Nancy Skinner is a native of Royal Oak, Michigan, and graduated from the University of Michigan. She received a BBA degree with an emphasis in finance and accounting in 1987.
[edit] Urban development
After graduation, Skinner worked for the Ilitch family, helping to renovate the Fox Theatre (Detroit) and relocate Little Caesar's International (LCI) corporate headquarters to the Fox Office Building. She also worked on area redevelopment projects in Downtown Detroit, serving on the Grand Circus Park Redevelopment Board and helping plan for the theatre district's future. (Skinner introduced the Second City Theatre project to billionaire businessman Mike Ilitch).
[edit] Environmentalist
Skinner also used her business skills to promote environmentally sustainable development. Following the great Midwestern floods of 1993, Skinner persuaded President Bill Clinton's White House to assemble a team of ten federal agencies and the nations' leading architects and engineers to rebuild two entire towns away from the floodplain using the principles of sustainable development. Their efforts were honored with an award from President Bill Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development.
Skinner's efforts are documented as a case study in chapter 14 of Eco-Pioneers: Practical Visionaries Solving Today's Environmental Problems, by Steve Lerner.
Nancy Skinner helped launch the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the first voluntary emissions trading program to address global climate change using free market principles. The Exchange has gained commitments from some of the nation's largest corporations.
[edit] Radio commentator
In 1998, Skinner began co-hosting a progressive weekend radio show called Ski & Skinner on WLS in Chicago. In 2000, Skinner became co-host of a syndicated national morning show heard on over 400 radio stations across the United States. Skinner's show inspired two listeners, Anita and Sheldon Drobny, to create the Air America Radio Network featuring Al Franken and other liberal radio hosts.[citation needed]
Since 1999, Skinner has been appearing regularly as a commentator on cable news stations CNN, MSNBC and the Fox News Channel. When she was offered the position of morning host at Detroit's progressive Air America talk radio station, WDTW 1310 AM, Skinner returned to her home state of Michigan, where her weekly program reached 50,000 watts in metro Detroit.
[edit] 2006 Congressional campaign
Skinner's 2006 campaign in Michigan's 9th district against Joe Knollenberg was initially seen as a long shot; her views were seen by some as somewhat too liberal to win the core of the district, the traditionally Republican Troy. Though the race became more competitive in its final weeks, Knollenberg ultimately defeated Skinner by a margin of 52 to 46 percent.
After the election Skinner took a position with First Gentleman Daniel Mulhern's staff. She resigned from this position in mid 2007, prompting pundits to speculate she was gearing up for another run at Congress in 2008.
[edit] 2008 Election
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This section contains information about one or more candidates in an upcoming or ongoing election. Content may change as the election approaches. |
On October 16, 2007, Nancy officially announced her candidacy for the seat she nearly won in 2006 through a series of radio spots on her former station. For more information, see Skinner for Congress
On February 25, 2008, Skinner announced that she is withdrawing from the race.[2]
Michigan Lottery Commissioner Gary Peters has since announced his run for the Democratic nomination in Michigan's 9th Congressional District, as has Jack Kevorkian, who will run as an independent.
