Connie Mack IV

Last updated
Ann Galuzzo
​
​
(m. 1996;div. 2006)​
Mary Bono
​
​
(m. 2007;div. 2013)​
Jennifer Key
​
​
(m. 2018)​
Connie Mack IV
Connie Mack official photo.jpg
Member of the U.S.HouseofRepresentatives
from Florida's 14th district
In office
January 3, 2005 –January 3, 2013
Children3
Parent
Relatives John Levi Sheppard (great-grandfather)
Morris Sheppard (great-grandfather)
Connie Mack (great-grandfather)
Earle Mack (granduncle)
Roy Mack (granduncle)
Education Santa Fe College
University of Florida (BA)

Cornelius Harvey McGillicuddy IV (born August 12, 1967), known popularly as Connie Mack IV, is an American politician and lobbyist. He is the former U.S. Representative for Florida's 14th congressional district , serving from 2005 to 2013. A Republican, he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2012, losing to Democrat Bill Nelson. [1] He is the son of former Republican U.S. Senator Connie Mack III and the great-grandson of baseball manager Connie Mack.

Contents

Early life, education, and family

Mack was born in Fort Myers, Florida, the son of former U.S. Senator Connie Mack III and cancer prevention advocate Ludie Priscilla (née Hobbs). [2] [3] His father represented the district from 1983 to 1989 (when it was numbered as the 13th District), before serving two terms in the U.S. Senate.

Through his father, Mack is the great-grandson of Cornelius McGillicuddy ("Connie Mack"), the manager and owner of baseball's Philadelphia Athletics and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame; the great-grandson of Morris Sheppard, U.S. Senator and Representative from Texas; and the great-great-grandson of John Levi Sheppard, a U.S. Representative from Texas. [4]

In June 1988, Mack earned his Associate of Arts from Santa Fe Community College [5] and In 1993, Mack earned his Bachelor of Arts [6] from the University of Florida. After college, Mack became a marketing executive, working as a consultant to promote the restaurant chain Hooters. [7]

Florida House of Representatives

In 2000, incumbent Republican State Representative Debby Sanderson decided to retire to run for a seat in the Florida Senate. Mack decided to run for the open seat in the Fort Lauderdale–based 91st House District. He defeated Democratic nominee Kevin Rader 56%–44%. [8] In 2002, he won re-election with 79% of the vote. [9]

Mack was Chairman of the Committee on State Administration, and in his second term he became the Deputy Majority Leader. [10]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In 2003, incumbent Republican Congressman Porter Goss announced his intention to retire in order to serve as Director of the CIA. That October, Mack resigned from the Florida Legislature and moved back to his hometown of Fort Myers to run for his father's old seat. [11] Had he not resigned his state house seat, he would have been unable to vote for himself in the primary or general election in the 14th District, as the Florida Constitution requires state legislators to be residents of the district they represent. Mack stated, "The people of the 14th District deserve to be represented in Washington by someone who shares our mainstream conservative Republican values in the mold of my father and Congressman Porter Goss". [12] He narrowly won a four-way Republican primary—the real contest in this heavily Republican district—with a plurality of 36% of the vote, defeating more experienced challengers State Representative Carole Green and Lee County Commissioner Andy Coy. [13] He won the general election with 68% of the vote. [14]

Mack consistently won re-election without serious difficulty, with his closest bid in 2008, when he won 59% in a three-way election. [15] [16] [17]

Tenure

Mack is a vocal supporter of cutting federal spending and lower taxes. He is a signer of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Additionally, he is a co-sponsor of a constitutional amendment to require a balanced federal budget and was one of the most outspoken opponents of federal bailouts. Mack has also been a prominent advocate for greater congressional oversight of government surveillance. He voted against George W. Bush's domestic eavesdropping program in 2006 and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Reform in 2007. [18]

Mack was an outspoken critic of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, [19] as well as one of the most vocal opponents of the Latin American television network teleSUR. [20] He is also a member of the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus. As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Mack helped secure over $81 million to expand Interstate 75 in Southwest Florida, a project of significant concern to the region.

Unlike many members of Congress, Mack has been a vigorous and outspoken defender of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks. [21]

Committee assignments

2012 U.S. Senate election

Mack speaking to a conservative group in February 2012. Connie Mack by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Mack speaking to a conservative group in February 2012.

Early in the election cycle, Mack was considered a potential candidate against incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson in the 2012 Senate election. However, he declined to run on March 25, 2011, citing family and his work in the House of Representatives. [22] On October 26, 2011, it was announced Mack had changed his mind and that he would seek the Republican nomination because he felt no one in the current field was able to defeat Nelson. [23] His opponent in the primary was former Representative Dave Weldon, whom Mack defeated, winning 58% of the vote. Mack then lost to Nelson by over one million votes.

Electoral history

Florida's 14th Congressional District Election (2004)
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Connie Mack IV 226,662 67.59
Democratic Robert M. Neeld108,67232.41
Total votes335,334 100.00
Turnout  
Republican hold
Florida's 14th Congressional District Election (2006)
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Connie Mack IV* 151,615 64.37
Democratic Robert M. Neeld83,92035.63
Total votes235,535 100.00
Turnout  
Republican hold
Florida's 14th Congressional District Election (2008)
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Connie Mack IV* 224,602 59.44
Democratic Robert M. Neeld93,59024.77
Independent Burt Saunders54,75014.49
Independent Jeff George4,9491.31
Total votes377,891 100.00
Turnout  
Republican hold
Florida's 14th Congressional District Election (2010)
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Connie Mack IV* 188,341 68.57
Democratic James Lloyd Roach74,52527.13
Independent William Maverick St. Claire11,8254.31
Total votes274,691 100.00
Turnout  
Republican hold
2012 U.S. Senate, Republican primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Connie Mack IV 657,331 58.7
Republican Dave Weldon226,08320.2
Republican Mike McCalister155,42113.9
Republican Marielena Stuart81,8087.3
Total votes1,120,643 100.0
United States Senate election in Florida, 2012 [24]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Bill Nelson (incumbent) 4,523,451 55.23% -5.07%
Republican Connie Mack IV3,458,26742.23%+4.13%
Independent Bill Gaylor126,0791.54%N/A
Independent Chris Borgia82,0891.00%N/A
Write-in 600.0N/A
Total votes8,189,946 100.00% N/A
Democratic hold

Post-congressional career

In 2013, Mack was hired as a partner at lobbying firm Liberty Partners Group, where his father was a chairman emeritus. [25] Following his unsuccessful bid for the Senate, Mack founded two lobbying and consulting firms, Mack Strategies and Liberty International Group. In March 2014, he registered to become a lobbyist for American Task Force Argentina. As of September 2014, he was an executive vice president of public relations firm Levick as well as a registered lobbyist for Levick, Doral Financial and Las Vegas Sands. [26] Mack considered entering Florida's 19th congressional district special election in 2014 to replace Trey Radel but, in January 2014, officially declined to enter the race. [27]

International lobbying

Mack has also worked extensively as a lobbyist for the government of Hungary. [28] [29] In December 2020, Mack joined Platinum Advisors DC to lobby in support of increased humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia. [30]

Personal life

In 1992, Mack was involved in a bar fight with professional baseball player Ron Gant in Georgia. Mack suffered a broken ankle in the fight but a jury ultimately found that Gant was not liable for Mack's injuries. [31] [32]

Mack and Ann Galluzzo were married in 1996 and divorced in 2006. They have a son named Connie Mack V and daughter named Addison Mack.

In 2007, while representing his Florida district in the U.S. House of Representatives, Mack married then-U.S. Representative from California Mary Bono (R-CA), former wife of Glenn Baxley and widow of Sonny Bono. [33] They were the third married couple to serve in the House of Representatives simultaneously. [34] Mack and Bono divorced in 2013. [35] He married Jennifer Key, an international development expert, in 2018. They have a son named William Arthur McGillicuddy.

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References

  1. ↑ Siegel, Elyse (November 6, 2012). "Bill Nelson Projected Winner Of Florida Senate Race". Huffington Post.
  2. ↑ Biography – About Connie Mack – Congressman Connie Mack Archived 2011-10-20 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ "mack". ancestry.com. Archived from the original on 2016-01-09. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  4. ↑ "U.S. Senate: Art & History Home > Origins & Development > Senate Spouses". www.senate.gov. Archived from the original on March 7, 2004.
  5. ↑ "George LeMieux says Connie Mack 'took 7 1/2 years to finish college'". @politifact.
  6. ↑ "Meet Connie Mack IV, who says he's a 'proud, mainstream conservative'". 2012-10-28. Archived from the original on 2016-05-31. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  7. ↑ Caputo, Marc (February 17, 2012). "Connie Mack preaches penny-pinching on campaign trail, but has past of debt and liens". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on June 2, 2012. Note: Archived link only works with JavaScript disabled. The Miami Herald blog Naked Politics also has primary source documents linked in this story, "Connie Mack preaches penny-pinching, but has a court-record past of debt and liens (and fights)."
  8. ↑ "Our Campaigns - FL State House 091 Race - Nov 07, 2000". ourcampaigns.com.
  9. ↑ "Our Campaigns - FL State House 091 Race - Nov 05, 2002". ourcampaigns.com.
  10. ↑ Sandler, Michael (April 15, 2003). "Workers' comp bill stripped, replaced". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on July 25, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Connie Mack IV to Run for U.S. House". TheLedger.com.
  12. ↑ "Younger Mack to seek dad's old House seat Series: AROUND THE STATE". St. Petersburg Times. October 8, 2003. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Our Campaigns - FL - District 14 - R Primary Race - Aug 31, 2004". ourcampaigns.com.
  14. ↑ "Our Campaigns - FL - District 14 Race - Nov 02, 2004". ourcampaigns.com.
  15. ↑ "Our Campaigns - FL - District 14 Race - Nov 07, 2006". ourcampaigns.com.
  16. ↑ "Our Campaigns - FL - District 14 Race - Nov 04, 2008". ourcampaigns.com.
  17. ↑ Our Campaigns – FL – District 14 Race – Nov 02, 2010
  18. ↑ Connie Mack IV on the Issues
  19. ↑ RedState < "Rep. Connie Mack: Free Trade is Key to Combating Chavez | Redstate". Archived from the original on 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2008-04-23.>
  20. ↑ Congressman works to counter socialist air time, on Connie Mack's HOR website < "United States Congressman Connie Mack :: Articles". Archived from the original on 2009-02-16. Retrieved 2009-02-11.>
  21. ↑ Levy-Baker, Cooper Rep. Mack once again stands up for WikiLeaks Archived 2012-07-20 at archive.today , Florida Independent
  22. ↑ Smith, Adam (March 25, 2011). "Connie Mack will not run for U.S. Senate". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  23. ↑ Catanese, Dave (October 26, 2011). "Connie Mack to enter Fla. Senate Race". Politico. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  24. ↑ "November 6, 2012 General Election".
  25. ↑ "Former Rep. Connie Mack joins lobby firm". The Hill. 15 April 2013.
  26. ↑ Ho, Catherine (September 28, 2014). "Crisis communications firm Levick continues push to grow lobbying business, hires former Fla. congressman". The Washington Post . Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  27. ↑ Singer, Paul (January 29, 2014). "No comeback for Connie Mack". USA Today . Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  28. ↑ "Diplomatic Dust-Up Means Big Bucks For Former GOP Congressman Connie Mack IV". Huffington Post. November 20, 2014.
  29. ↑ Goad, Ben (16 September 2015). "Hungary taps ex-congressman as US spokesman". The Hill . Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  30. ↑ Oprysko, Caitlin (19 March 2021). "Who is lobbying in the Ethiopia conflict as Coons heads to Addis Ababa". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  31. ↑ Calcaterra, Craig (February 21, 2012). "That time Ron Gant and Connie Mack got into a bar fight". NBC Sports . Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  32. ↑ "No Damages Awarded in Gant Case". Associated Press . December 19, 1997. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  33. ↑ Slind-Flor, Victoria (March 20, 2013). "Biogen, HTC, Boston, MIT, Mary Bono: Intellectual Property". Bloomberg Business.
  34. ↑ The Reliable Source (2021-12-02) [2013-05-29]. "Mary Bono and Connie Mack divorce: 'Life really changed' after election losses". The Washington Post . Washington, D.C. ISSN   0190-8286. OCLC   1330888409.[ please check these dates ]
  35. ↑ Edwards, Breanna (May 24, 2013). "Connie, Mary Bono Mack divorcing". Politico.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 14th congressional district
2005–2013		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Florida
(Class 1)
2012 		Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Representative Order of precedence of the United States
as Former US Representative		Succeeded byas Former US Representative
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