Olympia Snowe

Olympia Snowe Jean ( born February 21, 1947 in Augusta, Maine) is an American politician. They acted as Republican Senator the U.S. state of Maine in Congress.

Life

Snowe graduating in 1969 from the University of Maine with a degree in political science. She is married in second marriage with John McKernan, a former governor of Maine. As the daughter of Greek immigrants she is a member of Holy Trinity Greek Church in Lewiston.

Policy

Snowe is a member of the Republican Party. Having initially worked for the congressman and later Secretary of Defense William Cohen, she was elected in 1973 in the House of Representatives from Maine. In 1976 she moved to the Senate of Maine and remained there until 1978.

In 1978 she was elected to the House of Representatives of the United States, where she was employed until 1995. 1994 won the Senate seat Snowe of Maine with 60 % of the vote and was re-elected in 2000 with 69%. In the 2006 congressional elections she could defend her seat with 74 % of the vote against Democrat Jean Hay Bright and the independent candidate Bill Slavick. She is a member of the following Senate committees: Committee on Intelligence; Trade, Science and Transportation Committee; Committee on Finance; Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Snowe is considered as a moderate Republican. Together with her co- senator from Maine, Susan Collins, she was regarded as the most liberal member of their group: No other Republican senator voted so often with the Democrats like them. Among other things, they voted for the Dodd- Frank Act and supported the nominees of President Barack Obama candidates for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

In February 2012, Snowe announced that it would not re-apply in the congressional elections in November this year at its headquarters. The reason they cited the increasing polarization within the Senate that is increasingly more difficult constructive work. The most popular politician in their state was seen as the clear favorite for the elections.

After its cancellation, the Democrats made ​​hopes, in the New England state, which is considered one of its strongholds voters to reach a mandate profit .. Her successor but was an independent candidate Angus King.