American politician (born )
For the British soap opera character with a similar name, see Debbie Dingle.
Debbie Dingell | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, | |
Incumbent | |
| Assumed office April 16, | |
| Leader | Hakeem Jeffries |
| Preceded by | Joe Neguse |
| In office January 3, &#;– January 3, Serving with Matt Cartwright, Ted Lieu, and Joe Neguse | |
| Leader | Nancy Pelosi |
| Preceded by | Cheri Bustos David Cicilline Hakeem Jeffries |
| Succeeded by | Veronica Escobar Dean Phillips Lauren Underwood |
Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, | |
| Preceded by | John Dingell |
| Constituency | |
| Born | Deborah Ann Insley () November 23, (age&#;71) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican (until ) Democratic (–present) |
| Spouse | John Dingell &#; &#; (m.&#;; died&#;)&#; |
| Relatives | John Dingell Sr. (father-in-law) |
| Education | Georgetown University (BS, MS) |
| Website | House website |
Deborah Ann Dingell (; née&#;Insley; November 23, ) is an American politician serving as a U.S. representative from Michigan since , representing the state's 6th congressional district since A member of the Democratic Party, she succeeded her late husband, John Dingell, who was the longest-serving member of Congress in U.S. history.
Dingell is active in several organizations in Michigan and Washington, D.C., and serves on a number of boards. She is a founder and past chair of the National Women's Health Resource Center and the Children's Inn at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).[1] She is also a member of the board of directors for Vital Voices Global Partnership.[2] She is a graduate of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
She worked as a consultant to the American Automobile Policy Council.[3] She was a superdelegate for the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.[4][5]
Descended from one of the Fisher brothers, owners of Fisher Body,[6] from a part of General Motors, she has served as president[7] of the General Motors Foundation and as executive director of Global Community Relations and Government Relations at GM.
She married Representative John Dingell in [8] She had grown up as a Republican, but became a Democrat soon after marrying Dingell. Their marriage lasted 38 years until her husband's death on February 7, , at the age of Like her husband, she is a Catholic.[9]
She is a member of the Democratic National Committee from Michigan and chaired Vice President Al Gore's campaign in Michigan in In , she also helped secure the Michigan Democratic primary and general election vote for John Kerry in Michigan.
In November , Dingell was elected to Wayne State University's board of governors.[10]
Dingell and Senator Carl Levin were proponents of moving up Michigan's presidential primary before February 5 in an attempt to garner greater political influence for Michigan during the Democratic primaries.[11] This resulted in Michigan almost losing its delegates' votes in the Democratic National Convention.[12]
When Carl Levin announced his retirement from the U.S. Senate at the end of his term in , Dingell indicated that she was interested in running for his seat.[13] When former Michigan GovernorJennifer Granholm declined to run for the seat, a Politico writer declared Dingell to be one of the front-runners for the Democratic nomination, alongside Representative Gary Peters.[14] She chose not to run, and Peters won the seat.
Dingell indicated that she planned to run for her husband's congressional seat after he announced his retirement.[15] On August 5, she won the Democratic primary. On November 4, she won the general election, defeating Republican Terry Bowman.[16] When Dingell was sworn in, she became the first U.S. non-widowed woman in Congress to succeed her husband. His father, John Dingell Sr., held Michigan's 12th district for 22 years before his son won it. Altogether, the Dingells have represented this district and its predecessors for 89 consecutive years as of [17][18] The district was numbered as the 15th from to , the 16th from to , the 15th again from to , the 12th from to , and has been in the 6th since
In , Dingell introduced a law that would give the Consumer Product Safety Commission the authority to recall defective firearms. John Dingell was a key lawmaker who initially granted the firearms industry this exemption from the Consumer Product Safety Act that created the Consumer Product Safety Commission.[19]
In July , Dingell voted against a House resolution introduced by Representative Brad Schneider opposing efforts to boycott the State of Israel and the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement.[20] The resolution passed –[21]
In April , Dingell introduced the Recovering America's Wildlife Act of , a bill that would provide funding for conserving and protecting endangered and threatened species, strategies to do so, and wildlife-related recreational activities.[22] The bill passed the House by – on June 14, [23]
In , Dingell was among 56 Democrats to vote in favor of 21 which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within days.[24][25]
After Dingell voted to impeach President Donald Trump, Trump attacked Dingell during a campaign rally in Battle Creek, musing that her late husband, might be in hell, saying of him, "Maybe he's looking up, I don't know, I don't know, maybe, maybe. But let's assume he's looking down."[26] She was attending a bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus gathering when she was told of Trump's remarks. Numerous members of both parties came to Dingell's defense.[27] In her response to the incident, Dingell called for a return to civility, saying, "some things should be off limits."[28] In her book Confidence Man, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman wrote that Dingell received a call from a man claiming to be a reporter who asked whether she was "looking for an apology from Trump". According to Haberman, "Dingell couldn't shake the idea that his voice sounded like that of the forty-fifth president."[29]
Dingell voted to provide Israel with support following the Hamas attack on Israel.[36][37]