Rep. James L. Oberstar

Share this page	Nickname: known as "Jim" Birthdate: b. 09/10/1934 Birthplace: Chisholm, MN District: represents MN-08 Political Party: Democratic/Farmer/Labor Religion: Roman Catholic Education: MA, European Studies, College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium, 1957 Attended, Graduate Program, Georgetown University BA, French/Political Science, College of Saint Thomas, 1956 Attended, Laval University. Last elected in 2006 receiving 180,670 (64.0%) votes. Official website
Capitol Word Frequency → transportation ⁽⁴¹⁸⁾ public ⁽²⁶⁰⁾ transit ⁽²⁴⁴⁾ coast ⁽²⁰⁶⁾ rail ⁽¹⁹⁹⁾

Biographical information from Project Vote Smart, Wikipedia. Photo from Congressional Biographical Directory.

Money

Raised	$1,183,796		^(#126)
Spent	55%		^(#397)
From self	0%		^(#34)
From individuals	44%		^(#350)
From PACs	55%		^(#145)
PAC = Political Action Committees. Money data from the FECfor the 200X cycle.

Earmarks

Requested	35		^(#151)
Total cost	$47,513,450		^(#228)
Received	34		^(#150)
Total cost	$39,928,150		^(#203)
Data for fiscal year 2008 from Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Voting Analysis

Ideology	57% left-wing		^(#414)
Predictable	95%		^(#226)
Data and terminology from VoteView. Unpredictable measures how often members vote against their party.

Speeches

Spoke	22 times		^(#40)
Avg. length	1,417 words		^(#87)
Data for 110th Congress from GovTrack.

Bills

Co-sponsored	1,897		^(#81)
Introduced	155		^(#77)
Debated	37		^(#52)
Enacted	14		^(#40)
Data from GovTrack.

Interest Group Alignment

Group	Agreement
Interest Group Alignment compares a politician’s votes to positions taken by interest groups. [ more ]
AFL-CIO	92% (12/13 votes)
National Association of Realtors	87% (7/8 votes)
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People	83% (5/6 votes)
Mortgage Bankers Association	83% (5/6 votes)
American Nurses Association	80% (4/5 votes)
Friends Committee on National Legislation	80% (4/5 votes)
International Brotherhood of Teamsters	71% (5/7 votes)
NAACP	71% (5/7 votes)
National Association of Home Builders	71% (5/7 votes)
Public Citizen	60% (6/10 votes)
American Civil Liberties Union	60% (3/5 votes)
National Retail Federation	20% (1/5 votes)
US Chamber of Commerce	16% (1/6 votes)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce	14% (2/14 votes)
More interest groups →
Data from Maplight.org , for the 11Xth Congress.

Top Contributors

Individuals reporting the same zip code who have donated to a lawmaker's political campaign. Use with caution: based on raw FEC data.
1 Robert Roe	$10,000	from February 22, 2003 to March 23, 2008
2 Caroline Gabel	$8,700	from April 25, 2002 to March 21, 2008
3 Cliff Madison	$8,500	from August 25, 2002 to October 4, 2007
4 Arthur Cameron	$8,000	from April 29, 2001 to October 4, 2007
5 David Turch	$8,000	from April 29, 2001 to October 31, 2007
More contributors →
Source: FEC data from the 1980 to 2000 election cycles.

Top Contributor Employers

Campaigns disclose the employers of their contributors; this list aggregates them. Use with caution: this list is based on raw FEC data
1 Self	$84,700
2 Dmjm Harris	$16,000
3 Jht Holdings	$15,300
4 Robert A Roe Associates	$14,000
5 Ames Construction	$13,600
More contributors →
Source: FEC data from the 1980 to 2000 election cycles.

Top Lobby Contributors

New rules require lobbyists to disclose their giving, and giving by the PACs they control. Use with caution: This data compiled from raw filings
1 Karen Head - Amalgamated Transit Union	$61,775
2 Karen Head - Amalgamated Transit Union	$51,900
3 Mr. Ross B. Palmer - Waterways Council, Inc.	$39,157
4 Ms. Channing W. Riggs - University Of Minnesota	$36,125
5 Sam Wai - American Crystal Sugar Company	$5,000
More lobby contributors →
Source: Senate Office of Public Records LD-203 disclosure database; data from 2008.

Some campaign finance information from Open Secrets.

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Also known as: 400299 (GovTrack), N00001806 (OpenSecrets), O000006 (Congressional Bio), 14265 (ICPSR), 26927 (Vote Smart), H6MN08047 (FEC)

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