Robert Wexler (born January
2, 1961) is an American
politician from the U.S. state of
Florida
. He has served as a
Democratic member of the
U.S. House of
Representatives since 1997, representing . The district
includes most of western
Palm Beach
County, as well as northern
Broward
County.
In October 2009, Wexler announced plans to resign from Congress in
January 2010 to become president of the Washington-based
Center for
Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.
Early life
Wexler was
born in Queens, New
York
to Sonny and Sandra Wexler. He and his family
moved to South
Florida
when he was ten. Wexler graduated from
Hollywood Hills High
School in Hollywood,
Florida
and later attended Emory University
for a year. He transferred to the University of
Florida
, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1982. Wexler
received his
law degree from
The George
Washington University Law School in 1985 and was a lawyer in
private practice with
Shutts &
Bowen before serving in the House.
Political career
Wexler served in the
Florida Senate
from 1990 to 1996 before being elected to the U.S. House of
Representatives in the
1996 election, filling
the open seat vacated by fellow Democrat
Harry Johnston. He has been
reelected five times, never facing serious opposition in one of the
most Democratic districts in Florida. During the 2008 campaign,
Wexler agreed to receive
JStreetPAC’s
endorsement and financial support and lost funding from
Washington PAC as a result.
Morris Amitay, the head of Washington PAC,
made clear to candidates seeking support from his PAC that he does
not view favorably those who receive funds from JStreet. Amitay
said “There’s a striking resemblance between the people they
support and the anti-Israel Hall of Fame,”
Rep.
Wexler announces support for impeachment hearings
In an e-mail to supporters on November 7, 2007, Representative
Robert Wexler, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, stated
about
H.R. 333:
In mid December 2007, Congressman Wexler launched a website
(Wexlerwantshearings.com) to promote his effort for impeachment
hearings. The site included a You Tube video where he explained his
position and a petition for like-minded people to sign. Wexler set
a goal of getting 50,000 Americans to join his cause. In just two
weeks, over 200,000 people signed the petition and over 70,000
people watched his You Tube video.
Call for McClellan testimony
After the release of the
controversial
book
What Happened by former
White House Press Secretary
Scott McClellan, Wexler went on
record as saying he would like McClellan to testify under oath
about the alleged crimes of the
Bush Administration. The Bush
Administration has claimed that such proceedings would be a
violation of
executive
privilege. Wexler is a member of the
House Judiciary Committee. The
testimony was offered on June 20 by former Bush press secretary
Scott McClellan.
2008 presidential election
On March 2, 2007, Congressman Wexler endorsed
Barack Obama as a candidate for the
2008 Presidential
election. On May 31, 2008, he spoke at the
Democratic National
Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting on behalf of the
Obama campaign. He argued for a reinstatement of both pledged and
superdelegates from the state of Florida to the
2008 Democratic National
Convention, with both exercising a half vote at the Convention.
He called this an "equitable solution", allowing Florida to
participate in the Democratic Party's nominating process, and
acknowledged that this would result in a net gain of nineteen
delegates from Florida for
Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was
Barack Obama's chief opponent in the nominating process.
Articles of impeachment
On June 10, 2008 Wexler co-sponsored and signed
Dennis Kucinich's
articles of impeachment
for
George W. Bush. He referred to the Congressional
Oath of Office saying it was the duty
of Congress to act, and stated: "President Bush deliberately
created a massive propaganda campaign to sell the
war in Iraq to the American people and the
charges detailed in this impeachment resolution indicate an
unprecedented abuse of executive power." Democratic leaders
Steny Hoyer and
Nancy Pelosi have opposed these efforts. Pelosi
announced that she "would not support a resolution calling for
Bush's impeachment, saying such a move was unlikely to succeed and
would be divisive.”
Residency dispute
In July
2008, Fox news host Bill O'Reilly revealed
that Wexler claims his mother-in-law's home in Delray Beach
as his official residence (though he is listed on
the House roll as "D-Boca
Raton
"), but lives in a Maryland suburb for most of the
year. Edward J. Lynch, a Republican running for Wexler's
congressional seat, has been researching Wexler's living
arrangements and took his argument to the Fox News program. "The
house he lists on his voter registration is his in-laws' house, in
a gated 55-and-older community," Lynch said. "Legally, he can't
move back with children under 18." After Wexler was confronted
about the allegation, he stated that his mother-in-law does own the
house in Delray Beach. But he also said he stays there when in
Florida which, according to his office is, on average, about twice
a month. As a Florida resident, Wexler does not pay personal income
tax, and his vehicles are also registered in that state, despite
his near-permanent residency in the
Washington metropolitan area..
This
situation is very similar to that of Republican Congressman
Chris Smith of
New
Jersey
, who claims an apartment near Trenton
as his official residence while living in Northern Virginia for most of the
year.
Wexler, born in 1961, also does not personally meet the age
requirements for his mother-in-law's 55-and-older community.
However, 55-and-older communities are required, both by Florida
law, and federal equal housing laws, to permit a small percentage
of younger residents. Wexler has since obtained a separate address
within Palm Beach County.
"Congressman Wexler moved to Florida when he was 10 years old and
he has continually met Florida's residency requirements ever
since," spokesman Josh Rogin wrote in an e-mail. "As members of
Congress have since the founding of the nation, he also keeps a
home in the Washington area so his wife and three children can be
with him while he serves in Congress."
Election results
Wexler ran unopposed in the
1998,
2004, and the
2006 elections.
From the
1996
election:
|
Beverly Kennedy |
Robert Wexler |
| Party |
Republican |
Democratic |
| Subtotal |
99,073 |
188,745 |
| Absentee ballots |
0 |
0 |
| Totals |
99,073 |
188,745 |
| Percentage |
34.4% |
65.6% |
From the
2000
election:
|
Morris Thompson |
Robert Wexler |
| Party |
Republican |
Democratic |
| Subtotal |
67,782 |
171,068 |
| Absentee ballots |
7 |
12 |
| Totals |
67,789 |
171,080 |
| Percentage |
28.4% |
71.6% |
From the
2002
election:
|
Jack Merkl |
Robert Wexler |
| Party |
Republican |
Democratic |
| Total |
60,477 |
156,747 |
| Percentage |
27.8% |
72.2% |
Wexler faced Lynch and independent candidate Ben Graber in the Nov.
4, 2008 election, defeating them both.
From the
2008
election:
|
Edward Lynch |
Robert Wexler |
Ben Graber |
| Party |
Republican |
Democratic |
NPA |
| Total |
83,357 |
202,465 |
20,214 |
| Percentage |
27.2% |
66.2% |
6.6% |
Committee assignments and caucus memberships
Caucus memberships
The following is a partial list of Wexler's
congressional caucus memberships:
- Caucus on U.S.-Turkish Relations (co-founder)
- Taiwan Caucus (co-founder)
- Caucus on Intellectual Property Promotion and Piracy Prevention
(co-founder/co-chairman)
- Indonesia Caucus (co-founder/co-chairman)
- Congressional Study Group on Turkey (co-chair)
- Congressional
Progressive Caucus
- India Caucus
- Serbia Caucus
Notable media appearances
Colbert Report interview
Congressman Wexler's multiple appearances on
The Colbert Report have elevated him
to status of being a bona fide "friend of the show." On the July
20, 2006 episode, during an interview for the segment
Better Know a District, Wexler
went along with
Stephen
Colbert's idea of making jokes about the use of cocaine. Led by
Stephen Colbert, he first repeated what Colbert had said, then
completed with the following statements (
see video):
Good Morning America
and
The Today Show, the
ABC and NBC
morning shows,
aired edited versions of the segment. In response, on the
July 25, 2006 episode of his show, Colbert
castigated those network's morning shows for broadcasting edited
versions of the interview in a misleading and negative light. He
also told his viewers to "vote Wexler, the man's got a sense of
humor, unlike, evidently, journalists."
On November 7, 2006, Wexler returned to the
The Colbert
Report during the show's "Midterm Midtacular" special and
joked about what he said in the earlier interview. When Colbert
asked him if he would "reach around the aisle" if the Democrats
took back the House; a maxim used here as a
double entendre (
video clip), Wexler picked up on the double
entendre and joked that he learned from the last interview he had
to watch what he said.
The Hill
In August and September 2006, Wexler and his office staff were
featured on
The Hill,
a six-part documentary on the
Sundance
Channel.
Family
Wexler is married to the former Laurie Cohen. They have three
children Rachel, Zachary, and Hannah.
References
- http://wexler.house.gov/ U.S. Representative Robert Wexler,
Representing the 19th District of Florida
-
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1281623.html
- J Street Shows Its Strength in Numbers, The Forward
-
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/30/wexler.mcclellan/?iref=mpstoryview
- Kucinich introduces Bush impeachment resolution from
cnn.com
- sun-sentinel.com, U.S. Rep. Wexler calling for
impeachment of President Bush
- Wexler residential ruckus rekindled West Palm
Beach, Boca Raton, Treasure Coast local news, weather, live radar,
investigative from Newschannel 5 | WPTV.com
-
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/local_news/epaper/2008/11/05/1104cong.html
-
http://election.dos.state.fl.us/elections/resultsarchive/Index.asp?ElectionDate=11/4/2008
External links
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