Andrea Waltham
From Usgovsim
| ||||
| Congressman | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In Office: 2013 - Present | ||||
| Constituency | Washington's 9th | |||
| Preceded by | Adam Smith | |||
| Succeeded by | Incumbent | |||
| Born | July 5, 1974 Hartford, Connecticut | |||
| Political Party | Republican Party | |||
| Spouse | Tom Blunt (domestic partner) | |||
| Religion | Lutheran | |||
Andrea E.D. Waltham is a United States Representative from Washington State. He is a member of the United States Republican Party, and is quite a maverick Republican, often rebelling against the party line. He is also one of a handful of openly homosexual Republicans in Congress.
[edit] Early Life
A native of Windsor, Connecticut, Andrea Ethan Davidsen Waltham was the son of a private-school educator and a secretary. Although his father taught at Loomis-Chaffee, a prominent boarding school, Andrea graduated the public school system in 1992. During his senior year, he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard, and served with the USCG at Eatons Neck on New York's Long Island for two years. When his enlistment finished, he enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University, and received a bachelor's in social work in 1998. He received a master's in the same field from the University of Michigan in 2000. Andrea later publicly stated he never personally liked living in Virginia or Michigan.
[edit] Professional Career
A job placement program at the University of Michigan placed Andrea into a social worker position at McChord Air Force Base in Washington state. He worked there for 12 years, and says that his job persuaded him to consider entering politics to solve social problems.
[edit] Political Career
Andrea, a resident of Steilacoom since 2000, successfully ran for the Steilacoom School Board in 2004, and while his time on the School Board was not unconsiderable, it was brief. In July 2007, Andrea was appointed to the Washington State Senate after Senator Mike Carrell resigned because of his disability. Although he did not face any controversy in his home district at first, he sparked a brief but shocking statewide controversy when he announced on the Senate Floor that he was gay and had a boyfriend. However, he still won re-election in November 2008.
