Michael S. Steele

Michael S. Steele (born October 19, 1958) is the current Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, having been elected on the same ticket as Governor Robert L. Ehrlich in 2002. He is the first African American to serve in a Maryland state-wide office and the first Republican lieutenant governor in the state since the position was created in 1970. On October 25, 2005, Steele announced his candidacy for the United States Senate. He is running for the seat of Paul Sarbanes, who is retiring.

Childhood, education and early career

Steele was born on October 19, 1958, at Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George's County. He spent his childhood in the Petworth neighborhood of Northwest Washington, D.C. which Steele has described as a small, stable and racially integrated community that insulated him from some of the problems elsewhere in the city.^* He was one of two children raised by mother Maebell Turner and stepfather John Turner. Steele’s sister Monica later married and divorced former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson.

Steele attended Archbishop Carroll Roman Catholic High School in Northeast Washington, D.C. While at Carroll, Steele participated in the Glee Club, the National Honor Society and many of the school’s drama productions. During his senior year, 1976-1977, he won the election for student council president.

Steele won a scholarship to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In his first year there, Steele was elected class president and was a member of the fencing team. He struggled academically, however, and was nearly kicked out of the university at the end of the year. After garnering A's in remedial summer classes at George Washington University, Steele was able to continue at Johns Hopkins, and he eventually earned a bachelor's degree in international relations in 1981. ^*

After college, Steele spent three years as a seminarian in the Order of St. Augustine in preparation for the priesthood. He entered the Augustinian Friars Seminary at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. As a seminarian, he taught freshman world history and senior economics for one year at Malvern Prep School in Malvern, Pennsylvania, but ultimately decided on a career in law and he left the Seminary prior to taking the vows.

Steele then entered the Georgetown University Law Center. Ten years after obtaining his undergraduate degree, in 1991, he received his Juris Doctor degree. He worked as a corporate securities associate attorney at the Washington, D.C. office of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. From 1991 to 1997, Steele specialized in financial investments for Wall Street underwriters, working at Cleary’s Tokyo, Japan office focusing on major product liability litigation and at its London office on corporate matters. Steele left the law firm and founded the Steele Group, a business and legal consulting firm.

Steele is married to Andrea, and they have two sons, Michael and Drew.

Political development

Steele grew up in a Democratic household. Steele’s mother was a widowed laundress who he stated worked for minimum wage rather than accept public assistance. However, as a young man he switched to the Republican Party.

After joining the Republican Party, Steele became chairman of the Prince George's County Republican Central Committee. In 1995, the Maryland Republican Party selected him as Maryland State Republican Man of the Year. He worked on several political campaigns, was an Alternate Delegate to the 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego and a Delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia that ultimately chose the George W. Bush ticket. In December 2000, Steele was elected chairman of the Maryland Republican Party ^*, becoming the first African American ever to be elected chairman of any state Republican Party.

Lieutenant Governor of Maryland

In 2002, then-Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich selected Steele as his running mate and nominee for Lieutenant Governor in the campaign against Lieutenant Governor (under Governor Parris Glendening) Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. Steele resigned his chairmanship of the Maryland Republican Party to campaign full-time, although he received payments as a Party consultant (see Controversies, below). Ehrlich's selection of Steele for Lt. Governor proved a striking counterpoint to Townsend, who had considered and rejected several prominent African-American Democrats to pick as a running mate before selecting Charles Larson, a retired naval admiral with no prior political experience who recently switched to the Democratic Party. In endorsing Townsend and Larson, the Baltimore Sun characterized Ehrlich's selection of Steele as racially motivated and drew controversy by saying that Steele "brings little to the team but the color of his skin."

In the September primary election, Ehrlich and Steele had no serious opposition. In the November 2002 general election, even though Maryland traditionally votes Democratic and had not elected a Republican Governor in almost 40 years, the Ehrlich-Steele ticket beat the Townsend-Larson ticket 51% to 48%.

Since his election, Steele’s most prominent efforts for the Ehrlich administration have been reforming the state’s Minority Business Enterprise program and chairing Governor Ehrlich’s Commission on Quality Education in Maryland.

National prominence

Recently, Steele has attained national prominence due to his stature as a successful elected conservative Republican African-American and his public speaking. At the 2004 Republican National Convention, Steele gave the Republican counterpoint to the Democrats' Barack Obama in a prime time speech. In April 2005, President Bush chose Steele as one of three members of the United States delegation at the investiture of Pope Benedict XVI at the ceremonial mass in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. Steele was joined by Florida Governor Jeb Bush and by Knights of Columbus Chief Executive Officer Carl A. Anderson.

2006 U.S. Senate elections

Main article: Maryland U.S. Senate election, 2006

When Paul Sarbanes, Maryland’s longest serving United States Senator, announced in March of 2005 that he would not be a candidate for re-election in 2006, top state and national Republican officials began pressing Steele to become their party's nominee for the seat, and began paying him a consultant fee. In April 2005 the Baltimore Sun announced the results of a poll it conducted, stating that Steele would run statistically neck and neck against either former NAACP head Kweisi Mfume, or Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin of Baltimore County.

On October 25, 2005, Steele formally announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. Polling in February 2006 showed the Lieutenant Governor lost significant ground against Cardin, although he still remains statistically even with Mfume. ^* The primary elections will be held on September 12, 2006, and the general election will be on November 7, 2006.

In early 2006, Steele's campaign had some high-level resignations. Campaign manager, Graham Shafer left in January, and communications director and spokesman Leonardo Alcivar left in February. ^*

Since announcing his candidacy, Steele has been the target of attacks that he says are racially tinged. A blog run by a Steve Gilliard^*, a politically liberal African-American, depicted Steele as a blackface minstrel. Tim Kaine, the Democratic Governor of Virginia, subsequently pulled all his ads from the blog.

In a separate incident, Lauren B. Weiner, a researcher working for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee illegally obtained a copy of Steele's credit report. DSCC Research Director Katie Barge was also implicated and resigned. Democrats were very interested in his finances, as Steele acknowledged financial difficulties when he ran for statewide office in 2002. The Washington Post reported that "Sources familiar with the episode said Steele's credit report was obtained with the use of his Social Security number, which was found on a public court document." Weiner used his social security number to obtain his credit report from TransUnion and used Barge's DSCC credit card to pay for the report. Weiner plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of computer fraud and will do 150 hours of community service. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-steele0324,0,1830557.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Controversies

Campaign website

In July of 2006, Steele posted photographs on his website that included him with prominent local and national Democrats from events where Steele appeared as the Lieutenant Governor, not as a candidate, without their permission. The posting came under criticism from the local party and Steny Hoyer (D-5th), and Steele removed the photos. The Maryland Democratic Party started its own website with photographs of Steele with Republicans unpopular in the state, therealsteele.com[http://therealsteele.com/.

Ehrlich fundraiser

In July of 2005, Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich, a Republican, came under criticism for hosting a $1,000-a-head golf outing at a golf club that has no minority members. Doug Duncan, Ehrlich's potential Democratic opponent in the 2006 gubernatorial elections, accused Ehrlich of "trying to divide us" and called for him to publicly apologize "for holding this event at a club that discriminates." Lt. Governor Steele responded to the outcry by saying, "I don't know that much about the club, the membership, nor do I care, quite frankly, because I don't play golf." Adrienne A. Jones, Speaker Pro Tempore of the Maryland House of Delegates, called Steele's dismissal of the controversy "a slap in the face of those of us who are African Americans." ^*

Stem cell comparison

When discussing his position on embryonic stem cells before Jewish leaders on February 9, 2006, Steele compared the science with experiments performed on Jews during the Holocaust and with slavery. He said, "You of all folks know what happens when people decide they want to experiment on human beings...I know that as well in my community, out of our experience with slavery, and so I'm very cautious when people say this is the best new thing, this is going to save lives."

Art Abramson, executive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council, criticized Steele for his remarks, rejecting the comparison "between ethical and lifesaving medical research, and the horrors committed by the Nazis in their evil drive to create a master race." ^*

Steele later described his remarks as ill-advised, saying that he "made an unfortunate, irresponsible inference." A subsequent poll in Maryland has found that by a margin of 73%-11% Maryland voters reject the notion that stem-cell research is unethical or comparable to Nazi experimentation.[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2006/State%20Polls/February%202006/Maryland%20Senator%20February.htm Many blame this controversial statement for eroding several points of support in the opinion polls.

Compounding this problem, one of Steele's Democratic opponents is Jewish Congressman Ben Cardin, who is a strong supporter of stem-cell research and has critized Steele for his remarks.^*

Campaign Contributions

In 2004, Steele accepted over $13,000 in campaign contributions from the board members of non-profit organizations shortly after Steele's office had directed $250,000 in unrestricted grants to those same groups. According to a 2006 Baltimore Sun investigation, ethics experts and campaign finance watchdogs viewed the financial transactions as questionable and warranting further scrutiny. Steele has accepted money and support from Republican strategist Karl Rove. [http://www.newsline.umd.edu/politics/specialreports/elections06/steeleconnections040706.htm

He has also accepted contributions from Tony Rudy, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's (R) former top aide, who was convicted of accepting illegal contributions from lobbyist Jack Abramoff. ^*

Oreo cookie incident

After a September 26, 2002 gubernatorial debate, which had occurred without reported incident, Paul Schurick, Ehrlich's communications manager, claimed that the Townsend campaign handed out Oreo cookies to the audience.David Nitkin, Sarah Koenig and Howard Libit, "Crowd's antics quite debatable", Baltimore Sun, October 1, 2002. Reprinted here. Five days after the debate, Steele said that one or more Oreo cookies had rolled to his feet during the debate suggesting a racist statement against him. "Maybe it was just someone having their snack, but it was there," Steele said. "If it happened, shame on them if they are that immature and that threatened by me." At the time of the debate, Schurick had not mentioned any such incident, but in November 2005 he claimed "It was raining Oreos... They were thick in the air like locusts. I was there. It was very real. It wasn't subtle."Andrew A. Green, "Ehrlich bristles at Oreo skeptics - Account of Steele pelted by cookies in '02 under scrutiny", Baltimore Sun, November 13, 2005. In a November 2005 Hannity and Colmes appearance, Steele agreed with Hannity that cookies were thrown at him. Neil Duke of the Baltimore NAACP, who moderated the debate, praised the "passionate audience" and noted their "derisive behavior" but did not see this behavior. "Were there some goofballs sitting in ^*" target="_blank" >Baltimore Sun, disputed Steele's claim and said "I was in on the cleanup, and we found no cookies or anything else abnormal. There were no Oreo cookies thrown." Some eyewitnesses including AP reporter Tom Stuckey who was at the event have said cookies were handed out.^*^*" target="_blank" >Other eyewitnesses could not corroborate Steele and Schurick's claim. ^*

Financial difficulties

Steele admitted during the election in 2002 that sometime during his early career he had financial difficulties. His biographies do not account for all the years between college graduation, the seminary, his marriage and law school graduation and as a result he has been targeted by reporters and opposition party leaders seeking to publish financial credit information for this time period.

Moreover, the Maryland Republican Party began paying Steele $5,000 a month in consulting fees shortly after his selection as gubernatorial candidate Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s running mate. Democrats said the payments raised ethical questions, specifically that it appeared the Republicans had "hired themselves a candidate". The Republican Party defended the payments by saying that Steele was hired to continue performing his duties as party chairman since his replacement was not prepared to take over yet. Steele admitted that his consulting business, formed in 1999, had been struggling, partly because many clients did not pay their bills. ^*

Political positions

Steele is opposed to abortion including in cases of rape and incest. He also opposes federal funding for stem cell research if it causes the destruction of a human embryo. He supports free trade, tax cuts, school vouchers, welfare reform and tort reform. He opposes gay adoption and supports a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Although he was silent on the issue during most of his tenure in the Erlich administration, Steele began expressing serious concerns with the death penalty during his Senate campaign and has called for further study into its fairness and accuracy. [http://wjz.com/local/local_story_106141522.html

Sources

Mosk, Matthew, Washington Post, With Sarbanes Retiring, Senate Interest Simmers, March 28, 2005 ^*.
Green, Andrew A., The Baltimore Sun, Steele attracts strong support in Senate race, April 18, 2005 ^*.
The Baltimore Sun, Michael Steele Joins Presidential Delegation In Rome, April 23, 2005 ^*.
State of Maryland Office of Minority Affairs, MBE Commission, Feb. 27, 2004 ^*].
Ebrown, Russell Simmons and Michael Steele, April 24, 2005 ^*.
Maryland Republican Party, State Party Biography of Lt. Governor Michael S. Steele ^*.
The Honorable Michael Steele ^*.
Stratton, LaShell, The Common Denominator, Mr. Steele goes to Annapolis: A D.C. kid really can grow up to be lieutenant governor, April 7, 2003 ^*.
Abruzzese, Sarah, Capital News Service, Steele joins U.S. papal delegation, April 23, 2005 ^*.
Nitkin, David, The Baltimore Sun, Steele calls on club to admit blacks, July 17, 2005 ^*.
Mosk, Matthew Washington Post Steele's Web Site Parades Democrats: Hoyer Wants Photo Removed; Mfume Also Pictured, July 11, 2006; B05 ^*

References

External links

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