Cynthia McKinney
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Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia Ann McKinney (born March 17, 1955 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a member of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia from 1993 until 2003 and again in another term which began in 2005, representing the state's 4th Congressional district (map (http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/ga04_109.gif)). McKinney was the first African American woman to represent Georgia in Congress.
McKinney's political career began in 1986 when her father, state representative Billy McKinney, submitted her name as a write-in for a state house district. On the strength of the McKinney name she got around 40% of the vote, even though she lived in Jamaica at the time with then-husband Coy Grandison. In 1988 she ran for the seat herself and won, making the McKinneys the first father-daughter legislative team in the nation. McKinney wore pants to the house, brushing off rules requiring women wear skirts or dresses. In 1991 she spoke out in the legislature against the U.S. bombing of Iraq during the Persian Gulf War, many legislators walked out in protest at her remarks.
In 1992 she was elected as the first Congresswoman from the newly-drawn 11th District, a black-majority district stretching from Atlanta to Savannah. in 1995 the 11th was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court because the boundaries were unfairly based on race (sixty-four percent of McKinney's constituents were black). McKinney countered that Texas's sixth district, by comparison, was deemed constitutional yet 91% of the constituents were white. Her home was placed in the 4th District, located in DeKalb County. She was easily reelected from this district in 1996, 1998 and 2000.
In 2002 she gave an interview on KPFA Radio in San Francisco in which she allegedly implied that George W. Bush knew of the September 11 terrorist attacks before they happened and failed to prevent them. The story was picked up by The Washington Post.[1] (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A34565-2002Apr11¬Found=true)
When New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani turned down a $10 million disaster-relief donation from Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal after the prince made comments blaming America's Middle East policies for the September 11 terrorist attacks, Congresswoman McKinney wrote a letter to the prince in which she asked that he send his check to a number of charities working on behalf of African Americans.
In 2002, McKinney was defeated in the Democratic primary elections by Denise Majette, then a DeKalb County judge. McKinney protested this result in court, claiming that Republicans in the mostly-Democratic district had participated in the Democratic primary to vote against McKinney in revenge for her anti-Bush stance. Georgia election laws do not require voters to claim a political party when they register to vote, so voters can participate in whichever primary election they choose. In addition to alleged "cross-over" Republican vote, Democrats unhappy with McKinney's controversial statements and allegedly anti-Semitic remarks by McKinney's father may have contributed to her defeat.
Through 2003 and 2004 she toured America and much of Europe, speaking of her defeat, her opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and the Bush administration. Although speculation suggested that she was considering a run for the Green Party nomination in the 2004 presidential election, in January 2004 she declined a national campaign in favor of a Congressional campaign to unseat Rep. Majette.
Majette subsequently became a candidate to replace retiring Georgia Senator Zell Miller, and after successfully avoiding a runoff, McKinney entered the Democratic primary for her old seat and won it easily. The 4th district is so heavily Democratic that her victory in the primary was tantamount to election. Unlike many representatives who return after 2 years, Democrats refused to give her back her seniority.
McKinney has a sixteen-year-old son, Coy McKinney.
| Preceded by: District created | U.S. Representative of Georgia's 11th Congressional District 1993-1997 | Succeeded by: John Linder |
| Preceded by: John Linder | U.S. Representative of Georgia's 4th Congressional District 1997-2003 | Succeeded by: Denise Majette |
| Preceded by: Denise Majette | U.S. Representative of Georgia's 4th Congressional District 2005- | Succeeded by: Incumbent External links
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