Senator Chris Coons has earned a reputation as a pragmatic legislator who works hard to represent his constituents in a credible and effective way to justify his people’s trust in him. Although he is a Democrat, Senatore Coons tries to find cross-party ways to legislate and find common ground in a U.S. Senate. The reason for this is that the House is divided by two ideologies (a Democratic and a Republican), which are always at an impasse on certain key political issues such as taxes, health care, immigration, foreign policy, etc.
Since joining the U.S. Senate in 2010, he has positioned himself as an advocate for jobs, social justice, and progressive foreign policy, among other things. He has served on Senate committees such as the Budget Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, the Budget Appropriations Committee, and also the Justice Committee.
Senator Chris Coons – Who is He?
Senator Chris Coons is an elected junior senator of the United States of America who represents the good people of Delaware. The two-term senator is a Democrat and was elected in 2010 on the Democratic Party’s program. He was re-elected in 2014 and currently sits in the U.S. Senate. Coons is a lawyer and expert in foreign policy and religious studies. He is married to Annie Lingenfelter and together they have three lovely children, Michael, Jack, and Maggie.
Chris Coons is from Greenwich, Connecticut, where he was born, but grew up in Hockessin, Delaware. Born September 9, 1963, Coons full name is Christopher Andrew Coons and his parents are Kenelm Winslow Coons, a food industry worker, and Sarah Louise Ives, an educator. He is American in terms of nationality and his ancestry is mixed – Irish and English.
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For his education, Coons attended Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Delaware after graduating from H.B. DuPont Middle School (and before that, Yorklyn Elementary School). He then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry and Political Science from Amherst College. During his studies, he led a program in Africa at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. Coons also enrolled at Yale Divinity School and Yale Law School, where he earned a Master’s degree in Ethics and a J.D. degree in 1992.
Career – Before Politics
Though best known as a U.S. Senator, Chris Coons served as an employee of the United States Court of Appeals for Judge Jane Richards Roth. Between 1996 and 2004, he also worked as a legal clerk for the Delaware-based manufacturing company W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. Coons has also worked for various foundations, including the South African Council of Churches, the National Coalition for the Homeless, the “I Have a Dream” Foundation, and others.
Politics
Senator Chris Coons’ first inclination toward politics was that of a Republican. This was evident in 1980 when young Coons volunteered to run as a 17-year-old in 1980 and during Ronald Reagan’s candidacy for the presidency of the United States and also for Bill Roth in 1982 when he ran for the U.S. Senate. During his stay in Kenya, however, he became a Democrat.
In 2000, he ran for his first electoral position when he applied for election to New Castle County Council. He won the seat, and after his first term in 2004, he was elected to the district council. After Senator Joe Biden stepped down from his Senate seat (Delaware) in 2009 for the vice presidency after winning the 2008 U.S. presidential election with Senator Barack Obama, Senator Chris Coons won a special election held in 2010 to fill the seat (which was temporarily filled by Ted Kaufman).
He won with over 16% of the votes cast against Republican challenger Christine O’Donnell. He was also re-elected in 2014 at the end of his first term (which had elapsed two years before he took office). Once again, he defeated the Republican Party candidate, businessman Kevin Wade, to retain his seat.
Family
Senator Chris Coons is a family man. He has a wife named Annie Lingenfelter, whom he married in 1996. Details of their relationship or marriage are not known, but their marriage was blessed with three children: Mike and Jack, who are twins, and a daughter, Maggie. There is no record that he has ever been divorced, and from what we can find, his marriage to Annie is the first time he has ever walked down the aisle.
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Senator Chris Coons’ Legacies
During his time in the Senate, he introduced the Chicken Caucus Senate as a platform through which the country’s chicken producers could connect with the U.S. Senate; and also the Child Abuse Victims Act, which was designed to protect and support abused children.
In 2018, Senator Chris Coons worked with Senators Lindsey Graham, Thom Tillis, and Cory Booker to support the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act. It arose out of fears that President Donald Trump would dismiss Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russia’s collusion with the Americans in the 2016 U.S. elections.
The bill provides that if the president dismisses a special advisor, a legal committee must review the dismissal within 10 days to determine whether or not it is justified. And if the dismissal proves to be unworthy, the special adviser will be reinstated.
