Andrew Monroe Rice (born April 23, 1973) is an American civic leader and
politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
from
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
. He represented Senate District 46 in the
Oklahoma State Senate
The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
in 2008, losing to incumbent U.S. Senator
Jim Inhofe
James Mountain Inhofe (; ; November 17, 1934 – July 9, 2024) was an American politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Oklahoma from 1994 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
.
Rice worked as Foundation Fundraising Director of Variety Care health systems in Central Oklahoma, a non-profit group which serves moderate income families with health care.
He resigned from his Senate seat January 15, 2012, citing an out-of-state career opportunity for his wife.
In 2020, Rice published a novel, ''Ghosts of Ursino'', and a collection of poems, ''Luminosity.''
Early life
Born and raised in
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
, Rice attended
Casady School
Casady School is an independent, coeducational, college-preparatory school located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, founded in 1947 by Bishop Thomas Casady and the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma, and a group of businessmen. Casady serves children in ...
and graduated from
Christchurch School
Christchurch School is a private college-preparatory coeducational boarding school in Christchurch, Virginia, founded in 1921 by the Episcopal Church Diocese of Virginia. The school enrolls approximately 225 students, boarding and day, grades ...
. In 1996, he graduated from
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...
with a bachelor's degree in
Religious Studies
Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...
Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...
in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
.Oklahoma Senate Biography , Oklahoma Senate.
From 1996 to 1997 Rice studied drug addiction problems and treatment in urban
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. During graduate school, Rice produced a documentary entitled ''From Ashes'' which focused on the AIDS epidemic in India.
In 2001, Rice's brother, David Harlow Rice, died in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
State Senate
After winning the Democratic party's three-way primary for Senate district 46 on July 25, 2006, Rice won the general election garnering 69.5 percent of the vote. He was sworn into office on November 16, 2006.
Rice's Senate district encompasses downtown and the urban core of
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
and covers approximately 71,000 people.
In 2010, Rice was re-elected to the
Oklahoma State Senate
The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.*Cosponsored and helped pass legislation called the "All Kids Act" to add 38,000 Oklahoma children to those eligible for government-sponsored health insurance.
*Led a successful effort to make it easier for local governments to donate abandoned properties for use by Habitat for Humanity to construct affordable housing, especially in rural Oklahoma.
*Co-author of the legislation creating the Hunger Task Force to tackle the problem of hunger in Oklahoma.
*Authored legislation creating a state Veterans Health Insurance Program that provides coverage to uninsured Oklahoma veterans. The legislation was passed by the senate with 45–1 vote.
2008 U.S. Senate Election
Rice officially filed as a candidate for the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
from
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
on Monday, June 2, 2008. He won the Democratic primary against Jim Rogers on July 29, 2008 but was defeated in the general election on November 4, 2008 by incumbent Republican
Jim Inhofe
James Mountain Inhofe (; ; November 17, 1934 – July 9, 2024) was an American politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Oklahoma from 1994 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
, who won reelection to a fourth term in a
landslide
Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...
.
Personal
In 2004, Rice founded of the Progressive Alliance Foundation which worked throughout the state of
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
advancing progressive, fair-minded and constitutional solutions to public policy problems. He also launched the Red River Democracy Project and was on the board of The People's Opinion Project. For 3 years, Rice was the Executive Director of Teen Recovery Solutions in Oklahoma City, which operates Oklahoma's only accredited recovery High School for teens dealing with addiction, Mission Academy. On September 11, 2001, Rice lost a brother in the
9/11
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
attacks.
Rice is also a writer. He has published a novel Ghosts of Ursino and a collection of poems Luminosity
Rice is married to Dr. Apple Newman Rice who practices medicine in
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
. They have two sons and reside in
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
OpenSecrets.org
OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector and ...