Hansen Hashim Clarke (born Molik Hashim, March 2, 1957) is an American politician and former U.S. Congressman. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, he was the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for from 2011 to 2013. Prior to his election to Congress, he had been a member of the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...

from 1991 through 1992 and from 1999 through 2002, and represented the 1st district in the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

from 2003 to 2011. Clarke was also the first U.S. Congressman of

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

descent. Clarke entered Congress after defeating incumbent

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick Carolyn Jean Cheeks Kilpatrick (born June 25, 1945) is a former American politician who was U.S. Representative for and then from 1997 to 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party. In August 2010 she lost the Democratic primary election t ...

in the 2010 Democratic primary for the 13th congressional district. In 2012, due to redistricting, fellow incumbent

Gary Peters Gary Charles Peters (born December 1, 1958) is an American lawyer, politician, and former military officer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Michigan, a seat he has hel ...

chose to run against Clarke in the 14th congressional district primary. Clarke finished second in the primary behind Peters, and left Congress in January 2013. In April 2014, Clarke attempted a comeback and announced he would again run in the 14th District primary. The seat was to be vacated by Peters, who ran successfully for the U.S. Senate. Clarke was unsuccessful in his bid to regain the seat.

Early life, education, and early political career

Molik Hashim was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. His father was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

immigrant from

Beanibazar Beanibazar () is an upazila (sub-district) of Sylhet District in northeastern Bangladesh, part of the Sylhet Division. The area is the successor of the territory of Panchakhanda, formerly ruled by the aristocratic Pal family. History Beanibazar ...

Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

), and his mother was

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

. He grew up in the city's

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

. Clarke's father died when he was eight years old and his mother worked as a

crossing guard A crossing guard (North American English), lollipop man/lady/person (British, Irish, and Australian English), or school road patrol (New Zealand English) is a traffic management personnel who is normally stationed on busy roadways to aid pedest ...

to support her family. Clarke is an alumnus of

Cass Technical High School Cass Technical High School (simply referred to as Cass Tech) is a four-year Public magnet high school in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. from the University Cultural Center Association, retrieved June 9, 1001 It was established in 19 ...

, and later graduated from

The Governor's Academy The Governor's Academy (informally known as Governor's or Govs) is a co-educational, college-preparatory day and boarding school in Byfield, Massachusetts. Established in 1763 in memory of Massachusetts governor William Dummer, Governor's is ...

, a Massachusetts boarding school. In 1978, he changed his name to Hansen Clarke, taking his mother's maiden name. Clarke attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, graduating with a degree in fine arts. He is a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...

fraternity. While at Cornell, Clarke became interested in public service and electoral politics. He was elected to the student seat on the Cornell University Board of Trustees, defeating fellow student and future political commentator

Ann Coulter Ann Hart Coulter (; born December 8, 1961) is an American conservative media pundit, author, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She became known as a media pundit in the late 1990s, appearing in print and on cable news as an outspoken critic ...

in the process. He earned a J.D. degree from

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

in 1987. Clarke worked on the County Executive's staff of Wayne County, during the administration of Edward H. McNamara, and then as chief of staff to U.S. Representative

John Conyers John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929October 27, 2019) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. Conyers was the sixth-longest serving member of Congress and the lo ...

Michigan legislature

Elections

Clarke was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1990, 1998, and 2000. After his six years in the Michigan House, Hansen Clarke was elected to the Michigan Senate in 2002. Senator Clarke was re-elected to his seat in the Senate in 2006. In 2010, Hansen Clarke was elected to represent the 13th District of Michigan in the United States House of Representatives.

Tenure

Clarke served on the State Senate Appropriations committee, and later served on the Health Policy committee and Commerce and Tourism committee.

2005 mayoral campaign

Clarke ran unsuccessfully in the 2005 Detroit mayoral election.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

;2010

Clarke defeated seven-term incumbent U.S. Rep.

in the Democratic primary for Michigan's 13th District—the real contest in this heavily Democratic, black-majority district—in Aug. 3, 2010. In the general election, Clarke easily defeated Republican John Hauler, and became the third American of South Asian descent elected to Congress. ;2012 After Michigan lost a congressional district in redistricting, most of Clarke's district became the 14th District. It was significantly redrawn to take in large slices of nearby

Oakland County Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a principal county of the Detroit metropolitan area, containing the bulk of Detroit's northern suburbs. Its seat of government is Pontiac, and its largest city is Troy. As of the ...

. Clarke's home was drawn into the 13th District, represented by fellow Democrat

, but Clarke opted to follow most of his constituents into the 14th. Clarke faced fellow Congressman

and Southfield mayor

Brenda Lawrence Brenda Lawrence (née Lulenar; born October 18, 1954) is an American retired politician who served as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 14th congressional district from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Lawrence served as ma ...

in the primary. Peters' 9th district had been eliminated in redistricting, and he chose to run in the 14th; he had represented much of the Oakland County portion of the district in both the state senate and in Congress. Peters emerged as the winner, and defeated Republican John Hauler in November. ;2014 In May 2013, Peters announced that he would not be running for re-election in 2014. He instead ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democrat

Carl Levin Carl Milton Levin (June 28, 1934 – July 29, 2021) was an American attorney and politician who served as a List of United States senators from Michigan, United States senator from Michigan from 1979 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (U ...

. Clarke attempted to win his seat back, but was defeated in the primary by

Tenure

Clarke championed initiatives to increase investment in the City of Detroit, which resulted in millions of dollars of federal assistance being awarded to the city and the region. He won approval in Congress to increase funding to improve nutrition for low-income families, provide housing for homeless veterans, and better equip and staff local police, fire, and emergency medical providers to bolster homeland security. ;Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012 (H.R. 4170) Clarke led the effort in Congress to cut student loan debt for millions of Americans by authoring the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012. This bill inspired a national movement, including a petition in support of his legislation that received more than one million signatures that urged Congress to pass H.R. 4170. ;Home foreclosures Clarke also fought foreclosures to save family homes and neighborhoods. He established himself as one of the nation's strongest advocates for struggling homeowners and distressed communities with the Save Our Neighborhoods Act, a bill that would allow many homeowners to stay in their homes by suspending the foreclosure process and reducing their mortgage principal. ;Literacy Clarke worked to reduce crime and restore hope by addressing the urgent crisis of illiteracy among African-American and Hispanic men. He co-authored a bipartisan resolution initiating national action for literacy. Rep. Clarke also introduced the first federal legislation to "

Ban the Box Ban the Box is an American campaign by advocates for ex-offenders aimed at removing the check box that asking applicants about their potential criminal record from hiring applications. Its purpose is to enable ex-offenders to display their quali ...

," which would prohibit unfair discrimination against job applicants with certain criminal backgrounds. Clarke was a member of the

Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is made up of Black members of the United States Congress. Representative Yvette Clarke from New York, the current chairperson, succeeded Steven Horsford from Nevada in 2025. Although most members belong ...

Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) is a Caucuses of the United States Congress, caucus consisting of members of the United States Congress who are Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (Asian Pacific American, AAPI), and who ...

, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Homeland Security ** Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security ** Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications * Committee on Science, Space and Technology ** Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics ** Subcommittee on Research and Science Education

Electoral history

Personal life

Clarke is married to Choi Palms-Cohen. They married in 2007, after meeting at the offices of the Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

where she worked. They live on Detroit's east side where Clarke was born and raised. Clarke was raised as a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

but later converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

References

External links

Hansen Clarke - Michigan Legislator Details

Congressman Hansen Clarke
''official U.S. House website'' * ''official campaign website''
Hansen Clarke
at MichiganVotes.org ** Voting record
1999–20002001–20022003–20062007–2010

Michigan Bureau of Elections – Hansen Clarke (State Senate)
campaign finance reports and data
Michigan Bureau of Elections – Hansen Clarke (State House)
campaign finance reports and data
Michigan Liberal – SD01
* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Hansen 1957 births Living people 20th-century members of the Michigan Legislature 21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature 21st-century Roman Catholics African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American state legislators in Michigan African-American former Muslims American former Muslims American people of Bangladeshi descent Cass Technical High School alumni Catholics from Michigan Converts to Roman Catholicism from Islam Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan Georgetown University Law Center alumni Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Members of the United States House of Representatives of Asian descent Democratic Party Michigan state senators Politicians from Detroit People from Beanibazar Upazila The Governor's Academy alumni Asian-American state legislators in Michigan 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians African-American Catholics American Roman Catholics 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Early life, education, and early political career

Michigan legislature

Elections

Tenure

2005 mayoral campaign

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Tenure

Committee assignments

Electoral history

Personal life

See also

References

External links