Sander Martin Levin (born September 6, 1931) is an American politician who served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...

from 1983 to 2019, representing (numbered as the from 1983 to 1993 and as the from 1993 to 2013). Levin, a member of the Democratic Party from

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, is a former ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee; he was Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee from 2010 to 2011. He was the older brother of former U.S. Senator Carl Levin, and is the father of former Congressman Andy Levin, his successor. In December 2017, Levin announced that he would retire from

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at the end of his current term, and not seek re-election in

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. His son Andy was elected on November 6, 2018, and took office in the

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, which commenced on January 3, 2019.

Early life and education

Levin was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish parents Bess Rachel (née Levinson) and Saul R. Levin. He graduated from Central High School in Detroit, received a bachelor's degree from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1952, a

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in international relations from

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in 1954, and a law degree from

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in 1957. Afterwards, he developed a private practice in Detroit.

State politics

Levin was named chairman of the Oakland County Democratic Party in 1962. He was elected as

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

for the 15th district in 1964, defeating Republican George W. Kuhn. Levin served in the position until 1970. Following the 1967 resignation of Michigan Democratic Party chairman Zolton Ferency, Levin was elected state party chairman on December 17. He resigned his position as minority floor leader the following January. He served as Senate minority leader from January 1969 to January 1970, when he resigned to run for governor. He made unsuccessful campaigns for

Governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of government of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the state's 49th governor. She was re-ele ...

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and 1974, both times losing to Republican William Milliken. He was a Fellow of the

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

in 1975. From 1977 through 1981 he was assistant administrator of the Agency for International Development.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In 1982, incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman William Brodhead decided not to run for re-election, instead making an unsuccessful run for governor. Levin won the Democratic primary in Michigan's 17th congressional district with 49% of the vote, which at that time included northwestern Detroit as well as parts of Macomb and Oakland counties. Levin subsequently won this 1982 general election with 67% of the vote. He typically won re-election with at least 56% of the vote since then, exceptions being 1992 and 1994 elections. After the 1990 United States census, his district was renumbered as the 12th district and lost its share of Detroit. In 1992, he narrowly defeated businessman and

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veteran John Pappageorge 53%-46%. In a 1994 rematch, Levin again defeated this same opponent, during the midst of the Republican Revolution, 52%-47%. Then again in 1996, Levin defeated Pappageorge by a larger margin in a third rematch 57%-41%. In 1998, Levin won re-election against Republican nominee Leslie A. Touma, 56%-42%. In 2000, Detroit Metro area businessman Bart Baron gained the endorsement of the

United Auto Workers The United Auto Workers (UAW), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and sou ...

Union, but Levin still managed to win re-election with 64% of the vote. The 2000s redistricting added heavily Democratic Southfield and Mount Clemens to the district, and he won re-election in every election with at least 61% of the vote since. ;2012 After redistricting, Levin's district was merged with the 9th District of fellow Democrat Gary Peters. The district retained Peters' district number—the 9th—but geographically was more Levin's district. Peters opted to run in the newly redrawn 14th District. This effectively handed the Democratic nomination to Levin. While he lost Southfield to the 14th, it picked up the rest of Royal Oak, as well as Oak Park, Clawson and Berkley, among other locations. It was no less Democratic than its predecessor, and Levin breezed to a 16th term with 61.4 percent of the vote.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Ways and Means (former Ranking Member) ** Subcommittee on Trade (Ranking Member) ** Subcommittee on Income Security Levin took over as chairman of the Ways and Means committee on March 4, 2010, when Charles B. Rangel of New York stepped aside in due to a number of ethics violations. Levin served as chairman until January 2011 and ranking member until the end of 2016. Levin was a member of the House Baltic Caucus and the Congressional Arts Caucus.

Political positions

Foreign policy

As a member of Congress, Levin was a supporter of

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. He supported the nuclear deal with Iran, and said that Israel, the region, and the world would be more secure under the Iran nuclear deal.

Personal life

His wife of 50 years, Vicki Schlafer, died on September 4, 2008. They had four children: Andy, Jennifer, Madeleine, and Matthew and ten grandchildren. In a private ceremony in July 2012, Levin married Pamela Cole, age 61, a

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

psychology professor who studies emotional development. They met through his late wife Vicki. Cole and Levin worked to create a fund in her name for young professionals researching early childhood development. Levin comes from a family that has long been prominent in Michigan politics. His younger brother Carl Levin was the state's senior Senator until his retirement in January 2015. His uncle, Theodore, was a federal judge. His first cousin

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

was a

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justice, after serving as a Michigan Court of Appeals judge. Another first cousin, Joseph Levin, was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. His son Andy Levin was an unsuccessful candidate for the Michigan Senate in 2006, but in 2018 was elected to succeed him in the United States House of Representatives.

Electoral history

, + : Results 1982–1990 ! Year ! ! Democratic ! Votes ! % ! ! Republican ! Votes ! % ! ! Third party ! Party ! Votes ! % ! , - , 1982 , , , , Sander Levin , , 116,901 , , 67% , , , Gerald Rosen , , 55,620 , , 32% , , , Virginia Cropsey , , Libertarian , , 2,955 , , 2% , , - , 1984 , , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 133,064 , , 100% , , , ''No candidate'' , , , , , , , , , - , 1986 , , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 105,031 , , 76% , , , Calvin Williams , , 30,879 , , 22% , , , Charles Martell , , Independent , , 1,477 , , 1% , , - , 1988 , , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 135,493 , , 70% , , , Dennis Flessland , , 55,197 , , 29% , , , Charles Hahn , , Libertarian , , 2,333 , , 1% , , - , 1990 , , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 92,205 , , 70% , , , Blaine Lankford , , 40,100 , , 30% , , , , , , , + : Results 1992–2010 ! Year ! ! Democratic ! Votes ! % ! ! Republican ! Votes ! % ! ! Third party ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Third party ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Third party ! Party ! Votes ! % , - ,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 137,514 , , 53% , , , John Pappageorge , , 119,357 , , 46% , , , Charles Hahn , , Libertarian , align="right" , 2,751 , align="right" , 1% , , ! style="background:#00bfff; ", R. W. Montgomery , ! style="background:#00bfff; ",

Natural Law Natural law (, ) is a Philosophy, philosophical and legal theory that posits the existence of a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason. In ethics, natural law theory asserts ...

, ! style="background:#00bfff; ", 1,724 , ! style="background:#00bfff; ", 1% , , , , , , , - ,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 103,508 , , 52% , , , John Pappageorge , , 92,762 , , 47% , , , Jerome White , , No party affiliation , , 1,386 , , 1% , , ! style="background:#00bfff; ", Eric Anderson , ! style="background:#00bfff; ",

, ! style="background:#00bfff; ", 1,340 , ! style="background:#00bfff; ", 1% , , , , , , , - , 1996 , , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 133,436 , , 57% , , , John Pappageorge , , 94,235 , , 41% , , , Albert Titran , , Libertarian , , 3,101 , , 1% , , ! style="background:#00bfff; ", Gail Petrosoff , ! style="background:#00bfff; ",

, ! style="background:#00bfff; ", 1,690 , ! style="background:#00bfff; ", 1% , , , , , , , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 105,824 , , 56% , , , Leslie Touma , , 79,619 , , 42% , , , Albert Titran , , Libertarian , , 2,813 , , 1% , , ! style="background:#00bfff; ", Fred Rosenberg , ! style="background:#00bfff; ",

, ! style="background:#00bfff; ", 1,172 , ! style="background:#00bfff; ", 1% , , , , , , , - ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 157,720 , , 64% , , , Bart Baron , , 78,795 , , 32% , , , Thomas Ness , ,

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

, , 4,137 , , 2% , , , Andrew LeCureaux , , Libertarian , , 3,630 , , 1% , , ! style="background:#00bfff; ", Fred Rosenberg , ! style="background:#00bfff; ",

, ! style="background:#00bfff; ", 887 , ! style="background:#00bfff; ", 0% , , - , 2002 , , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 140,970 , , 68% , , , Harvey Dean , , 61,502 , , 30% , , , Dick Gach , , Libertarian , align="right" , 2,694 , align="right" , 1% , , , Steven Revis , , U.S. Taxpayers , , 1,362 , , 1% , , , , , , , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 210,827 , , 69% , , , Randell Shafer , , 88,256 , , 29% , , , Dick Gach , , Libertarian , , 5,051 , , 2% , , , , , , , , , , , , - , 2006 , , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 168,494 , , 71% , , , Randell Shafer , , 62,689 , , 26% , , , Andrew LeCureaux , , Libertarian , , 3,259 , , 1% , , , Jerome White , , No party affiliation , , 1,862 , , 1% , , , Art Myatt , ,

, , 1,735 , , 1% , , - , 2008 , , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 225,094 , , 72% , , , Bert Copple , , 74,565 , , 24% , , , John Vico , , Libertarian , , 4,767 , , 2% , , , Les Townsend , , U.S. Taxpayers , , 4,076 , , 1% , , , William Opalicky , ,

, , 3,842 , , 1% , - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 124,671 , , 61% , , , Don Volaric , , 71,372 , , 35% , , , Julia Williams , ,

, , 3,038 , , 1% , , , Leonard Schwartz , , Libertarian , , 2,342 , , 1% , , , Les Townsend , , U.S. Taxpayers , , 2,285 , , 1% , * , + : Results 2012– ! Year ! ! Democratic ! Votes ! % ! ! Republican ! Votes ! % ! ! Third party ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Third party ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Third party ! Party ! Votes ! % ! , - ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 208,846 , , 62% , , , Don Volaric , , 114,760 , , 34% , , , Jim Fulner , , Libertarian , align="right" , 6,100 , align="right" , 2% , , , Julia Williams , ,

, , 4,708 , , 1% , , , Les Townsend , , U.S. Taxpayers , , 2,902 , , 1% , , - ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 136,342 , , 60% , , , George Brikho , , 81,470 , , 36% , , , Gregory Creswell , , Libertarian , align="right" , 4,792 , align="right" , 2% , , , John McDermott , ,

, , 3,153 , , 1% , , , , , , , - ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , , , Sander Levin (incumbent) , , 199,661 , , 58% , , , Christopher Morse , , 128,937 , , 37% , , , Matthew Orlando , , Libertarian , align="right" , 9,563 , align="right" , 3% , , , John McDermott , ,

, , 6,614 , , 2% , , , , , ,

References

External links

* * , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Sander M. 1931 births Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan Harvard Law School alumni Jewish American people in Michigan politics Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Harvard Kennedy School staff Lawyers from Detroit Sander Living people Democratic Party Michigan state senators Politicians from Detroit School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni University of Chicago alumni Central High School (Detroit) alumni 21st-century American Jews 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Michigan Legislature