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Highlights & Quotes Marilyn Musgrave represents Colorado's 4th Congressional district, and was first elected to the Congress in 2002. The district is a largely GOP district that has been represented by a Republican since 1972. A longtime Republican Party and anti-choice activist, Musgrave previously served on the Fort Morgan School Board (4 years), in the Colorado House of Representatives (4 years), and the Colorado State Senate (4 years) where she also served as the Senate Republican Caucus Chairman. She is a graduate of Colorado State College and a member of the First Assemblies of God church.

Representative Musgrave has become most well-known for her advocacy of a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages. Her campaign to ban gay marriages began in her freshman term as a state representative, when she proposed and navigated a ban through the legislature after a Hawaii court said that state had to allow same-sex unions. Her bill was vetoed twice by then-governor Roy Romer (a Democrat), who called the measure "simplistic and divisive." But she persisted, reintroducing the bill every year until it was signed into law in 2000 by the subsequent governor, Republican Bill Owens.

She is also an active anti-choice activist and supporter of the "global gag" rule under which foreign family planning agencies may not receive U.S. assistance if they provide any abortion services, including counseling or referrals on abortion, or lobby to make or keep abortion legal in their own country and also supported efforts to halt U.S. funding for the UN Population Fund (http://www.unfpa.org/). (1) Her advocacy of gun rights outpaces even that of the National Rifle Association. While serving as a Colorado legislator she "once accused the National Rifle Association of being too quick to compromise in backing away from her efforts to ease the state's gun-control laws," according to the Wall Street Journal (2) She has also never met a tax cut she didn't like, and has actively opposed any increase in the gasoline tax. (3)

Musgrave sits on the Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, and Small Business Committees in the House. She is also a leader in the House Republican Study Committee, a group of 90 of the most radical House Republicans. (4)

Representative Musgrave's voting record reflects the agenda of the Christian Right and Conservatives, reinforcing the National Journal's description of her as a "tenacious advocate of conservative social causes." (5) In 2003 she spoke at the Reverend Jerry Falwell's church in Lynchburg, Virginia and received a standing ovation. (6)

On the votes considered to be most important in 2003, she voted the preferred position of the Christian Coalition, Eagle Forum, and Concerned Women for America 100% of the time and took the preferred position of the American Conservative Union 96% of the time. In terms of civil liberties and civil rights, her votes in 2003 reflected the position of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 0 percent of the time, and that of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 20 percent of the time. (7) She also a score of 5 from the League of Conservation Voters. (8)

She is a favored candidate of Vice President Dick Cheney, who actively campaigned for her in the 2002 election, saying that "The president and I have been very impressed with Marilyn's record and we look forward to welcoming her to Washington." (9)

At a Republican Party retreat in late January, Bush told 250 legislators that he backed "Marilyn's language" for the constitutional amendment banning gay marriages. According to a glowing feature story in the neoconservative Weekly Standard, "A member of the First Assembly of God, she has not separated her role as a legislator and sponsored bills opposing abortion and same-sex marriage." (17)

Fundraising

As of December 31, 2003, Musgrave had raised $673, 703 and had $368,009 on hand. Roughly two-thirds of that was from individuals and just over one-third from PACs. (10) Of the PAC contributions, 84.2% were from business PACS, 15.6% from ideological PACS (mostly Republican and anti-choice) and 0.2% from labor PACS. (11) Her major business PAC contributors were from finance, insurance, and real estate, agribusiness, miscellaneous business, and energy and natural resources. The sources of funds by major sector as of December 31, 2003 is as following: (12)

Agribusiness