John Mica

John Luigi Mica (born January 27, 1943) is an American businessman, consultant and Republican politician who represented Florida's 7th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2017. He was defeated by Democrat Stephanie Murphy in the November 8, 2016, general election while serving his 12th term in office.

John Mica
Chair of the House Transportation Committee
In office January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Jim Oberstar
Succeeded by	Bill Shuster
Ranking Member of the House Transportation Committee
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Jim Oberstar
Succeeded by	Nick Rahall
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 7th district
In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2017
Preceded by	Sam Gibbons
Succeeded by	Stephanie Murphy
Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 39th district
In office 1976–1980
Preceded by	Harvey Matthews
Succeeded by	Daniel Webster
Personal details
Born	John Luigi Mica January 27, 1943 Binghamton, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Patricia Mica
Children	2
Relatives	Dan Mica (brother)
Alma mater	Miami Dade College University of Florida (BA)

Early life, education, and business career

Mica was born in Binghamton, New York and grew up in Florida. He was educated at Miami Edison High School, Miami-Dade Community College and the University of Florida, where he received a degree in education and was a member of Delta Chi fraternity and Florida Blue Key. He has been a businessman serving in the real estate, telecommunications, government affairs and consulting fields.

Early political career

Mica was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1976–80 and served on several committees, including the Appropriations Committee. He was a staff member for Senator Paula F. Hawkins from 1981–85 and became her chief of staff.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

1992

In 1992, Mica ran for Congress in the 7th District, previously the 4th District represented by two-term Republican Craig T. James.

John Mica while a member of the Florida state legislature

Mica won the Republican primary with 53% of the vote, defeating State Representative Richard Graham (34%) and Vaughn Forrest (13%).[1] In the general election, he defeated Democrat Dan Webster 56%–44%.[2]

1994–2004

During this time period, he won re-election every two years with at least 60% of the vote.[3]

Mica with Congressman Darrell Issa on the Navigation bridge of the USS Carl Vinson in 2014.

2006

Mica defeated Jack Chagnon 63%–37%.[4]

2008

Mica defeated Faye Armitage 62%–38%.[5]

2010

Mica defeated Heather Beaven 69%–31%.[6]

2012

For his first 10 terms, Mica represented a district that stretched from the Orlando suburbs through Daytona Beach all the way to St. Augustine.

After the 2010 Census, the bulk of Mica's territory became the 6th District. However, most of the Orange County portion, including Mica's home in Winter Park, was drawn into the new 7th District. That district had previously been the 24th District, represented by freshman Republican Sandy Adams. Although the new 7th was over 58 percent new to Mica, he defeated Adams in the Republican primary with 61 percent of the vote. In the general election, Mica defeated Jason Kendall 59%–41%.[7]

2014

Mica defeated Wes Neuman 64%–32%.[8]

2016

A court-ordered redistricting made the 7th slightly friendlier to Democrats. The new map cut out the district's share of Volusia County, while pushing it farther into Orlando.

The 7th had already been a marginal district, even though Mica had been elected twice from this district without serious difficulty. Mitt Romney narrowly won it over Barack Obama in 2012, with 51 percent of the vote.[9] In contrast, had the redrawn 7th existed in 2012, Obama would have won it with 49.4 percent.[10]

In the general election, Mica lost to Democrat Stephanie Murphy by a margin of 51%–49%.[11]

Policy positions

Abortion

Mica opposes abortion. Regarding taxpayer funding of abortion through Planned Parenthood, he has said "I think the majority of Americans would oppose public, federal dollars going into abortion."[12]

Economic issues

Mica voted against the 2009 stimulus.[13] He has brought federal money for Florida highways, SunRail, the Veterans Administration Medical Center, and the University of Central Florida.[14]

Transportation

Mica supports Amtrak privatization.[15] In 2009, he earmarked $13 million for the Central Florida Commuter Rail, which was supported by a client of Mica's daughter.[16]

Mica has been opposed to the federal government contributing any additional funds towards repairing the Washington DC Metrorail system.[17]

Marijuana

As chairman of the House Oversight Committee's subcommittee on government operations, Mica convened a hearing on marijuana legalization in 1999. It was the first such hearing since 1988. Mica opposes the legalization of recreational marijuana.[18][19] Another such hearing was held by Mica in 2014 on the same subject, with multiple drug experts providing input.[20]

Electoral history

Florida's 7th congressional district election, 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Mica (inc.)	149,656	63.08
	Democratic	John F. Chagnon	87,584	36.92
Total votes			237,240	100.00
	Republican hold

Florida's 7th congressional district election, 2008[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Mica (incumbent)	238,721	62.0
	Democratic	Faye Armitage	146,292	38.0
Total votes			385,013	100.00
	Republican hold

Florida's 7th congressional district election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Mica (Incumbent)	184,868	69
	Democratic	Heather Beaven	82,999	31
Total votes			267,867	100

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Mica (incumbent)	32,119	61.2
	Republican	Sandra Adams (incumbent)	20,404	38.8
Total votes			52,523	100.0

Florida's 7th congressional district, 2012 [22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Mica (incumbent)	185,518	58.7
	Democratic	Jason H. Kenall	130,479	41.3
	Independent	Fred Marra (write-in)	13	0.0
Total votes			316,010	100.0
	Republican hold

Republican primary results[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Mica (incumbent)	32,084	72.2
	Republican	David Smith	8,316	18.7
	Republican	Don Oehlrich	2,285	5.1
	Republican	Kelly Shirley	1,786	4.0
Total votes			44,471	100.0

Florida's 7th congressional district, 2014[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Mica (incumbent)	144,474	63.6
	Democratic	Wes Neuman	73,011	32.1
	Independent	Al Krulick	9,679	4.3
Total votes			227,164	100.0
	Republican hold

Republican primary results [25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Mica (incumbent)	38,528	77.2
	Republican	Mark Busch	11,407	22.8
Total votes			49,935	100.0

Florida’s 7th congressional district, 2016 [26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Stephanie Murphy	182,039	51.5
	Republican	John Mica (incumbent)	171,583	48.5
	Independent	Mike Plaskon (write-in)	33	0.0
Total votes			353,655	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

Committee assignments

Mica was chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee from January 3, 2011 to December 2012.

• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (former Chairman)
• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
  • Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives
  • Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs

Personal life

Mica is married to Patricia, a schoolteacher, and has two grown children. He lives in Winter Park, Florida. He is the brother of former Representative Daniel A. Mica, while his other brother, David, is a former ranking staffer of Senator Lawton Chiles.[27] He is a member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees and the Coast Guard Academy Board of Visitors.[28][29]

References

1. "FL District 07 – R Primary Race – Sep 01, 1992". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
2. "FL District 07 Race – Nov 03, 1992". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
3. "Candidate – John L. Mica". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
4. "FL – District 07 Race – Nov 07, 2006". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
5. "FL – District 07 Race – Nov 04, 2008". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
6. "FL – District 07 Race – Nov 02, 2010". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
7. "Our Campaigns - FL District 07 Race - Nov 06, 2012". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
8. "November 4, 2014 General Election Official Results". Florida Department of State Division of Elections. Archived from the original on 24 January 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
9. Presidential results by congressional district for districts used in 2012 and 2014, courtesy Daily Kos
10. Presidential results by congressional district for districts used in 2016, courtesy Daily Kos
11. "Our Campaigns - FL District 07 Race - Nov 08, 2016". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
12. Martinez, Jack (September 29, 2015). "Facing Congress, Planned Parenthood CEO Defends Abortion as a Health Service". Newsweek. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
13. Finley, Ben (July 20, 2012). "Florida Primary Flier Frames Republican". FactCheck.org. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
14. Powers, Scott (August 30, 2016). "John Mica gets tune-up election out of the way, set for Democratic challenge in CD 7". Florida Politics. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
15. Hannan, Larry (June 16, 2011). "John Mica, Corrine Brown split over privatizing Amtrak in Northeast". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
16. Ward, Kenric (March 28, 2012). "Report: Two Florida Congressmen Kept Earmarks in the Family". Sunshine State News. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
17. Freed, Benjamin (April 13, 2016). "Metro Chairman Tells Congress to Chip in $300 Million Per Year. Congress Yells at Metro". Washingtonian Magazine. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
18. Itkowitz, Colby. "Rep. Mica holds (another) hearing on being stoned". www.washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
19. Fang, Marina (July 31, 2014). "Congressional Republicans Rail Against Legalization Of Marijuana". Huffington Post. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
20. "Mixed Signals: the Administration's Policy on Marijuana, Part Four - the Health Effects and Science - United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform". United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
23. "2014 Primary Election August 26, 2014 Official Results". Florida Division of Elections. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
25. "August 30, 2016 Primary Election Official Results". Florida Division of Elections. August 30, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
26. "2016 General Election November 8, 2016 Official Results". Florida Division of Elections. November 8, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
27. McCutcheon, Michael; Barone, Chuck (2013). 2014 Almanac of American Politics. The University of Chicago Press.
28. "Company Overview of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts". Bloomberg. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
29. Congressional Record (V. 153, Pt. 15 ed.). Government Printing Office. July 2007.

External links

• John Mica at Curlie
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress