il_sen_MOSELEY-BRAUN

SEN. CAROL MOSELEY-BRAUN

· Democratic incumbent Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun was elected in 1992; she is the first black female to serve in the U.S. Senate.

· Moseley-Braun challenged incumbent Sen. Alan Dixon when he supported Clarence Thomas' nomination to the Supreme Court. In a three-way primary, Moseley-Braun rode the wave anti-incumbency to defeat Dixon. Her primary victory made her a celebrity in the '92 Year of the Woman election.

· After spending only $600,000 in the primary, Moseley-Braun raised more than $6.6 Million in the general election. Charges of splitting $28,000 in inheritance money with sibilings instead of paying her mother's medicaid bills, dogged her throughout the campaign. She managed, however, to defeat her Republican challenger, Chicago lawyer Richard Williamson winning 53% of the vote.

· Her victory's sweetness was only temporary. Soon after the campaign, former staffers alleged campaign manager and former Moseley-Braun fiancé, Kgosie Matthews sexually harassed them, but the accusations were never substantiated. Later, campaign records showed more than 100 contributions exceeded the legal $1000 limit and more than $240,000 of her expenditures were not documented.

· Moseley-Braun has also been criticized for visits with and supports she's shown for the late-Nigerian dictator, Gerenal Sani Abacha.

· In the Senate, Mosely-Braun advocated issues familiar to her urban roots. She pushed to give prosecuters the ability to try juveniles, who use firearms in a murder, as adults. She criticized "gangsta rap" and campaigned for midnight basketball funding.

· She challenged her colleagues to deny Sen. Jesse Helms' request for a Daughter of the Confederacy patent legislation.

· Moseley-Braun is the daughter of a policeman and a life-long Chicago resident.