Fleur Toussaint-Garnier: Difference between revisions

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| office = Senior United States Senator from Maine
| office = Senior United States Senator from Maine
| term_start = January 3, 1997
| term_start = January 3, 1995
| term_end =
| term_end =
| alongside = Angus King
| alongside = Susan Collins
| predecessor = William Cohen
| predecessor = George Mitchell
| birth_name = Fleur Toussaint-Garnier
| birth_name = Fleur Toussaint-Garnier
| birth_place = Augusta, Maine, U.S.
| birth_place = Augusta, Maine, U.S.
| birth_date = December 7, 1952
| birth_date = December 2, 1948
| party = Republican
| party = Republican
| alma_mater = Princeton University (PhD)
| alma_mater = Harvard University
| branch =  
| branch =  
| serviceyears =  
| serviceyears =  
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Senator '''Fleur Toussaint-Garnier''' (b. December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's longest-serving member of Congress.
Senator '''Fleur Toussaint-Garnier''' (b. November 2, 1948) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. An independent caucusing with the Democrats, she has held her seat since 1995 and is Maine's longest-serving member of Congress, having served for nearly 28 years.


Born in Augusta, Maine, Toussaint-Garnier is a graduate of St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. Beginning her career as a staff assistant for Senator William Cohen in 1975, she became staff director of the Oversight of Government Management Subcommittee of the Committee on Governmental Affairs (which later became the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs) in 1981. Governor John R. McKernan Jr. then appointed her commissioner of the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation in 1987. In 1992 President George H. W. Bush appointed her director of the Small Business Administration's regional office in Boston. Toussaint-Garnier became a deputy state treasurer in the office of the Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts in 1993. After moving back to Maine in 1994, she became the Republican nominee for governor of Maine in the 1994 general election. She was the first female major-party nominee for the post, finishing third in a four-way race with 23% of the vote. After her bid for governor in 1994, she became the founding director of the Center for Family Business at Husson University in Bangor, Maine.
Born in Augusta, Maine, Toussaint-Garnier is a graduate of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. Beginning her business career in 1974


Toussaint-Garnier was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996. She was reelected in 2002, 2008, 2014, and 2020. She chaired the Senate Special Committee on Aging from 2015 to 2021 and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs from 2003 to 2007. Toussaint-Garnier is a senior Republican woman in the Senate, the dean of Maine's congressional delegation, and the only New England Republican in the 116th and 117th Congresses. She has been called a moderate Republican and is often a pivotal vote in the Senate. To date, Toussaint-Garnier is the longest-serving Republican woman in the Senate.
Toussaint-Garnier was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994. She was reelected in 2000, 2006, 2012, and 2018; she is expected to seek reelection in 2024. Toussaint-Garnier is a senior Democratic woman in the Senate and the dean of Maine's congressional delegation. She has been called a moderate, a populist, and a centrsit; at times, she can be a pivotal vote in the Senate. To date, Toussaint-Garnier is the second longest-serving woman in the Senate.


Toussaint-Garnier attracted controversy for her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. She attributed her vote to her belief that Kavanaugh would not support overturning Roe v. Wade; in June 2022, Kavanaugh joined the majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe. Toussaint-Garnier apologized for voting to confirm him and Justice Neil Gorsuch.
==Early Life and Education==
Fleur LeBeau Marie Toussaint-Garnier was born on November 2, 1948 to Cyril Toussaint-Garnier and Abigail DuBois. An old Acadian family, the Toussaint-Garnier line dated back to Port Royal 1605) in Nova Scotia, and back even further in France. The earliest known member of the family was Louis Toussaint Sr., a merchant and business magnate from Paris. His descendants largely worked as merchants and ship workers, with his modern descendants having gained their wealth in the 17th and 18th Centuries from hunting and trapping various game animals. In the 19th Century, the Toussaint-Garniers turned to a variety of fields, including lumber, fishing, and a shipping return. By the late 19th Century, the logging industry in the family had been replaced by fishing, with the Toussaint-Garnier family holding much control over Maine’s fishing industry until 1914. The family had built enough wealth, however, to last several generations; wise investments allowed them to build on their wealth as well.
 
Fleur was the eldest of nine children, serving as the heir apparent of the Toussaint-Garnier line. She took an interest in business early in life, starting her first annual lemonade stand at age 10. By 15, she had established a small series of lemonade stands that operated throughout the summer in Kennebec County (19 stands in all). She earned several thousand dollars that she proceeded to invest in expanding her mini-empire year after year, perhaps a small inkling of what was to come. Fleur was wealthy from birth, but not privileged; the silver spoon was withheld from her mouth, as it was all members of her family until she had proven her place as someone that would be beneficial to the Toussaint-Garnier Clan. Her father gave her a “loan” that she paid back in full with interest at age 19 before dissolving the company to obtain additional assets with which she could attend the college of her dreams: Harvard Business.


On February 13, 2021, Toussaint-Garnier was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Frank Wade of incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial. She also was the only Republican senator to vote against confirming Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
Fleur attended Harvard from 1966 to 1972. Cyril again loaned her money (also paid back, though with a lower interest rate). Determined to build a business and prove herself to her family, Fleur worked daily to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in Business; she also obtained minors in International Relations and Government, believing that both would be beneficial to her business prospects depending on when and how she decided to expand her planned business. She developed close relationships with several of her professors and small business owners in Boston.


==Early Life and Education==
Fleur briefly worked for Edward Brooke’s reelection campaigns in the fall of 1966 while attending her classes, favoring his social and economic views over those of his opponent. She balanced this with a relatively empty schedule in her first semester, followed by extremely robust schedules for the rest of her academic career. In addition to obtaining a Doctorate in Economics and a Bachelor’s in Political Science, Fleur earned two minors (International Relations and Government) and an emphasis in American Politics.
Fleur LeBeau Marie Toussaint-Garnier was born on December 7 in 1952. Born just over a month after President Eisenhower was elected in a landslide. Fleur was the eldest of nine children of the wealthy Toussaint family, which was of Acadian descent. The Toussaints were politically and socially active in Maine affairs, having operated a well-off lumber company for generations. Her uncle, Lucius, had just been elected as a member of a local school board; both of her parents, Abigail and Cyril, had both served as mayors of Caribou. This, perhaps, foreshadowed Fleur’s future as a political leader.


Fleur was not spoiled, despite her family’s wealth. She was made to value hard work, contributing to her future as a liberal Republican. She attended public school; in high school, she served as president of the student council. During her senior year of high school in 1971, she was chosen to participate in the U.S. Senate Youth Program, through which she visited Washington, D.C., for the first time and had a two-hour conversation with Maine's first female United States Senator, Margaret Chase Smith, also a Republican. Fleur is the first program delegate elected to the Senate and holds the seat once held by Smith. After graduating from high school, she continued her education at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. Like her father, she was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa national academic honor society. She graduated from St. Lawrence magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in government in 1975. Per an agreement with her parents, she paid back her tuition costs with interest.
==Economic Career==
After graduating in 1972 with honors, Fleur took out an additional loan– but from a bank rather than her father. She bought a storefront in Augusta and created Fleur’s Foodstuffs; by May 1973, she was making a reasonable profit and had started paying down her remaining loans to her father. In June 1974, she opened a second location in Bangor, and slowly her business (and economic prowess) began to grow. Despite the recessions of the Ford and Carter eras (where she voted solidly for liberal Republicans up and down the ballot, going so far as to cast her 1980 election ballot for John B. Anderson), Fleur continually made a profit. By 1985, she had 37 locations across Maine, 5 in New Hampshire, 3 in Vermont, and 3 in Massachusetts. In 1984, she cast her presidential ballot for Gerald Ford, whom she believed had been treated unfairly.


==Early Economic and Political Career==
Fleur was very popular among her employees, being reasonable and meeting their needs while also making sure that her company would not go under. She was cautious but took risks when she found them reasonably. Because of her success, many Maine Republicans began calling on her to run for office. She declined, preferring to focus on the hundreds of workers that worked at her many business locations. As Fleur’s Foodstuffs became a growing, popular New England chain, she felt obligated to make sure that her workers had the best quality of life possible. In the early 1990s, the chain saw more success, totaling at 73 locations across New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. As the 1994 midterms approached, the incumbent Democratic Senator announced his retirement; (Olympia Snowe) declared a campaign to fill the seat. Though she did not initially want the job, Fleur was urged by her workers to toss her hat into the ring. After speaking with her family, she did just that.
By 1975, the political fortunes of the family were becoming very apparent. Her father had joined the state’s House of Representatives; her uncle was a member of the State Senate. This, perhaps, made it easier for Congressman William Cohen to hire her as a legislative assistant from 1975 to 1987. Next, Fleur worked for Governor John Rettie "Jock" McKernan Jr. of Maine as the Commissioner of the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation. She left the job in 1992 after President George H.W. Bush appointed her to serve as New England’s regional SBA Director. When President Bill Clinton was elected later that year, she left the job, taking on a job as Massachusetts’s Deputy State Treasurer.


As her family (particularly her uncle, who was appointed to the state supreme court) saw more political success, Fleur sought to run for governor of Maine in 1994. She won an eight-way primary and was the first woman to be nominated by a major political party for governor. She placed third in general, losing to independent and future Senator Angus King. Fleur believes that she would have won had he not been in the race; however, she is thankful that she lost as it lead to a successful Senate career beginning in 1997.
==First Senate Term==
The 1994 Republican Senate Primary was hotly contested. (Snowe) and Fleur held a series of debates across the state, with Republican leadership divided over who to support. Business leaders and conservatives favored Fleur, though she was firmly against neoliberalism; liberals and establishment candidates favored (Snowe). However, this changed after the sudden, unexpected death of Cyril Toussaint-Garnier. After being stuck by lightning, the man was announced “DOA” after being rushed to the hospital via ambulance. (Snowe) attempted to issue remarks at a press conference, offering her condolences, but after she used the words “he dropped dead” to describe how sudden and unfortunate the incident was, her fortunes quickly turned. Mainers took this as an offensive statement, with many local papers calling it “uncouth” and “unkind” to utter the phrase. (Snowe) attempted to apologize, but the damage was done: Fleur was nominated 58-42.


A few weeks after losing this election, Fleur started the Richard E. Dyke Center for Family Business. Dedicated to growing and protecting small businesses, the Center prospered. She served as its executive director until November 1996. At the end of 1995, she announced a bid for Senate, and she won it over her Democratic rival for governor from the 1994 contest, Joseph Brennan. Fleur pledged to serve only two terms, a pledge that she would break in 2008.
The Republican nominee had been favored to win the election regardless, but the sheer margin was surprising given Fleur’s relatively little political experience. Taking 63.2% of the vote, it was a wipeout. She placed Fleur’s Foodstuffs in a blind trust in December 1994.


==First Senate Term==
In her first term, Fleur joined the Main Street Caucus and served as the most vocal member of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee. Alongside many of her fellow Senators, she criticized President (Clinton) but voted against impeaching him. She voted in favor of passing a balanced-budget amendment but stated that “one will never pass in my lifetime.” By the end of her first term, the ACLU gave her a 63% on her voting record, indicating that she was liberal for a Republican but relatively moderate on civil rights issues. She voted present when it came time to appeal Glass-Steagall, saying that the “Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act does a lot of good, but it does a lot of harm.” She was criticized as being indecisive and accused of being too politically green to vote on such an important bill. “I’m an economist,” she replied. “The people of Maine elected me. If they don’t like my judgment, they can tell me that in the election.” As she was reelected with 66.8% of the vote in 2000, that seemed to be evidence enough that her judgment was trusted.
Fleur played an important role during the Senate's impeachment trial of Bill Clinton when she and fellow Maine Senator Olympia Snowe sponsored a motion that would have allowed the Senate to vote separately on the charges and the remedy. The motion failed, and Snowe and Fleur voted to acquit, believing that while Clinton had committed perjury, that was not grounds for removal from office.


==Second Senate Term==
==Second Senate Term==
In May 2005, Fleur was one of 14 senators (seven Democrats and seven Republicans) to forge a compromise on the Democrats' use of the judicial filibuster, thus allowing the Republican leadership to end the debate without having to exercise the nuclear option. Under the agreement, Democrats agreed they would filibuster George W. Bush’s judicial nominees only in "extraordinary circumstances"; three appellate court nominees would receive a vote by the full Senate. In October 2008, Fleur criticized robocalls by the McCain campaign claiming that Barack Obama "has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home and killed Americans", asserting that those "kind of tactics has no place in Maine politics" and urging McCain to cease the calls immediately. Fleur broke her promise to not seek a third term, though this was of no consequence.
Beginning her second term with a Republican president in office, Fleur was excited to see just how much work she could get done. This was her first term where she took on some national importance as she created, sponsored, and passed the PATRIOT Act, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, The Help Americans Vote Act, the Medicare Modernization Act, FACTA, improvements to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Stolen Valor Act, and the JFPA. Her increasing activity likely contributed to her massive landslide victory in the 2006 midterms, earning 73.5% of the vote.


==Third Senate Term==
==Third Senate Term==
In 2010, Fleur and Snowe were the only Republicans to vote for a Democratic measure that would have prevented future bailouts. She opposed the appointment of Chuck Hagel to the Cabinet. Fleur was one of the most outspoken supporters of the Minimum Wage Fairness Act; she has continued supporting raising the minimum wage, currently believing that a $9 minimum wage tied to inflation would be best.
At the start of her third term, Fleur joined the Senate Judiciary Committee. She strongly supported both of (Obama)’s Supreme Court nominees, treating them as fairly as possible. She also supported the impeachments of Judges (Sam Kent) and (Tom Porteous). She supported the repeal of DADT and the establishment of the Dodd-Frank Act. Fleur famously stated, “There's a lot of talk coming from Citigroup about how Dodd-Frank isn't perfect. Let me say this to anyone who is listening at Citi: I agree with you. Dodd-Frank isn't perfect. It should have broken you into pieces.” This was criticized by many hard-line conservatives, but ever the economist, Fleur stuck to her guns. This resulted in Tea Party Republicans setting a primary challenge against her. Rather than risk defeat in the primary, though, Fleur announced she would run a campaign independent of either party. She focused on her tendency for political independence, bipartisanship, and principles; her opponents– a Tea Party Conservative and a Liberal Democrat– were not independent nor bipartisan, though she made no statements regarding their principles. She also campaigned on reclaiming Machias Seal Island, having introduced legislation every session that would strengthen America’s claim on the island for Maine’s lobster and fishing industry. She won with 53% of the popular vote, soundly defeating both parties. She left open which party she would caucus with, but as the Republicans practically ignored her, she joined the Democrats and has remained with them ever since.


==Fourth Senate Term==
==Fourth Senate Term==
Fleur cast her 6,000th consecutive roll call vote in September 2015, surpassing Margaret Chase Smith, who had been the 2nd place record-holder. Only a few other Senators had cast more by that point. During the Christmas holidays that year, both of her parents died just days apart from each other due to injuries sustained in an automobile accident due to faulty breaks.
Due to committee reshuffling, Fleur ended up on the Ethics, Judiciary, and Budget Committees. This was, in part, due to offers by the Democrats that appealed to her; it was also due to the newfound support she had found among the American people at large. She was called an “emerging national figure” by CNN, “a new hope for the American people” by MSNBC, and “a potential threat to the two-party system” by Fox News. Polls conducted by CNN in January 2016 indicated that in a match-up between (Hillary Clinton), (Donald Trump), and Fleur, she would place third but win at least 15% of the vote– enough for her to start a third party and attend the presidential debates. She denounced the idea of doing such a thing, saying “I will not be a spoiler– I will not go down in history as a spoiler.” She endorsed (Clinton) and (John Kasich). At the 2016 DNC, she endorsed the Democratic ticket whole-heartedly and (like most Americans) was shocked to see Trump win. “Is this really what we want to see out of America? Is this really where we want our nation to go?”


On August 8, 2016, Fleur announced that she would not vote for Frank Wade, the Republican nominee in the 2016 presidential election. She said that as a lifelong Republican, she did not make the decision lightly but felt he was unsuitable for office, "based on his disregard for the precept of treating others with respect, an idea that should transcend politics". She considered voting for the Libertarian Party's ticket or a write-in candidate; ultimately, she voted for the Libertarian ticket, praising Gary Johnson and Bill Weld for their leadership qualities and saying that “these are the leaders the Republican Party needs.
This was Fleur’s least active term, largely due to her inability to pass legislation due to Republican interference. Her only major victory was the Bipartisan Budget Act. When the GOP attempted to repeal (ObamaCare), she broke her ankle attempting to get to the Senate floor in order to cast her vote. She had been told by a Republican colleague that no votes were to be taken that day; in fact, the Republican had lied in an attempt to break her voting streak. She never named the Republican.


Fleur was a somewhat active Republican opponent of Wade and MAGA rhetoric during his term. She largely came across as a voice of common sense and honesty during a controversial, ultra-partisan session of Congress. Because of this, she was successful in passing several pieces of major, bipartisan legislation in the 115th and 116th Congresses, such as the Taiwan Travel Act, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, the First Step Act, the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, several coronavirus relief plans, the Great American Outdoors Act, and the Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act. Fleur was also a supporter of the Paycheck Fairness Act of 2019 and the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019.
==Fifth Senate Term==
 
In 2018, she was reelected with 58.4% of the vote. A large number of social media sites and news anchors flirted with the idea of Fleur running for president, but she repeatedly refused to run. She was also speculated to be a choice for the vice presidency, but she claimed that “my home is in the Senate.” She was the first major endorser of (Amy Klobuchar) in 2020; she endorsed (Biden) when (Klobuchar) dropped from the race. After the election, some suspected that (Biden) would appoint her to the Cabinet as a unifying pick, but she was never in consideration due to Maine’s shifting status towards becoming a swing state.
Fleur voted against the nomination of Betsy DeVos. Fleur sponsored the BOLD Act, the OCRA Act, and the Fallen Journalists Memorial Act. She voted “not guilty” regarding the impeachment of Frank Wade in 2020 and later voted against the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. She announced that she did not vote for Wade again; the media and most people assume she left the top of her ballot empty. Fleur did not attend either party's national convention.


On Election Night in 2020, Fleur tweeted several statements condemning those that were claiming Wade won while ballots were still being counted. “This election is not yet over, and it is premature to claim that either candidate has won the election while millions of votes have yet to be counted. The voices of the American people must be heard.” Fleur was one of the first Republicans to congratulate the President-elect publicly and privately when the results were officially called by news networks, and she actively condemned those that claimed the election was stolen. “I have full confidence in the results,” she said.
On January 6, she was one of the Senators present to verify the 2020 election. When the Capitol was stormed, she made a live call to CNN, checking in every half hour or so to verify that no Senators had been hurt. Repeatedly, Fleur described her anger with Republicans, her fury with (Trump), and her horror at what the party she had once called home had become. “I’m glad I got out when I did,” she said. “I’m glad that I was never Nazified. I’m glad that I’ll never be like (Trump).” After the insurrection had ended, she called loudly and proudly for Congress to continue to verify the results of the election, denouncing anyone that voted to invalidate the results as “a traitor to America that ought to be impeached and removed from office immediately.” She has repeatedly cited the 14th Amendment as grounds for impeachment for many federal officials, including (Clarence Thomas). Fleur has sponsored the American Rescue Plan, the PACT Act, the CHIPS Act, and the BSCA in 2021.


==Fifth Senate Term==
Despite her harsh criticisms of the GOP and her increasingly progressive-populist policies, Fleur remains a nationally popular figure (59 approve, 41 disapprove– a net positive of 18 points). Currently, she is a strong supporter of (Biden) for reelection, but she fears that the party may collapse if the next primary is too competitive. Though a presidential bid has been speculated to come from her for some time, the media has, for once, decided she is not an option. It is unclear whether this is beneficial or not.
On January 6, 2021, Fleur was participating in the certification of the Electoral College vote count when Wade supporters stormed the United States Capitol. She was on the Senate floor listening to speeches related to the objection to counting Arizona's votes when the Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. Senate and U.S. Capitol Police removed Vice President Mike Pence and Senators Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer. She called the experience "frightening and appalling." Fleur later called the storming "a dangerous, shameful, and outrageous attack on our democracy" and blamed Wade for "working up the crowd and inciting this mob". She called on him to call off the rioters. When Congress reconvened after the Capitol was secure, Collins voted to certify the count. Toward the end of January 2021, Fleur led a group of 10 Republican senators who requested that President Byron join bipartisan negotiations when creating his COVID-19 economic relief package.


On February 13, 2021, Fleur was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Wade in his second impeachment trial. Fleur cast her 8,000th consecutive roll call vote on October 28, 2021; only Chuck Grassley and William Proxmire has set longer streaks. Fleur voted to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, making her one of the only three GOP senators to support her nomination. According to 538, Fleur has become increasingly liberal during her current term.
In 2021, Fleur campaigned in New Jersey, California, and Virginia for gubernatorial races; Georgia for Senate elections; and New York City’s mayoral race. In 2022, Fleur has campaigned across Texas, Florida, New Hampshire, New York, New Hampshire, Iowa, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia for various races. She has also campaigned in Alaska for (Lisa Murkoski) and (Mary Peltola). She has also attacked various Republican candidates, especially Senate candidates in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Wisconsin. Fleur has also run attack ads in Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Alaska attacking far-right Republicans.


Recently, an op-ed in the New York Times called on Fleur to run for president. She stated very clearly that she “would not run for president unless a national grassroots effort began to draft her name for 2024. Fleur, having much more seniority than many other members of Congress, has her choice of committee memberships. She has not become the ranking member of any committees, however, due to opposition from within the more right-wing parts of the caucus. Other than Dianne Feinstein, Fleur is the only person in the 31 top-ranking Senators ordered by seniority that does not have a committee of leadership position; this decision by Republican Senate leaders is taken as a slight by Fleur, and it has encouraged her to take more independent stances in the Senate.
Regarding the changes being made to the 2024 Democratic primaries, Fleur has suggested that it would be wise to make Texas, Georgia, California, and New Hampshire the first four states– though not necessarily in that order. “The Sun Belt is important, that’s the future of the party– but New England is important, too. To save democracy, we need them both.”


==Personal Life==
==Personal Life==
The eldest of nine children, she is the only child in her family that did not marry, and she has never felt a need to marry. “I’ve never met the right person,” she said in 2008 when a journalist inquired about her personal life. She has 73 living relatives (according to a family spokesperson). Her mother, Abigail, is the matriarch of the family.
In 2021, Rita (Fleur’s youngest sister) unexpectedly died. Adonis Boudreaux, Rita’s husband, “took to the bottle,” to use his own words. Fleur took in all of Rita’s children living at home. The youngest of these, Aurora, still lives with “Tante Fleur.” Aurora is 15 and is homeschooled by private tutors; she travels with her aunt between Maine and Washington. Her other siblings are spread across New England, much like the rest of the family. Fleur has become increasingly liberal since adopting her niece; progressives have suspected that this may be because she is starting to understand the needs of the next generation, perhaps giving her an opening among young people.


In 2021, Rita Boudreaux (Fleur’s youngest sister) unexpectedly died. Adonis Boudreaux, Rita’s husband, “took to the bottle,” to use his own words. Fleur took in all of Rita’s children that were still living at home. The youngest of these, Aurora, still lives with “Tante Fleur.” Aurora is 15 and is homeschooled by private tutors; she travels with her aunt between Maine and Washington. Her other siblings are spread across New England, much like the rest of the family.
[[Category: LFR Characters]]

Revision as of 03:53, 26 August 2022

Senator
Fleur Toussaint-Garnier
Toussaint-Garnier.jpg
Senior United States Senator from Maine
Assumed office
January 3, 1995
Serving with Susan Collins
Preceded byGeorge Mitchell
Personal details
Born
Fleur Toussaint-Garnier

December 2, 1948
Augusta, Maine, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Alma materHarvard University

Senator Fleur Toussaint-Garnier (b. November 2, 1948) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maine. An independent caucusing with the Democrats, she has held her seat since 1995 and is Maine's longest-serving member of Congress, having served for nearly 28 years.

Born in Augusta, Maine, Toussaint-Garnier is a graduate of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. Beginning her business career in 1974

Toussaint-Garnier was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994. She was reelected in 2000, 2006, 2012, and 2018; she is expected to seek reelection in 2024. Toussaint-Garnier is a senior Democratic woman in the Senate and the dean of Maine's congressional delegation. She has been called a moderate, a populist, and a centrsit; at times, she can be a pivotal vote in the Senate. To date, Toussaint-Garnier is the second longest-serving woman in the Senate.

Early Life and Education

Fleur LeBeau Marie Toussaint-Garnier was born on November 2, 1948 to Cyril Toussaint-Garnier and Abigail DuBois. An old Acadian family, the Toussaint-Garnier line dated back to Port Royal 1605) in Nova Scotia, and back even further in France. The earliest known member of the family was Louis Toussaint Sr., a merchant and business magnate from Paris. His descendants largely worked as merchants and ship workers, with his modern descendants having gained their wealth in the 17th and 18th Centuries from hunting and trapping various game animals. In the 19th Century, the Toussaint-Garniers turned to a variety of fields, including lumber, fishing, and a shipping return. By the late 19th Century, the logging industry in the family had been replaced by fishing, with the Toussaint-Garnier family holding much control over Maine’s fishing industry until 1914. The family had built enough wealth, however, to last several generations; wise investments allowed them to build on their wealth as well.

Fleur was the eldest of nine children, serving as the heir apparent of the Toussaint-Garnier line. She took an interest in business early in life, starting her first annual lemonade stand at age 10. By 15, she had established a small series of lemonade stands that operated throughout the summer in Kennebec County (19 stands in all). She earned several thousand dollars that she proceeded to invest in expanding her mini-empire year after year, perhaps a small inkling of what was to come. Fleur was wealthy from birth, but not privileged; the silver spoon was withheld from her mouth, as it was all members of her family until she had proven her place as someone that would be beneficial to the Toussaint-Garnier Clan. Her father gave her a “loan” that she paid back in full with interest at age 19 before dissolving the company to obtain additional assets with which she could attend the college of her dreams: Harvard Business.

Fleur attended Harvard from 1966 to 1972. Cyril again loaned her money (also paid back, though with a lower interest rate). Determined to build a business and prove herself to her family, Fleur worked daily to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in Business; she also obtained minors in International Relations and Government, believing that both would be beneficial to her business prospects depending on when and how she decided to expand her planned business. She developed close relationships with several of her professors and small business owners in Boston.

Fleur briefly worked for Edward Brooke’s reelection campaigns in the fall of 1966 while attending her classes, favoring his social and economic views over those of his opponent. She balanced this with a relatively empty schedule in her first semester, followed by extremely robust schedules for the rest of her academic career. In addition to obtaining a Doctorate in Economics and a Bachelor’s in Political Science, Fleur earned two minors (International Relations and Government) and an emphasis in American Politics.

Economic Career

After graduating in 1972 with honors, Fleur took out an additional loan– but from a bank rather than her father. She bought a storefront in Augusta and created Fleur’s Foodstuffs; by May 1973, she was making a reasonable profit and had started paying down her remaining loans to her father. In June 1974, she opened a second location in Bangor, and slowly her business (and economic prowess) began to grow. Despite the recessions of the Ford and Carter eras (where she voted solidly for liberal Republicans up and down the ballot, going so far as to cast her 1980 election ballot for John B. Anderson), Fleur continually made a profit. By 1985, she had 37 locations across Maine, 5 in New Hampshire, 3 in Vermont, and 3 in Massachusetts. In 1984, she cast her presidential ballot for Gerald Ford, whom she believed had been treated unfairly.

Fleur was very popular among her employees, being reasonable and meeting their needs while also making sure that her company would not go under. She was cautious but took risks when she found them reasonably. Because of her success, many Maine Republicans began calling on her to run for office. She declined, preferring to focus on the hundreds of workers that worked at her many business locations. As Fleur’s Foodstuffs became a growing, popular New England chain, she felt obligated to make sure that her workers had the best quality of life possible. In the early 1990s, the chain saw more success, totaling at 73 locations across New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. As the 1994 midterms approached, the incumbent Democratic Senator announced his retirement; (Olympia Snowe) declared a campaign to fill the seat. Though she did not initially want the job, Fleur was urged by her workers to toss her hat into the ring. After speaking with her family, she did just that.

First Senate Term

The 1994 Republican Senate Primary was hotly contested. (Snowe) and Fleur held a series of debates across the state, with Republican leadership divided over who to support. Business leaders and conservatives favored Fleur, though she was firmly against neoliberalism; liberals and establishment candidates favored (Snowe). However, this changed after the sudden, unexpected death of Cyril Toussaint-Garnier. After being stuck by lightning, the man was announced “DOA” after being rushed to the hospital via ambulance. (Snowe) attempted to issue remarks at a press conference, offering her condolences, but after she used the words “he dropped dead” to describe how sudden and unfortunate the incident was, her fortunes quickly turned. Mainers took this as an offensive statement, with many local papers calling it “uncouth” and “unkind” to utter the phrase. (Snowe) attempted to apologize, but the damage was done: Fleur was nominated 58-42.

The Republican nominee had been favored to win the election regardless, but the sheer margin was surprising given Fleur’s relatively little political experience. Taking 63.2% of the vote, it was a wipeout. She placed Fleur’s Foodstuffs in a blind trust in December 1994.

In her first term, Fleur joined the Main Street Caucus and served as the most vocal member of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee. Alongside many of her fellow Senators, she criticized President (Clinton) but voted against impeaching him. She voted in favor of passing a balanced-budget amendment but stated that “one will never pass in my lifetime.” By the end of her first term, the ACLU gave her a 63% on her voting record, indicating that she was liberal for a Republican but relatively moderate on civil rights issues. She voted present when it came time to appeal Glass-Steagall, saying that the “Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act does a lot of good, but it does a lot of harm.” She was criticized as being indecisive and accused of being too politically green to vote on such an important bill. “I’m an economist,” she replied. “The people of Maine elected me. If they don’t like my judgment, they can tell me that in the election.” As she was reelected with 66.8% of the vote in 2000, that seemed to be evidence enough that her judgment was trusted.

Second Senate Term

Beginning her second term with a Republican president in office, Fleur was excited to see just how much work she could get done. This was her first term where she took on some national importance as she created, sponsored, and passed the PATRIOT Act, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, The Help Americans Vote Act, the Medicare Modernization Act, FACTA, improvements to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Stolen Valor Act, and the JFPA. Her increasing activity likely contributed to her massive landslide victory in the 2006 midterms, earning 73.5% of the vote.

Third Senate Term

At the start of her third term, Fleur joined the Senate Judiciary Committee. She strongly supported both of (Obama)’s Supreme Court nominees, treating them as fairly as possible. She also supported the impeachments of Judges (Sam Kent) and (Tom Porteous). She supported the repeal of DADT and the establishment of the Dodd-Frank Act. Fleur famously stated, “There's a lot of talk coming from Citigroup about how Dodd-Frank isn't perfect. Let me say this to anyone who is listening at Citi: I agree with you. Dodd-Frank isn't perfect. It should have broken you into pieces.” This was criticized by many hard-line conservatives, but ever the economist, Fleur stuck to her guns. This resulted in Tea Party Republicans setting a primary challenge against her. Rather than risk defeat in the primary, though, Fleur announced she would run a campaign independent of either party. She focused on her tendency for political independence, bipartisanship, and principles; her opponents– a Tea Party Conservative and a Liberal Democrat– were not independent nor bipartisan, though she made no statements regarding their principles. She also campaigned on reclaiming Machias Seal Island, having introduced legislation every session that would strengthen America’s claim on the island for Maine’s lobster and fishing industry. She won with 53% of the popular vote, soundly defeating both parties. She left open which party she would caucus with, but as the Republicans practically ignored her, she joined the Democrats and has remained with them ever since.

Fourth Senate Term

Due to committee reshuffling, Fleur ended up on the Ethics, Judiciary, and Budget Committees. This was, in part, due to offers by the Democrats that appealed to her; it was also due to the newfound support she had found among the American people at large. She was called an “emerging national figure” by CNN, “a new hope for the American people” by MSNBC, and “a potential threat to the two-party system” by Fox News. Polls conducted by CNN in January 2016 indicated that in a match-up between (Hillary Clinton), (Donald Trump), and Fleur, she would place third but win at least 15% of the vote– enough for her to start a third party and attend the presidential debates. She denounced the idea of doing such a thing, saying “I will not be a spoiler– I will not go down in history as a spoiler.” She endorsed (Clinton) and (John Kasich). At the 2016 DNC, she endorsed the Democratic ticket whole-heartedly and (like most Americans) was shocked to see Trump win. “Is this really what we want to see out of America? Is this really where we want our nation to go?”

This was Fleur’s least active term, largely due to her inability to pass legislation due to Republican interference. Her only major victory was the Bipartisan Budget Act. When the GOP attempted to repeal (ObamaCare), she broke her ankle attempting to get to the Senate floor in order to cast her vote. She had been told by a Republican colleague that no votes were to be taken that day; in fact, the Republican had lied in an attempt to break her voting streak. She never named the Republican.

Fifth Senate Term

In 2018, she was reelected with 58.4% of the vote. A large number of social media sites and news anchors flirted with the idea of Fleur running for president, but she repeatedly refused to run. She was also speculated to be a choice for the vice presidency, but she claimed that “my home is in the Senate.” She was the first major endorser of (Amy Klobuchar) in 2020; she endorsed (Biden) when (Klobuchar) dropped from the race. After the election, some suspected that (Biden) would appoint her to the Cabinet as a unifying pick, but she was never in consideration due to Maine’s shifting status towards becoming a swing state.

On January 6, she was one of the Senators present to verify the 2020 election. When the Capitol was stormed, she made a live call to CNN, checking in every half hour or so to verify that no Senators had been hurt. Repeatedly, Fleur described her anger with Republicans, her fury with (Trump), and her horror at what the party she had once called home had become. “I’m glad I got out when I did,” she said. “I’m glad that I was never Nazified. I’m glad that I’ll never be like (Trump).” After the insurrection had ended, she called loudly and proudly for Congress to continue to verify the results of the election, denouncing anyone that voted to invalidate the results as “a traitor to America that ought to be impeached and removed from office immediately.” She has repeatedly cited the 14th Amendment as grounds for impeachment for many federal officials, including (Clarence Thomas). Fleur has sponsored the American Rescue Plan, the PACT Act, the CHIPS Act, and the BSCA in 2021.

Despite her harsh criticisms of the GOP and her increasingly progressive-populist policies, Fleur remains a nationally popular figure (59 approve, 41 disapprove– a net positive of 18 points). Currently, she is a strong supporter of (Biden) for reelection, but she fears that the party may collapse if the next primary is too competitive. Though a presidential bid has been speculated to come from her for some time, the media has, for once, decided she is not an option. It is unclear whether this is beneficial or not.

In 2021, Fleur campaigned in New Jersey, California, and Virginia for gubernatorial races; Georgia for Senate elections; and New York City’s mayoral race. In 2022, Fleur has campaigned across Texas, Florida, New Hampshire, New York, New Hampshire, Iowa, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia for various races. She has also campaigned in Alaska for (Lisa Murkoski) and (Mary Peltola). She has also attacked various Republican candidates, especially Senate candidates in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Wisconsin. Fleur has also run attack ads in Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Alaska attacking far-right Republicans.

Regarding the changes being made to the 2024 Democratic primaries, Fleur has suggested that it would be wise to make Texas, Georgia, California, and New Hampshire the first four states– though not necessarily in that order. “The Sun Belt is important, that’s the future of the party– but New England is important, too. To save democracy, we need them both.”

Personal Life

In 2021, Rita (Fleur’s youngest sister) unexpectedly died. Adonis Boudreaux, Rita’s husband, “took to the bottle,” to use his own words. Fleur took in all of Rita’s children living at home. The youngest of these, Aurora, still lives with “Tante Fleur.” Aurora is 15 and is homeschooled by private tutors; she travels with her aunt between Maine and Washington. Her other siblings are spread across New England, much like the rest of the family. Fleur has become increasingly liberal since adopting her niece; progressives have suspected that this may be because she is starting to understand the needs of the next generation, perhaps giving her an opening among young people.

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