Leanne Dale
Leanne Dale | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |
| Senator for Northern Isle-2 | |
| Assumed office September 22, 2006 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 9, 1968 Hope, Northern Isle, Zamastan |
| Political party | Green Liberal Party |
| Spouse | Jonathan Dale |
| Alma mater | Etmound College University of Providence |
| Occupation |
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Leanne Hariett Dale is a Zamastanian lawyer and politician who currently serves in Congressional Hall as the senator for Northern Isle's 2nd district. She is a leading figure in the Green Liberal Party and has been the Senate leader for the party. On October 3rd, 2021, she announced her candidacy for President in the 2022 election, quickly outpacing other GLP candidates like Alisha Fletcher and ultimately facing off against BCP nominee Sabine Armitage, to whom she lost.
Born and raised in inner-provincial Northern Isle, Dale graduated from Etmound College and from the University of Providence School of Law. After holding positions in government and private practice and working on multiple political campaigns, Dale was first elected to the Senate in 2006, becoming the first female senator from Northern Isle's 2nd. During her Senate tenure, Dale has notably shifted to the left, becoming one of the more progressive liberal party figures. She has been outspoken on sexual assault in the military and sexual harassment, having criticized fellow party members for alleged sexual misconduct and having led the investigation into then-Speaker Larious Maxwell. She supports paid family leave, a federal jobs guarantee, and a more adept immigration acceptance agency, which seeks to replace the current system with caps on immigration and refugee acceptance.
Dale is one of the most outspoken voices for gun control, having co-written the 2019 assault weapons ban instated by President Anya Bishop. She has said that a conversation with a family who had lost a daughter to gun violence made her realize that she was "wrong" to oppose gun control measures, and has since pursued stronger measures to limit magazine capacity, extend background checks, and increase waiting times. She advocates government transparency, being one of a few members of Congressional Hall who constantly release much personal and scheduling information. Her most controversial opinion for voters, however, is her pursuit to end Zamastan's long-standing ban on third-trimester abortions.
Early life and education
Law career
In 1991, Dale joined the Providence-based law firm Polk & Arden as an associate. In 1992, she took a leave from Polk to serve as a law clerk to Justice Jovani Herring of the Supreme Court. Dale's tenure at Polk included serving as a defense attorney for tobacco company Gilberss Sett during major litigation, including both civil lawsuits and Justice Department criminal and civil racketeering and perjury probes. As a junior associate in the mid-1990s, she defended the company's executives against a criminal investigation into whether they had committed perjury in their testimony before Congressional Hall when they claimed that they had no knowledge of a connection between tobacco smoking and cancer. Dale worked closely on the case and became a key part of the defense team. As part of her work, she traveled to the company's laboratory in Lutharia, where she interviewed scientists about the company's alleged research into the connection. The inquiry was dropped and it was during this time that she became a senior associate.
While working at Polk, Dale became involved in—and later the leader of—the Women's Leadership Forum, a program of the GLP National Committee. Dale has said that a speech to the group by former-President Elene Abotsford inspired her: "[Abotsford] was trying to encourage us to become more active in politics and she said, 'If you leave all the decision-making to others, you might not like what they do, and you will have no one but yourself to blame.' It was such a challenge to the women in the room. And it really hit me: She's talking to me."
In 2001, Dale became a partner in the Lower Tariel office of Boies & Hillebrand. In 2002 she informed Boies of her interest in running for office and was permitted to transfer to the firm's Tofino office. She left Boies in 2005 to begin her 2006 campaign for Congressional Hall.
Political career
Political views
Since joining the Senate, Dale's political positions have moved leftward. Dale is a supporter of stricter gun control measures, having co-written the 2019 assault weapons ban instated by President Anya Bishop. She has said that a conversation with a family who had lost a daughter to gun violence made her realize that she was "wrong" to oppose gun control measures, and has since pursued stronger measures to limit magazine capacity, extend background checks, and increase waiting times.
Dale advocates government transparency, being one of a few members of Congressional Hall who constantly release personal and scheduling information. She also favors abolishing Congress's ability to vote on their own pay raises.
Dale is liberal on economic issues, embracing a number of proposals to expand the social safety net and bolster lower-income families.
Dale is pro-abortion, and has stated her intention to end Zamastan's long-standing ban on third-trimester abortions.
Dale is a supporter of immigration and has voted on measures to increase refugee and asylum seeker acceptance rates. She has denounced "deportation forces" and became the first sitting senator to support the call to abolish Immigration Enforcement. She said, "I believe you should get rid of it, start over, reimagine it and build something that actually works" and "I think you should reimagine IE under a new agency with a very different mission". Dale wants to repeal the Nationality and Maritime Borders Act, which makes it illegal for migrants to enter into the country via maritime routes.
Personal life
Leanne Dale met her husband, Jonathan Dale, a venture capitalist and Quetanan national, on a blind date. Jonathan planned to be in Zamastan for only a year while studying for his Master of Business Administration at Providence University, but he stayed in the country because of their developing relationship. They married in a Catholic Church of Zamastan church in Providence in 2003. The Dales had their first son, Theodore, in 2004, and their second son, Cole, in 2008. Leanne continued to work until the day of Cole's delivery, for which she received a standing ovation from her colleagues in the Senate the next day.