Scott Brown, U.S. Senator

Watch Scott Brown's closing remarks from the UMass Lowell/Boston Herald Senate Debate on Oct. 1, 2012

Since being elected to the U.S. Senate, Scott Brown has kept true to his word and represented Massachusetts as an independent voter and thinker. He has held firm to his principles of lower taxes and less government spending, and has advocated for strong national security policies to keep our country safe from terrorism. 

Brown has made job creation his top legislative priority, and has worked on a series of bills targeted at boosting specific sectors in the Bay State economy, including the medical device industry, our innovative start-up companies and our hard-working fishermen, among many others.

Brown believes there is no more important task right now than fostering an environment that allows our nation’s small businesses to create jobs and put people back to work. This starts by unleashing the ingenuity of our state’s innovators and entrepreneurs.

At a time when bitter partisanship too often leaves Washington D.C. gridlocked, Brown has not hesitated to reach across the aisle and work with members of any political party on common-sense policies that will get our economy moving.

Above all else, Sen. Brown believes that we are Americans first, and the challenges we face as a country right now require us to work together – not against each other.

For nearly 32 years, Sen. Brown has served in the Army National Guard, and he currently holds the rank of colonel in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps. This past summer, Brown completed his annual training requirements for the National Guard in Afghanistan.

A graduate of Wakefield High School, Tufts University and Boston College Law School, Scott Brown lives in Wrentham with his wife Gail, a reporter at WJLA-DC. They have two daughters: Ayla, who is pursuing a country music career in Nashville, and Arianna, a pre-med honors student at Syracuse University.

Watch other videos from the debate on YouTube.

Elizabeth Warren, Consumer Advocate

Watch Elizabeth Warren's closing remarks from the UMass Lowell/Boston Herald Senate Debate on Oct. 1, 2012

Elizabeth Warren has made her life’s work fighting for middle-class families. The Boston Globe's Brian McGrory calls her “… the plainspoken voice of people getting crushed by so many predatory lenders and under regulated banks.” TIME magazine has called her a “New Sheriff of Wall Street” and has twice included her among America’s 100 most influential people. She is credited with winning historic new financial protections for middle class families.

Like many of those families, Elizabeth’s family faced economic pressures. Her dad suffered a heart attack when Elizabeth was twelve. His job was changed, his pay cut, and the medical bills piled up. The family lost their car, and her mom went to work answering phones at Sears.

Elizabeth got her first job babysitting at nine and at 13 she began waiting tables at a family restaurant. She married at 19, and, after graduating from college, taught in an elementary school. Her daughter Amelia was born when she was 22, and she started law school when Amelia was two. After she graduated, her son Alex was born.

Elizabeth practiced law from home, then returned to teaching. She has been a Harvard law professor for nearly 20 years and has written nine books, including two national best-sellers, and more than a hundred articles. National Law Journal named her one of the Most Influential Lawyers of the Decade, and she has been honored by the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Elizabeth served as Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The Boston Globe named her Bostonian of the Year in 2009 for her oversight efforts.

She has been applauded for spearheading the creation of a new consumer financial protection agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, charged with protecting consumers from financial tricks and traps often hidden in mortgages, credit cards and other financial products.

Elizabeth and her husband Bruce Mann, have been married for 32 years and now have three grandchildren. They live in Cambridge with their golden retriever, Otis.

Watch other videos from the debate on YouTube.