Max Baucus
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Max Sieben Baucus (born December 11, 1941) is the senior United States Senator from Montana and is a member of the Democratic Party.
Bacus was born in Helena, Montana and graduated from Helena High School in 1959. He earned both a Bachelor of Arts degree and a law degree from Stanford University. He is married to Wanda Minge, and has one son, Zeno.
He began law practice in Missoula, Montana in 1971. He then served as both Executive Director and Committee Coordinator for Montana's 1972 Constitutional Convention.
In 1973, Baucus was elected to the Montana State Legislature. He served as a state representative from Missoula until his election to the United States House of Representatives in 1974. He was re-elected in 1976. Max was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978 and has served consecutively ever since.
Senator Baucus currently serves as Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee. Baucus is also a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the Senate Agriculture Committee, and on the Joint Committee on Taxation.
The 2002 Montana elections gained a spot on the national radar when Baucus' opponent , state senator Mike Taylor accused Baucus of having implyed that Taylor was a gay hairdresser in a campaign ad. The ad alleged that Taylor had embezzled funds from the cosmotology school he once owned while showing footage from the early 80s of Taylor massaging another man's face while wearing a tight suit with an open shirt. The commercial was featured on Comedy Central's The Daily Show along with interviews with the major third party candidates for Baucus' seat. Taylor dropped out of the race.
On a personal note, in the Senator's spare time he enjoys motorcycling across Montana. He rode a Harley to the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. in 2000, with his brother John and cousin Chase. On July 3, 2004 Baucus suffered minor injuries when his motorcycle hit gravel as he swirved to avoid an oncoming vehicle. Local police confirmed the Senator was not drinking alcohol prior to the incident.
The Senator's wife, Wanda made national headlines on April 21, 2004 after she was charged with simple assault stemming from a incident at a DC-area garden center. On June 2, she reached a deal with prosecutors under which she would avoid prosecution if she completed 40 hours of community service within 6 months.
