Mark Hollis

Mark Randall Hollis (born January 17, 1962) is an American politician who is the 45th and current President of the United States since 2017. He was previously a United States Senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2015, the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1995 to 2003, and a Member of the Minnesota Senate representing the 12th district from 1991 to 1995.

Early life and early career
Mark Randall Hollis was born on January 17, 1962 in Duluth, Minnesota to Randall Hollis, a union ironworker and his wife Barbara Dean, a school teacher. He joined the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party at the age of eighteen and voted for the first time in the 1980 presidential election. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 1984 and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1986. He then served as a law clerk for United States Supreme Court Justice Arne Michaels from 1986 to 1990.

Hollis resigned from his clerkship to run for the Minnesota Senate in the Duluth-based 12th district. He won the Democratic stronghold by a wide margin because of its history of a largely unionized workforce in the mining industry. During his two terms in the state senate he was known for his pro-labor liberal populism and supported tax reform to close corporate loopholes. He was chosen as the Democratic nominee for Governor in the 1994 election defeating Republican nominee, Art Miteff, a pro-choice moderate businessman from Victoria by 50%–47%.

Governor of Minnesota
Hollis was sworn in as Governor of Minnesota on January 7, 1995 ten days before his thirty-third birthday. Throughout his governorship Governor Hollis continued to be a vocal supporter of labor unions as well as teachers' unions, opposing restrictions on entering unions which was supported by the Republican-majority legislature and funding public school education generously. The state was running a budget surplus during his first term which is how he funded public education.

Governor Hollis was re-elected in the 1998 gubernatorial election over conservative Republican U.S. Representative Tanner Bolton who represented Minnesota's 6th congressional district by 65%–34%. During his second term, Hollis strongly advocated for land-use reform and substantial mass transit improvements, such as light rail. He made the light rail project a priority, obtaining additional funding from the Minnesota state legislature to keep the project moving. The METRO Blue Line was completed in 2004, a year after his tenure as Governor ended. He opted to run for the United States Senate in the 2002 election instead of for a third four-year term as governor.

United States Senate
Governor Hollis was elected to the United States Senate in the 2002 election facing Art Miteff, the former Chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party who he faced in his first run for governor eight years prior. The election was close yet again with Hollis beating Miteff by 50%–49%. He was sworn in on January 3, 2003. In the Senate, Hollis was known for his work for peace, the environment, labor, and health care. He opposed congressional approval for military action in the Middle East in 2004 and passed a bipartisan energy policy bill in 2006 known as the Energy Security, Affordability, and Reliability Act of 2006. Senator Hollis opposed the National Right to Work Legality Defense Act introduced by Senators Todd Kirkpatrick (R–OK) and Bruce Owens III (R–NE) in 2007 which would have instituted a nationwide right-to-work law or a national statute that would prohibit union security agreements between companies and workers' unions. Under right-to-work laws, employees in unionized workplaces may not be compelled to join a union, nor compelled to pay for any part of the cost of union representation, while generally receiving the same benefits as union members who do contribute.

During his 2008 re-election campaign Senator Hollis came out in favor of universal healthcare which was renewed as part of the party platform at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. He won re-election by 57%–42% over Republican nominee, Hennepin County Sheriff Chip Brooks. In the 2008 elections Democrats retook the Senate and he was appointed Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP Committee) where he served until 2015. He authored the Democratic universal healthcare bill in 2010 the passed in that Democratic-majority Senate but its counterpart did not pass in the Republican-majority House. In 2013, following the Democratic loss in the 2012 presidential election he was seen early on as a frontrunner for the nomination in 2016. Senator Hollis announced he was not running for a third term in late 2013 and his tenure ended on January 3, 2015.

2016 Presidential Campaign
On May 26, 2015, Former Senator Mark Hollis officially announced his presidential candidacy at Oliver G. Traphagen House in his hometown of Duluth. Popular among his party’s progressive base Hollis’ campaign quickly gained momentum. He received the majority of his support from the left-leaning and rural labor elements of the Democratic Party winning states like Minnesota, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Idaho. He narrowly lost the Iowa Caucus and won the New Hampshire Primary by a wide margin. Senator Hollis ran on a platform of "universal access to affordable, high quality healthcare", fair trade agreements, living wage laws, the right of all workers to organize into labor unions and engage in collective bargaining, the legalization of same-sex marriage, and the implementation of universal preschool.

On June 6, 2016, the Associated Press and NBC News stated that Hollis had become the presumptive nominee after reaching the required number of delegates, including both pledged and unpledged delegates (superdelegates), to secure the nomination. On July 26, 2016, the Democratic National Convention officially nominated Hollis for President and Senator Jon Herrera of Nevada for Vice President. Hollis and Herrera faced the Republican ticket of Governor Don Delaney of Missouri and Governor Carter Soto of Florida in the general election. Domestic issues dominated the general election campaign with healthcare policy, trade policy, social issues, and job growth among them. Hollis reaffirmed his support for a universal healthcare program and supports the creation of a state-run public health insurance option. He also called for complete equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community, increased sectoral and vocational training for blue-collar workers, and the declaration of China as a currency manipulator. Foreign policy was not ignored with Hollis stating that he stood by his 2004 vote against the use of force in the Middle East but largely positioned himself as a foreign policy moderate.

Senator Hollis and Governor Delaney participated in three televised debates which had mixed reviews. Hollis was praised for his powerful oratory and debate performance but many felt he refused to address foreign policy matters. Both candidates were seen unfavorably due to their use of negative campaigning. Hollis defeated Delaney, winning both the popular vote and the electoral college, with 297 electoral votes to Delaney’s 241. He won the swing states of states of Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Senators Hollis and Herrera won the popular vote by 51%–47%.

Presidency
Hollis and Herrera were inaugurated as President and Vice President, respectively on January 20, 2017. On his second day in office President Hollis took executive action on trade withdrawing from Pacific Rim Free Trade Agreement (PRFTA) and stating the United States would reenter if the other countries agreed to renegotiation. The Hollis administration’s legislative agenda includes the implementation of the National Healthcare Act which narrowly passed on December 24, 2017 with some Republicans not present and created a public option to compete with and supplement private health insurance plans, the passage of comprehensive immigration reform, a $1 trillion infrastructure plan, and the strengthening of financial and environmental regulations through actions as reinstating Glass-Steagall, a Depression-era law that separated commercial and investment banks that was repealed in 1999. The Supreme Court also deemed state same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional in the early months of the Hollis administration, largely due to Hollis’ appointment of Yvette Clarke-Johnson to the bench.

In foreign policy, President Hollis has implemented a decrease in defense spending and withdrawal from Korristan, while increasing pressure on Iran (and in turn supporting for Israel) through sanctions and supporting the two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. He has also stated that he will work with China on areas of agreement and encouraged all nations to take part in fair trade. He stated that he will not put boots on the ground anywhere in the Middle East but supports arming and training Arab and Kurdish forces. The Hollis administration supports lifting the embargo on Cuba and normalizing relations as well as returning North Korea to the list of state sponsors of terrorism. His decision to do this was praised by South Korea’s conservative President during the 2018 Winter Olympics in January 2018, stating “I am glad that despite our obvious political differences The President is understanding of the threat from the North and willing to come to a bilateral plan of action.” On January 23, 2018, news outlets announced that Hollis had imposed tariffs on solar panels produced outside the United States. The tariffs initially start at thirty percent and will gradually fall to fifteen in four years. He then announced his intention to enforce a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports on March 1, 2018. In July 2018, he met with European leaders ranging from the allies such as the British Prime Minister and adversaries such as the President of Russia. He spoke about issues ranging from trade to persecution of gay men in Chechnya.