Chris Van Hollen
DemocratU.S. Senator, MD| Age | 67 (b. 1959-01-10) |
| Gender | Male |
| In office since | 2003-01-07 (~23 yrs) |
| Race / ethnicity | White (of Dutch descent) |
| Religion | Episcopalian |
| Education | BA in Philosophy from Swarthmore College (1982); Master of Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School (1985); Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center (1990) |
| Prior occupation | Attorney (Arent Fox law firm) and congressional/state legislative staffer; legislative assistant to Sen. Charles Mathias, Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff, and advisor to Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer |
| Military service | No |
| Birthplace | Karachi, Pakistan (foreign-born) |
| Marital status | Married — Katherine Wilkens |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence | Kensington, Maryland |
| Notable relatives | Father, Christopher Van Hollen Sr., was a U.S. Foreign Service officer who served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs and U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives |
Pending research: languages · openly lgbtq.
Career & politics
| First elected | 1990 |
| Previous offices | Maryland House of Delegates, 18th district (1991-1995) · Maryland State Senate, 18th district (1995-2003) · U.S. House of Representatives, Maryland's 8th district (2003-2017) |
| Committees | Committee on Appropriations · Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs · Committee on Foreign Relations · Committee on the Budget |
| Leadership | Chair, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (2007-2011) · House Democratic Assistant to the Leader (2009-2011) · Chair, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (2017-2019) |
| Ideology | Reliably progressive/liberal Democrat; received a 100% score from the League of Conservation Voters (2023) |
| Signature legislation | DISCLOSE Act (campaign finance disclosure, introduced 2010) · Fallen Journalists Memorial Act (co-sponsored 2019) |
Financial
Net worth: disclosed $-455,000–$-100,000 (2023) · estimate
| Vanguard Wellington Admiral Fund | fund · $1–$50,000 · 2023 |
| Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund | fund · $1–$50,000 · 2023 |
| Mortgage liability | other · $250,001–$500,000 · 2023 |
Top donors: Arnold & Porter (employees and PAC) (Over $161,000 (career, OpenSecrets)) · WPP Group (affiliated lobbyists/PACs) (Over $1.6 million from lobbyists/lobbying-related PACs (2016 cycle, OpenSecrets))
Top industries: Lawyers/Law Firms · Lobbyists
Scandals & crimes ledger
resolved — FEC MUR 5328: Van Hollen for Congress Accepted Excessive Contributions from Affiliated PACs
The FEC found reason to believe that Van Hollen for Congress and its treasurer Jennifer Lewis Smith violated 2 U.S.C. § 441a(f) by accepting contributions from two affiliated PACs — PAC to the Future ($5,000 on September 16, 2002) and Team Majority ($5,000 on October 15, 2002) — that, when aggregated because the PACs were affiliated, exceeded the $5,000 per-election limit for multicandidate PACs. The total excessive contributions amounted to $5,000. The matter was resolved via conciliation agreement: the committee paid a $2,500 civil penalty and disgorged $5,000 to the U.S. Treasury. The FEC noted no evidence that Van Hollen personally directed the violation; it was treated as a committee/treasurer-level compliance failure.
resolved — FEC campaign-finance settlement over use of EMILY's List donor information business
In 2015 EMILY's List (which backed Van Hollen's 2016 Democratic Senate primary opponent Donna Edwards) filed an FEC complaint alleging that Van Hollen's campaign improperly used the group's FEC finance reports to identify and solicit donors. The complaint arose after EMILY's List sent a fundraising letter falsely labeling Van Hollen a Republican; his campaign responded with a corrective letter to that donor list that also included a solicitation form, raising $3,350. Under a 2017 settlement, the Van Hollen for Senate campaign committee (a business/campaign entity, not Van Hollen personally) paid a $2,100 civil penalty to the U.S. Treasury and returned the $3,350. The FEC found no evidence Van Hollen personally violated the rules.
resolved — FEC Settlement: Van Hollen for Senate Used EMILY's List Donor Information for Fundraising Solicitation
In December 2015, EMILY's List — which was supporting Donna Edwards in the 2016 Maryland Democratic Senate primary against Van Hollen — filed an FEC complaint alleging that Van Hollen's campaign used EMILY's List's publicly filed FEC finance reports to identify and solicit its donors, which is prohibited. The underlying incident arose after EMILY's List had sent a fundraising letter to its own donors that erroneously labeled Van Hollen as a Republican; Van Hollen's campaign responded by sending a correcting solicitation to the same donor list, raising $3,350. The matter was resolved through settlement: the campaign returned $3,350 to the U.S. Treasury as a disgorgement and paid a $2,100 civil penalty. The FEC stated it found no evidence that Van Hollen personally violated the rules.