Musgrave, Marilyn, 1949-

<p>Marilyn Neoma Musgrave (née Shuler; born January 27, 1949), American politician, is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives who served from 2003 to 2009, representing the 4th District of Colorado.</p>

<p>Musgrave served on the Agriculture and Small Business Committees. In the 110th Congress, she served as Ranking Minority member of the Specialty Crops, Rural Development, and Foreign Agriculture subcommittee. She also served as the Region Two representative for the Republican Steering Committee. She was the first Republican woman elected to Congress from Colorado.</p>

<p>Musgrave lost her seat in 2008 to Democratic challenger Betsy Markey by a 56 to 44 percent margin.</p>

<p>Musgrave currently works for the Susan B. Anthony List, a non-profit that supports anti-abortion women in politics.</p>

<p>Marilyn N. Musgrave joined the 108th Congress (2003–2005) as the United States Representative from eastern Colorado. Her modest upbringing in a small rural community helped to forge her core beliefs as a social and fiscal conservative. “Government does not have a revenue problem. What we have is a spending problem,” she declared on the House Floor.</p>

<p>Marilyn Musgrave was born Marilyn Neoma on January 27, 1949, in Greeley, Colorado. She attended Eaton High School and worked as a waitress and cleaned houses. She married Roger (Steve) Musgrave while attending Colorado State University in 1968. After earning a BA in social studies, Musgrave taught school in Genoa, Colorado, before moving to Fort Morgan. In Fort Morgan the Musgraves started their own agricultural business, after which Marilyn Musgrave devoted herself full time to raising their three children. Once her children were in school, Musgrave became the “consummate volunteer,” working for a variety of community organizations, including various Republican causes.</p>

<p>Musgrave’s political career began when she won a seat on the Fort Morgan school board in 1990, where she served for four years. After completing the intensive Republican Leadership Program to prepare for a future in politics, Musgrave was elected to the Colorado state legislature in 1994. During her four years in the state house, and her subsequent four years in the Colorado state senate from 1999 through 2003, Musgrave supported a variety of conservative legislative initiatives, including tax cuts, gun rights, deregulation, and anti-abortion policies; she also opposed gay marriage.</p>