By: Trevor Loudon
KeyWiki

Carol Moseley Braun (born 1947) is a former Senator from Illinois (1992-1998) and former U.S. ambassador to New Zealand (1999-2001).

Braun has long had close ties with the Communist Party USA. In 1978 she was a leading member on the Committee to Elect John Lumpkin for the 7th Ward Alderman, Chicago. Lumpkin was the son of prominent Chicago CPUSA leaders Frank Lumpkin and Bea Lumpkin. Also that year, Braun was elected to the Illinois State legislature where she became legislative floor leader for CPUSA-linked Congressman Harold Washington.

In November 1979, she was a co-sponsor, with Congressmen Ron Dellums and John Conyers of the founding conference of the CPUSA-led U.S. Peace Council, an affiliate of the Soviet controlled World Peace Council.

When she ran for the U.S. Senate in 1992 on the Democratic ticket, she enjoyed the support of the CPUSA just as her friend and colleague Washington had done. In 1978, the Socialist Party USA put their support behind Braun in her campaign for Rep. Robert Mann’s old U.S. Congress seat. In the early 1980s, Braun, Washington, Danny Davis, Frank Rosen and long-time friend Timuel Black were members of the Committee in Support of Southern Africa. In 1992, the Democratic Socialists of America-infiltrated Chicago Democratic Party persuaded Braun to run for the U.S. Senate. They then “produced votes to back up [their] pledge of support.” The Council for a Livable World also endorsed her in the race. Institute for Policy Studies and Campaign for America’s Future leader Robert Borosage has served as an issues adviser to the campaigns of Braun, Barbara Boxer and the late Paul Wellstone. In November 2010 Braun announced that she will be running in the 2011 Chicago mayoral election.

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