Elected to the United States House in 2014 from a
traditionally Republican stronghold in Southern California,
Mimi Walters used her seats on influential committees to
combat sex trafficking, repeal and replace the Affordable
Care Act, combat opioid addiction, and lower taxes. Having
previously worked to expand opportunities for Republican
women back home, Walters served in GOP leadership
during both of her terms in Congress. “For many of our
mothers, and most certainly for our grandmothers, women
were limited to the most grassroots of participation,” she
said. “It is very different for many women today—we don’t
just campaign for someone else. We run for office or run
campaigns, and we frequently win.”1
Mimi Walters was born Marian E. Krogius on May 14,
1962, in Pasadena, California, the daughter of Tristan
Krogius, a former U.S. Marine and attorney, and grew up
with five siblings. Walters graduated from St. Catherine
of Siena Parish School in Laguna Beach, California, then
earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California,
Los Angeles, in 1984. After college Walters worked as a
stockbroker, sales representative, and business executive.
While working in finance, she met and married David
Walters. The couple has four children.2
In the early 1990s, Walters left the finance world to
start a family. She became active in community affairs, and
in 1994 cofounded the California Women’s Leadership
Association, a support group for Republican women for
southern Orange County. Her work at the grassroots led
to a position with the town of Laguna Niguel’s finance
committee, and eventually an appointment to fill a vacancy
on Laguna Niguel’s city council. In 1996 Walters won a seat
on the council in her own right, where she served for eight
years. She was appointed mayor in 2000. Five years later,
Walters served in the California state assembly for a single
term. She won election to the California senate in 2008 and
served for seven years. Walters ran unsuccessfully for state
treasurer in 2010.3
When Southern California Representative John Campbell
announced his retirement from Congress in 2013, Walters
decided to run for the seat. “Congressional seats don’t open
up often,” Walters said. “Having the opportunity to represent
the people of Orange County on a national level is a lifelong
dream.”4 Walters ran on a campaign platform of what
she called “fiscal responsibility, less intrusive government
and property rights.”5 The district comprised central and
southern Orange County and parts of neighboring counties.
The Orange County area had been solidly Republican since
Ronald Reagan’s gubernatorial run in 1967, and over the
years had become a well-known support base for local and
national Republicans due to an active grassroots network.6
After defeating three other candidates in the Republican
primary, Walters faced Drew Leavens, a mental health
professional and entrepreneur in the general election. She
won convincingly with 65 percent of the vote in the 2014
midterm elections. Walters was part of a large GOP class
that included a number of women and minorities including
Republicans Ludmya Bourdeau (Mia) Love of Utah and
William Ballard Hurd of Texas. Walters won re-election in
2016 with 58 percent of the vote.7
In her first term during the 114th Congress (2015–
2017), Walters served on two powerful committees:
Judiciary; and Transportation and Infrastructure. In
the 115th Congress (2017–2019), Walters swapped her
initial assignments for seats on the Energy and Commerce
Committee and the Ethics Committee. Walters also
had the ear of party leadership: in both the 114th and
115th Congresses, Walters was elected to represent the
interests of first-and second-term lawmakers before House
Republican leaders.8
An opponent of the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act, a major health care overhaul which passed in
2010, Walters sought to repeal the law and reform the
health care system in America. In 2015 she sponsored a bill
to repeal a $2,500 limitation on how much an employee can
contribute to a flexible spending plan used to pay for health
care.9 Walters also sought new ways to combat substance
abuse, and submitted a bill to allow states to receive
Medicaid payments to help treat patients in need of mental
health services who also struggled with drug dependencies.10
“The vast majority of drug overdose deaths in Orange
County are due to opioid abuse,” Walters said. “The IMD
Care Act would … help those battling opioid addiction get
the help they need to rebuild their lives.” Although the bill
passed the House, it died in the Senate.11
During Walters’s time in the House, California
experienced devastating and deadly wildfire seasons. In
response, she worked to secure tax relief for victims of the
wildfires, extending certain loan deadlines and suspending
other restrictions on charitable contributions.12 Walters also
supported the GOP’s major tax overhaul—the Tax Cuts
and Jobs Act of 2017—which reduced rates for individuals
and businesses, and eliminated the individual mandate
penalty of the Affordable Care Act which taxed people
without health care.13
On Capitol Hill, Walters worked to stop sex trafficking
and submitted legislation that established statutory rights
for survivors of sexual assault. Her Survivors’ Bill of
Rights Act of 2016 covered the costs for forensic medical
examinations and made it illegal for doctors to refuse
to administer such exams. Her bill also required law
enforcement to preserve sexual assault evidence collection
kits for either 20 years or the maximum applicable statute.
And finally, the bill required authorities to notify victims
before destroying a collection kit. President Barack Obama
signed her bill into law in October 2016. “Today, we have
removed a substantial barrier that survivors of sexual assault
faced in their pursuit of justice,” Walters said.14
Walters kept in touch with her constituents through
a series of op-eds published in local newspapers on
topics including the economy, national security, and
environmental issues. But her district was also changing,
and the traditional party makeup back home had started
to shift. In 2016 her district split its vote, supporting both
Walters for the House and Democratic candidate Hillary
Rodham Clinton for President. While Walters supported
President Donald J. Trump, she also noted that she won
“37,000 more votes than President Trump. That means that
people in the 45th District identify with the policies that I
support and support me because I’m in line with what they
believe in.”15
But in 2018 Walters faced a difficult re-election. She
campaigned on a tax reform package that included a repeal
of state gas taxes and her work against sex trafficking.
Following California’s open primary where every candidate
regardless of party appears on the same ballot, Walters
faced Democrat Katie Porter, a law professor, in the general
election. On Election Day, in a wave election that resulted
in Democrats capturing the House majority, Walters lost to
Porter who took 52 percent of the vote.16 After leaving the
House, Walters returned to the private sector.17
View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
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