Debbie Dingell Biography

Debbie Dingell (Deborah Ann Dingell) is an American Democratic Party politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Michigan’s 12th congressional district since 2015. She is the widow of John Dingell, who was the longest-serving U.S. congressperson.

Debbie worked as a consultant to the American Automobile Policy Council. She was a superdelegate for the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dingell is active in several Michigan and Washington, D.C., charities and serves on a number of charitable boards. She is a founder and past chair of the National Women’s Health Resource Center and the Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dingell is also a member of the Board of Directors for Vital Voices Global Partnership.

Debbie Dingell Age | How Old Is Debbie Dingell?

She was born on November 23, 1953 in Detroit, Michigan, United States. She is 69 years old as of 2022.

Debbie Dingell Height

Dingell stands at a height of 5 feet 6 inches tall.

Debbie Dingell Family

Dingell descended from one of the Fisher brothers, owners of Fisher Body, a GM founder, she has served as president and as executive director of Global Community Relations and Government Relations at GM.

Debbie Dingell Father

She is the daughter of David Insley. While growing up, her father was addicted to prescription drugs.

“I remember as I got older, walking to pick up his prescription at the drug store. I remember his sleeping all day, and being awake at night,” says Dingell.

She says, he experienced mood swings and paranoia, which created an environment where she and her family were always on edge.

“I remember one night, when they were having a huge screaming match, he had a gun. He took the handles off the doors so that nobody could come in or out. I got everybody into a bedroom and put beds against the door tried to hide in closets, I called the police, but nobody came nobody answered,” says Dingell.

Fortunately, for her father, she says, he got the help he needed through treatment, and eventually got sober.

Debbie Dingell Sister

She has a sister, Mary Grace, who also toke prescription drugs, a problem she lived with into her adult life, until she overdosed and died, at the age of 44.

Debbie Dingell Husband | John Dingell First Wife

Debbie Dingell was married to Michigan Congressman John Dingell from 1981 till his death on February 7, 2019 at the age of 92. Debbie had grown up as a Republican, but became a Democrat soon after marrying Dingell. Their marriage lasted for 38 years.

Her husband, John Dingell, was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from December 13, 1955, until January 3, 2015. He was the longest-serving U.S. Congressperson, representing Michigan for over 59 years.

Debbie Dingell Husband Death

Debbie Dingell’s husband died on February 7, 2019 at the age of 92 at his home in Dearborn. In 2019, John Dingell entered hospice care, with terminal prostate cancer, for which he chose to forego treatment. Due to his death, Debbie is now a widow.

On September 17, 2018, Dingell had suffered an apparent heart attack and was hospitalized at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

Debbie Dingell Children | John Dingell Children

Dingell is a mother of four children; two daughters Jeanne Dingell, Jennifer Dingell, and two sons John Dingell, Chris Dingell.

Debbie Dingell Net Worth

She has an estimated net worth of $5978057.

Debbie Dingell Salary

Dingell earns an estimated salary of $10000 to $50000 annually.

Debbie Dingell Education

Dingell is a 1975 graduate of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Debbie Dingell Career

Dingell is a member of the Democratic National Committee from Michigan and chaired Vice President Al Gore’s campaign in Michigan in 2000. In 2004, Dingell also helped secure the Michigan Democratic primary and general election vote for John Kerry in Michigan.

In November 2006, she was elected to the Board of Governors of Wayne State University in Detroit. She and U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D – MI) were the proponents of moving up Michigan’s presidential primary before February 5, to attempt to garner greater political influence for Michigan during the 2008 Democratic primaries. This resulted in Michigan almost losing its delegates’ votes in the Democratic National Convention.

When Carl Levin announced his retirement from the U.S. Senate at the end of his term in 2015, Debbie Dingell indicated that she was interested in running for his seat.

When former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm declined to run for the seat, a Politico writer declared Dingell to be one of the front-runners for the Democratic nomination, alongside Representative Gary Peters. However, Dingell chose not to run, and Gary Peters was elected to Levin’s seat.

In 2018, she introduced a law that would give the Consumer Product Safety Commission the authority to recall defective firearms.
Her husband, John Dingell, was a key lawmaker that initially granted the firearms industry this exemption from the 1972 Consumer Product Safety Act that created the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Debbie Dingell Congress

Debbie Dingell indicated that she planned to run for her husband’s congressional seat after he announced his retirement. On August 5, she won the Democratic primary, and on November 4, she won the general election, defeating Republican Terry Bowman.

When she was sworn in, she became the first U.S. non-widowed woman in Congress to succeed her husband – who is the longest-serving member of Congress in history with 59 years served.

Her husbands father, John Dingell Sr., held Michigan’s 12th district for 22 years before his son won it. All together the Dingells have represented this district and its predecessors for 86 consecutive years as of 2019.

The district was numbered as the 15th from 1933 to 1965, the 16th from 1965 to 2003, the 15th again from 2003 to 2013, and has been the 12th since 2013.