Baird was born in Chama, New Mexico, to Edith S. and William N. Baird, a town councilman and mayor. He received his B.S. from the University of Utah, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1977, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Wyoming. He is the former chairman of the Department of Psychology at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, and a licensed clinical psychologist. He has published several journal articles and three books. He regularly teaches professional development courses to attorneys and judges on communications, ethics and the psychology of persuasion. Baird is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.
Baird was also a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the House Science Committee, the House Budget Committee, and the House Select Committee on Continuity in Government. He served as a senior regional whip and on the Democratic Steering Committee, was elected president of the 1998 Democratic Freshman Class, and was a member of the New Democrat Coalition. On his House of Representatives website, Baird wrote that during his time in Congress, he had flown home nearly every weekend and hosted more than 280 town hall meetings, and that he had visited every high school, port, hospital and countless businesses and organizations in Southwest Washington. Baird held over 300 town halls, or one for approximately every week and a half he was in office. Although they usually had around 50 participants, when held during passionate debates, they had up to 3000.
On February 19, 2009, Baird, together with fellow congressman Keith Ellison, visited Gaza to view firsthand the destruction from the Gaza War and meet with international and local relief agencies. Others in the visit included Senator John Kerry. The visit, which was not sanctioned by the Obama Administration, was the first time anyone from the U.S. government had entered Gaza in more than three years. Baird said: After Baird's third visit to Gaza in February 2010, he called on the U.S. to end the blockade and to deliver humanitarian supplies, which could include withholding military aid from Israel, saying the U.S. needed to be more serious about getting Israel to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Political campaigns
Baird challenged Republican incumbent Linda Smith in 1996 and lost by only 887 votes. Smith gave up the seat to make an unsuccessful bid for the United States Senate in 1998. Baird ran again and defeated State Senator Don Benton with 54.7% of the vote. He never faced another race that close, and was reelected five times. On December 9, 2009, Baird announced he would not run for reelection in 2010. After his retirement, Baird and his family moved to Edmonds, Washington, and he wrote books on American politics.
Electoral history
The stock act
Brian Baird introduced the STOCK Act which would prohibit members of Congress, their employees, and Executive Branch staff members from profiting from nonpublic information they obtain through their positions. They would be prohibited from buying or selling securities, swaps, or commodity futures based on nonpublic information they obtain through their jobs; prohibited from sharing non-public information about legislative action for purposes of investing or profiting from investment; and required to report investment transactions valued in excess of $1,000. "It is not explicitly stated in Congress' ethics code," said Baird. "And we exempted ourselves from reporting requirements that apply to hedge fund managers and corporate CEOs. They have to report within 48 hours if they make a significant trade. We have to report once a year, retroactively. In fact if you make a trade in January, it doesn't have to be reported until the following May." Baird changed his bill to allow for reporting to be delayed for 90 days. "Really, it should be 48 hours," he said.
