Dan Wolf

Daniel A. Wolf (born August 11, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, aircraft pilot, and politician.

Wolf was born on August 11, 1957, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and spent summers in Cape Cod with his family.

Wolf attended the Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, and went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Wesleyan University in 1980.

After college he earned a degree in Airframe and Power Plant Maintenance at the Quaker School of Aeronautics.

He earned a private and commercial pilot's license while working in Boston as a community and union organizer.

In the 1980s he was the manager of the Chatham Municipal Airport and worked as a flight instructor before founding Cape Air in 1988.

In 1988 Wolf founded the airline company Cape Air, which at the time flew solely between Boston and Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Since flying one route with eight employees and one plane, it has expanded to become the largest independent regionally based airline.

Cape Air now serves parts of the East Coast, Midwestern United States, the Caribbean, and Micronesia with around 1,000 employees.

In 1989, he founded the Cape Cod-based airline Cape Air, which originally flew between Provincetown and Boston in Massachusetts, and has since expanded internationally.

In 1994, Nantucket Airlines was purchased by and became a subsidiary of Cape Air.

Cape Air is an employee-owned company, and the only airline in the United States with a female President.

Since being elected to the Massachusetts Senate, Wolf continues to pilot during the summer on weekends.

With assistance from a government grant, Cape Air expanded into Indiana on November 13, 2007, offering flights from Indianapolis to Evansville and South Bend.

Because it did not get the passengers needed to be financially successful, the last Cape Air flight in Indiana was on August 31, 2008.

In 2010, he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate to represent the Cape and Islands district.

In September 2010, the United States Department of Transportation's Essential Air Service (EAS) selected Cape Air to fly a federally subsidized route connecting Augusta, Maine and Boston.

Service began in December 2010.

Following incumbent Robert O'Leary's announcement that he would retire to run for the United States House of Representatives, Wolf declared that he would run to succeed him, one month before the deadline.

Wolf expressed his motivation for entering politics because he had "become increasingly concerned seeing the challenges through the eyes of [my] front line employees."

His campaign set records for fundraising with a war chest of over $300,000, more than either of his opponents.

In the Democratic primary Wolf faced and defeated Barnstable County Commissioner Sheila Lyons with nearly twice as many votes.

He ran unopposed in 2012, and was subsequently re-elected to a third term in 2014.

During his tenure, he has emerged as a progressive leader in the Senate, advocating for renewable energy, increased minimum wage, and universal health care.

In the general election Wolf defeated Republican real estate developer James H. Crocker Jr. In his 2012 bid for re-election Wolf faced no competition in either a primary or general election.

On July 10, 2012, Wolf testified before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to discuss the effects of the two laws.

On June 10, 2013, he announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in the 2014 election.

Following an injunction by the State Ethics Commission over his ownership of Cape Air, he announced the suspension of his campaign and his intent to appeal the ruling.

Although the Commission eventually ruled in his favor, the nomination process was already well along, and he would eventually run for re-election to the Senate.

In 2014 Wolf was re-elected to his third term, defeating Republican Ron Beaty in the general election.

Wolf's political aspirations were prodded shortly after handily winning re-election in 2014, though he said he was more focused on serving his constituents than considering future office.

In 2015, Wolf confirmed that he would not seek a fourth term by running for re-election in 2016.

He was succeeded by Julian Cyr (D-Truro).

There remains speculation as to whether he will return to focusing on work as owner and pilot for his airline company, although he is considered a potential candidate for Governor in the future.

In October 2015, The Boston Globe first reported that Wolf was considering not running for re-election.

Weeks later in November, Wolf confirmed that he would remain in office, but would not seek re-election in 2016.

After rumors that Wolf would not seek re-election in 2016 to focus on a run for governor in 2018 began circulating, Senate President Stan Rosenberg suggested it was because Wolf wanted to focus more on running his airline company.

Despite being elected from a relatively conservative district, Wolf has emerged as a liberal and progressive member of the Senate.

During his tenure, Wolf has mainly focused on issues such as health care, employee benefits, and middle class economics.

An advocate for universal and single-payer health care, Wolf is a supporter of both Massachusetts health care reform and President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).