Ted Strickland

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Governor of Ohio
Ted Strickland (D)

2007  — Current
Preceded by: Robert A. Taft II

Ted Strickland (born August 4, 1941) is a Democratic politician and the current Governor of Ohio. Before his election in 2006, he served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio’s 6th district.

Contents

Early career and election to Congress

Born in Lucasville, Ohio, Strickland was one of nine children; his father was a steelworker. A 1959 graduate of Northwest High School in McDermott, Ohio, Strickland went on to be the first of his family to attend college.[1] Strickland was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree from Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky in 1963. In 1966, he received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Kentucky. He received another master's degree in 1967 from Asbury Theological Seminary. He received a doctorate in psychology from the University of Kentucky in 1980. He is married to Frances Strickland, an educational psychologist and author of a widely used screening test for kindergarten-age children.

Strickland worked as a counseling psychologist at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio; was an administrator at a Methodist children's home; and was a professor of psychology at Shawnee State University. His only known pastoral position within a church was a very brief associate pastoral position at Wesley United Methodist Church located at the corner of Offnere and Gallia Streets, Portsmouth, Ohio (now Cornerstone United Methodist Church).

Strickland ran for U.S. Representative for Ohio's 6th congressional district in 1976, 1978, and 1980, losing twice to long-time incumbent William H. Harsha, and later to Harsha's successor and campaign manager, Bob McEwen.

Strickland ran again for the 6th District seat in 1992, once again facing Bob McEwen, who had suffered some political damage by being associated with the House banking scandal. The 6th District had been combined with the old 10th District when Ohio lost two seats in Congress following the 1990 census, and now covered a huge area stretching from Lebanon in Warren County to Marietta in Washington County on the opposite side of the state. The district proved a difficult place to campaign, representing half a dozen different media markets and home to no large cities and few unifying influences.

Patrick J. Buchanan, Dan Quayle and Oliver North came to Ohio to campaign for McEwen, but Strickland narrowly won in the general election on November 3, 1992. Strickland received 122,720 votes to McEwen's 119,252, a plurality of only 3,468. Strickland said "I ran against Pat Robertson, Pat Buchanan, the National Rifle Association and Right-to-Life. They threw everything at me. I'm just so happy I beat back those guys. I think they're so divisive." Strickland began serving in 1993 (103rd Congress).

Congressional career

In 1994, the Republican wave swamped Strickland, who narrowly lost his seat to Republican Frank Cremeans. However, in 1996, Strickland won his seat back, again narrowly, taking office in 1997 (the 105th Congress). He faced a strong challenge from Lieutenant Governor Nancy Hollister in 1998, but turned it back fairly easily. He wasn't seriously challenged again after this and was reelected three more times, and even ran unopposed in 2004. Strickland served on the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

2006 Ohio gubernatorial campaign

Strickland successfully ran for Governor of Ohio in 2006, when the then-governor, Robert A. Taft II, was term-limited and could not run for re-election. Strickland selected former Ohio Attorney General and 1998 Democratic nominee for governor Lee Fisher as his running mate. He was sworn in as governor on January 8, 2007.[2]

Opposition

Strickland easily won the Democratic primary on May 2, 2006, winning 80 percent of the vote.[3] In the November general election, he was challenged by Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, Libertarian economist Bill Peirce and the Green Party's Bob Fitrakis, but won handily on November 7, 2006, capturing 60% of the vote. Blackwell finished in a distant second with 37% of the vote.[4]

Major endorsements (general election)

  • Associated General Contractors of Ohio
  • Fraternal Order of Police[5]
  • National Association of Police Organizations
  • Cleveland Stonewall Democrats
  • Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association
  • Ohio Trooper Coalition
  • Ohio Education Association
  • Ohio Federation of Teachers[6]
  • Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters
  • Ohio Legislative Black Caucus
  • National Rifle Association
  • The Akron Beacon Journal
  • The Columbus Dispatch
  • The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
  • Dayton Daily News
  • The Toledo Blade
  • The Canton Repository
  • Cincinnati Mayor Mark L. Mallory
  • Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson
  • Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman
  • Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin
  • Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner
  • Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams

A full listing of endorsements can be found on Strickland's campaign website.[7]

Media strategy

Strickland began his media campaign for the general election in July by purchasing significant airtime on Christian radio stations throughout the state. The ad cites a verse from the Book of Micah calling one "to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with our God," principles Strickland says he has held throughout his life. His televised ads began airing in late September and are available for viewing on his website.[8]

Republican support

Strickland's candidacy received some support from Republicans, indicated by many of the pollsters covering the race.[9] Additionally, a number of high profile Republicans publicly announced their support for Strickland at a press conference on September 12,[10] and Strickland's website launched "Republicans For Strickland,"[11] which lists over 340 registered Republican endorsers.

Gubernatorial career

After drawing criticism for running a "close to the vest" campaign with few specific details about how he would change Ohio as governor, Strickland became more outspoken upon taking office. He has made education a centerpiece of his goals as governor, hoping to come up with ways to get more Ohioans to afford state-controlled college, graduate from in-state public universities, and thus stay in-state for quality jobs. Although his Congressional record gave reason for many critics to claim during the campaign he may not be averse to raising taxes[12], he has made some efforts to investigate state government spending and proposed only minimal tax increases in his "State of the State" address in March 2007.[13] he emphasized a goal to override the market and freeze or minimally increase tuition in the next few years, and have minimal tax increases across the board. He appointed Eric Fingerhut as a state chancellor of higher education. He also wants to shift funding away from Ohio's private universities towards public universities.[14] While the Republican-led legislature, led by State House Speaker Jon Husted, agreed with the need to emphasize education, they disagreed on how to keep costs down without raising taxes.[15] Nevertheless, Strickland overcame nearly all of these disagreements with the legislature to pass a unanimous budget of $52 billion over the two fiscal years beginning July 2007 with line-item vetoes; this unanimous approval of the budget was the state's first in 84 years.[16]

On the pre-collegiate level of education, Strickland has pushed to cut funding of school vouchers, which critics claim will reduce education choice available to the public. He opposes federally subsidized abstinence-only sex education programs.[17]In addition to shoring up the state's education bureaucracy, one of Strickland's primary economic plans has been working to help bring jobs in the coal and energy industries to Ohio by emphasizing ethanol production and other non-petroleum based energy sources.[18]

Strickland has also emphasized health care. In addition, on the issue of capital punishment, Strickland has thus far delayed three executions until further review.[19] Strickland refused to block three additional executions, including two that eventually occurred.[20] The March 20, 2007 execution of Kenneth Biros, which Strickland refused to stop, was later stayed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati.[21]

Strickland voted against partial-birth abortion while in the U.S. House, but has said he would veto a near-total abortion ban proposed by Ohio State House member Tom Brinkman (R-Cincinnati) that does not include rape, incest or health exceptions.[22]

Arguably the biggest setback to occur during his short career as Governor was the loss of a computer backup tape that contained the names and Social Security numbers of 64,000 state employees and their families, and 225,000 other state taxpayers. Especially troubling was that a 22-year-old intern was entrusted to this tape and it was stolen out of his unlocked car; however, the administration has insisted that because of the technical nature of the coding it has not been accessed.[23]

In spite of such setbacks, his success with bringing the legislature together with his budget and the state's overall desire for change after the Taft years have resulted in some of the highest approval and lowest disapproval ratings in Ohio gubernatorial history: 61% approval, 15% disapproval, including 54%/19% splits from Republicans (July 2007).[24]

Marc Dann, the Strickland administration's Attorney General, became emmeshed in a sexual harassment scandal which implicated many top aides who were forced to resign or were fired, and which led the married father Dann in May 2008 to admit he had a sexual relationship with a subordinate in his office. In response to this admission, Strickland and other leading Ohio Democrats briskly demanded Dann's resignation. Dann resigned his position May 14, 2008, while facing possible impeachment. Governor Strickland appointed Nancy H. Rogers, Dean of the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University as the interim attorney general.[25]

Strickland's approval ratings have also dropped due to the state's economy. However, he still enjoyed an overall approval rating of 54% and a disapproval of 39%.[26] Additionally, in spite of the state's economic woes, the state unemployment rate has actually increased less than the national average--as of February 2008, the state unemployment was 5.3% compared to a national 4.8%, and in March, the numbers were 5.7% and 5.1%, compared to gaps of over 1% early in Strickland's administration and during much of Taft's administration. [27]

Vice Presidential speculation

Due to his more conservative politics (he was voted an 'A' by the National Rifle Association[28]) and popularity in what is presumed to be a key swing state, Strickland has been mentioned as a possible Democratic Vice Presidential nominee in the 2008 election.[29] Nonetheless, Strickland has repeatedly and vehemently denied that he would accept a position on the ticket if offered.[30]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1174120535129370.xml&coll=2
  2. ↑ Julie Carr Smyth, "New governor starts new era", Associated Press (The Cincinnati Post), January 8, 2007.
  3. ↑ 2006 Democratic primary election results Ohio Secretary of State Web Site
  4. ↑ 2006 general election results Ohio Secretary of State Web Site
  5. ↑ Vindy.com - GOP gets nods from FOP but not for governorship
  6. ↑ Ohio Federation of Teachers, AFT, AFL-CIO - OFT Expands List of Endorsed Candidates
  7. ↑ http://strickland.3cdn.net/c874e30e818198d204_idm6i6sb6.pdf Endorsements (PDF)
  8. ↑ Ted Strickland.com - Television
  9. ↑ The Columbus Dispatch - Local/State
  10. ↑ GOP loyalists back Democrat in governor race by Julie Carr Smyth, Associated PRess, Canton Repository, Sep. 13, 2006
  11. ↑ [http://www.tedstrickland.com/republicans Republicans for Strickland
  12. ↑ Matthew Naugle, Tell the Truth Ted (non-neutral POV), April 8, 2007
  13. ↑ http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1175848366321660.xml&coll=2
  14. ↑ Students face possible loss of state funds by Jim Provance & Jennifer Feehan, Toledo Blade, Mar. 25, 2007
  15. ↑ Text of Governor Strickland's State of the State Address WTOL.com, Apr. 25, 2007
  16. ↑ http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/17424050.htm
  17. ↑ http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/education/16915796.htm
  18. ↑ http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_OH_Test_Well.html
  19. ↑ Times Recorder - www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com - Zanesville, Ohio
  20. ↑ Executions in the United States in 2007
  21. ↑ [http://governor.ohio.gov/News/March2007/News31607/tabid/218/Default.aspx Jobs Strikeforce > Admin > Vendors
  22. ↑ [http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07071301.html Ohio Bill to Ban Abortion Gets Mixed Support from Pro-Life Groups
  23. ↑ WBNS-10TV, Central Ohio's News Leader - Strickland : Stolen Device Contains Taxpayer Info
  24. ↑ Economy Could Force Loved Ones To Leave Ohio, Voters Tell Quinnipiac University Poll; Government, Global Economy Get Most Blame Quinnipiac University, July 11, 2007
  25. ↑ http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080528/EDIT01/305280081
  26. ↑ Survey USA
  27. ↑ http://www.bls.gov/
  28. ↑ http://www.nrapvf.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=7527&T=1
  29. ↑ The Line on Running Mates - The Fix
  30. ↑ http://beta.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=blog02&plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3aec38bb2b-982e-46ba-819a-da01a547e8eaPost%3a190447be-b07e-4c54-aa1d-0f7923d309f2&sid=sitelife.cincinnati.com

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