George Voinovich
Encyclopedia
George Victor Voinovich is a former United States Senator
from the state
of Ohio
, and a member of the Republican Party
. Previously, he served as the 65th Governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998, and as the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989.
, his father was a Croatian Serb
(from Kordun
), and his mother was Slovenian. Voinovich grew up in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland and graduated from Collinwood High School in 1954. He earned a Bachelor of Arts
degree in government
from Ohio University
in 1958 and received a Law degree
in 1961 from the Moritz College of Law
at the Ohio State University
. He was also a part of the fraternity Phi Kappa Tau
at Ohio University. He married his wife, Janet, in 1962. They had four children: George, Betsy, Peter, and Molly, as well as seven grandchildren. Molly, their youngest child, was killed in an auto accident at age 9.
from 1967 to 1971. From 1971 to 1976, he served as county auditor of Cuyahoga County, Ohio
. In 1975, he made an unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination for Mayor of Cleveland against incumbent Mayor Ralph J. Perk
. From 1977 to 1978, he served as a member of the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners. In 1978, Voinovich was elected lieutenant governor on the ticket with James A. Rhodes
(the first Ohio lieutenant governor not to be elected separately from the governor).
, and with then-Mayor Dennis J. Kucinich
(D) about to enter a tough re-election campaign, Voinovich began to consider running for mayor again. Twice, Voinovich suggested his intent to stand for office but then changed his mind. Finally, on July 26, he made "one of the most difficult decisions in [his] life." He resigned from the office of lieutenant governor and entered the primary election.
Aside from Kucinich, Voinovich's other opponents included state Senator Charles Butts and city council majority leader Basil Russo. As the election drew closer, The Plain Dealer announced its endorsement of Voinovich. Voter turnout in the primary was greater than that of 1977 race among Perk, Kucinich, and Edward F. Feighan
(when Voinovich had endorsed Kucinich). In the 1979 nonpartisan primary election, Voinovich led with 47,000 votes to 36,000 for Kucinich. Russo (who obtained 21,000) and Butts (with 19,000) did not qualify for the general election. The biggest surprise was Voinovich's showing in predominantly African American
wards, where he was expected to finish last. He trailed only Butts, with Kucinich last.
On October 8, 1979, a few days after the primary, Voinovich's nine-year-old daughter Molly was struck by a van and killed. The event brought the Voinovich campaign to a virtual halt and made it difficult for Kucinich to attack his opponent. Still, he challenged Voinovich to a series of debates to be held in various Cleveland neighborhoods. Voinovich declined the invitations, saying they would be unproductive, although they eventually did meet in a debate on November 3 at the City Club
. Voinovich went on to win the election with 94,541 votes to Kucinich's 73,755.
Voinovich went on to be re-elected twice by a landslide: in 1981 he defeated former State Representative, Patrick Sweeney (107,472 to 32,940). In 1985 he defeated former councilman Gary Kucinich (82,840 to 32,185).
By the time Voinovich was elected, Cleveland was the butt of late night comedians' jokes, where the river and mayor's hair burned, and the only major American city to go bankrupt. When Boston mayor Kevin White remarked that the city's finances had gone from "Camelot to Cleveland," Voinovich protested. White responded by saying that Boston had survived facetious remarks from a wide range of jokesters, from Mark Twain
to Johnny Carson. "I am sure Cleveland will also," he said.
Voinovich went on offense. He reversed a defensive attitude projected by the Cleveland media, going to "war...to save one of this country's greatest cities." Others soon jumped on board. For instance, The Smythe-Cramer Co., a local realty firm, tried to restore the city's former glory by running a series of ads with photographs of downtown Cleveland
captioned "Take Another Look. It's Cleveland!" In May 1981, The Plain Dealer sent its Sunday subscribers bumper stickers saying, "New York's the Big Apple, but Cleveland's a Plum." The paper also passed out thousands of "Cleveland's a Plum" buttons and also ran a huge picture of Publisher Thomas Vail, with a smiling Voinovich beside him, throwing out the first plum at a Yankees
-Indians
game. Sportscaster Howard Cosell
hailed the city during a baseball game and Voinovich subsequently presented him with a key to the city. A survey showed 65 percent of the residents of Greater Cleveland were very satisfied with their life in the city and even 57 percent claimed to be very satisfied, even in 1978, the year of default. Also, a national poll rated Detroit
as the city with the worst image, with New York City
second. Cleveland was fifth-worst.
The New Cleveland Campaign, a promotion agency formed in 1978, began sending out news releases bragging about Cleveland's virtues and proudly circulating reprints whenever it got a favorable story. Unfortunately, to show how much the "new" Cleveland had improved, it had to highlight how bad the old Cleveland was. In particular, it stressed the city's 1978 default of $15.5 million short-term loans from local banks, even though New York City owed nearly 150 times as much when it received a $2.3 billion federal bailout to avoid bankruptcy in 1975.
The restoration campaign reached its peak in October with the society magazine Town and Country
. "Cleveland's Come-Around" explained how "businessmen, lawyers and concerned citizens" rescued the city from "the petulant, pugnacious Dennis Kucinich." It called Voinovich's Operation Improvement Task Force under E. Mandell de Windt "the most significant undertaking in Cleveland since Moses Cleaveland
stepped ashore on the bank of the Cuyahoga River in 1786." It also enticed its readers of Lake Erie
and its "beautiful and exciting year-round sailing."
So confident was Voinovich, that during election season, he even attracted presidential candidates Jimmy Carter
and Ronald Reagan
to debate in Cleveland. "Cleveland is making a comeback," Time Magazine
declared at the close of 1980, "During the past year, convention business has flourished, school desegregation has proceeded peacefully, and a modest construction boom has begun. . . Most impressive of all, the city dug itself out of default."
ought to be extended. He offered a referendum
to voters to extend them from two to four years and additionally asked voters to approve cutting down the number of council members from 33 to 21 in order to help ease the city's strained economy. They approved both requests.
Throughout the Voinovich years, neighborhoods began to see some improvement starting with the Lexington Village housing project, $149 million in Urban Development Action Grants, and $3 billion of construction underway or completed. In particular, the neighborhoods of Hough
and Fairfax
, then two of Cleveland's worst east side neighborhoods, began to see new houses built and lesser amount of criminal activity. Voinovich also quietly moved to reconcile the warring groups of the 1970s. He made peace with business leaders and even posed with them in photographs that ran in New Cleveland Campaign ads in business magazines, captioned with the Voinovich slogan: "Together, we can do it." He refined the neighborhood groups, which, with the breakdown of the Democratic Party, became the most potent political force in the city. He also extended his hand to unions
as well, in particular the Teamsters
truck union.
As mayor, Voinovich oversaw a huge scale urban renaissance downtown. Sohio
(purchased by BP America
in 1987), Ohio Bell
, and Eaton Corporation
all built new offices downtown (most notably the BP Building). Brothers Richard and David Jacobs astonished the city by rescuing its troubled Indians franchise, ultimately turning it around for the better. The two also improved the desolate area located by the Erieview Tower
and turned it into the glass-roofed Galleria at Erieview
. Voinovich also enticed Society Bank
to the build Society Center
, the largest skyscraper
in Cleveland and the 15th largest in the nation (since renamed Key Tower). In addition, the National Civic League
awarded Cleveland the All-America City Award
three times, in 1982, 1984, and 1986, in addition to its first, won in 1950.
). Kucinich's insistence on saving it from being absorbed into the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI) led the business community to force Cleveland into default. Voinovich's successful negotiations reversed this action when he first assumed office as mayor. However, Voinovich's pro-business attitude did not change CEI's position on the issue, as they persisted in making efforts to buy out Muni Light and pressuring Voinovich into giving them the right to do so. Voinovich resisted. Early in his tenure, he arranged for capital improvements to strengthen the operation of Muni Light and by 1982, it was able to compete with CEI. He asserted that the company was making attempts to cripple Muni Light by lobbying council against much-needed legislation. "We still have a battle going on," Voinovich said, "They [CEI] are as dedicated as ever to laying away the Municipal Light system."
In 1984, however, Voinovich's pro-Muni attitude began to change, when his administration began negotiations for CEI. The deal would have allowed CEI to take over all of Muni's private customers in exchange for various benefits including a cash payment of $40 million. Furthermore, CEI threatened to move its more than 1,000 employees to the suburbs, instead of placing them in a major downtown development, if Voinovich did not agree to sell. CEI put additional pressure on the mayor to sell when it widely publicized its advantages in a full-page newspaper advertisement and letters to all city residents. Perhaps fearing a Kucinich comeback and after stating that he had been "leaned on by everyone in this town," Voinovich cancelled the sale once and for all. CEI itself was eventually acquired and became part of FirstEnergy
.
, Metzenbaum's Democratic party rival and then-Senate colleague, who recorded a statement for television refuting Voinovich's charges. Voinovich was also ridiculed for carrying around a cardboard cutout of Metzenbaum as he challenged him to multiple debates. Metzenbaum won the election by 57% to 43%, even as George H. W. Bush carried the state by 11 percent.
In 1990, Voinovich was nominated by the Republicans to replace Governor Richard F. Celeste
, a Democrat who was barred from running for a third consecutive term. In that race, Voinovich defeated Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr.
. In 1991 Voinovich served as the Chairman of the Midwestern Governors Association
. In 1994, Voinovich was re-elected to the governorship, defeating Democrat Robert L. Burch Jr. in a massive landslide. He won 72% of the vote.
Voinovich's tenure as governor saw Ohio's unemployment rate fall to a 25-year low. The state created more than 500,000 new jobs. Under Voinovich, Ohio was ranked #1 in the nation by Site Selection Magazine for new and expanding business facilities.
's bid for the Republican Presidential nomination. Later, Voinovich was among nine candidates asked to submit to background checks as potential vice presidential running mates with Dole. However, Voinovich withdrew his name from consideration, reiterating his desire to run for the U.S. Senate in 1998.
In 1998, barred from running for a third term as governor due to term limits, Voinovich set his eyes on the U.S. Senate
seat being vacated by long-time incumbent Democrat John Glenn
. Voinovich, who had run for senate unsuccessfully in 1988, won the race, defeating Democrat Mary O. Boyle.
Particularly in his first years in the Senate, Voinovich was opposed to lowering tax rates. He frequently joined Democrats on tax issues and in 2000 was the only Republican in Congress to vote against a bill providing for relief from the "marriage penalty
."
In November 2004, in his bid for re-election, Voinovich defeated the Democratic nominee, Ohio state senator Eric Fingerhut
.
Voinovich gained national attention at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's confirmation hearing of John R. Bolton
, nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
, when he commented "I don't feel comfortable voting today on Mr. John Bolton." As a result, the committee recessed without a vote and thus stalled the nomination. Democrats refused to invoke cloture and end debate on the Bolton nomination the first time, Voinovich voted to end debate, the second time, he joined Democrats in voting to extend debate and urged Bush to choose another nominee. Voinovich has since amended his views and determined that Bolton did a "good job" as UN Ambassador, praising him by saying "I spend a lot of time with John on the phone. I think he is really working very constructively to move forward."
Voinovich was overcome by emotion during his May 25, 2005, address in the Senate pleading with fellow Republicans to reject Bolton's nomination; he explained that he ran for re-election in order to try to secure a stable future for his children and grandchildren.
In January 2007, Senator Voinovich expressed concern to Condoleezza Rice
that the President's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq
would not be effective. The Senator did not share President George W. Bush
's optimism. "At this stage of the game, I don't think it's going to happen." As a moderate Republican, the Senator was viewed as one of few that could potentially influence the President. Five months later, Senator Voinovich requested to Bush in a five-page letter that the US begin pulling troops from Iraq and asking that the Iraqis start taking care of their own territory, calling for a "comprehensive plan for our country's gradual military disengagement from Iraq."
In May 2007, Voinovich and fellow Senator Sherrod Brown
(D-Ohio) introduced a bipartisan bill giving states the opportunity to receive grant money for hiring and training highly qualified early childhood educators.
On April 7, 2008, Voinovich departed from Republican party platform and stated at a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding the war in Iraq: "We've kind of bankrupted this country" through war spending. "We're in a recession...and God knows how long it's going to last."
When Michigan
became the eighth state to accede to the Great Lakes Compact
on July 9, 2008, Voinovich is expected to be one of the lead legislators in supporting the interstate compact
's passage in Congress.
On January 20, 2009, it was announced that Voinovich had been appointed to the powerful Appropriations Committee
. His appointment marks the first time an Ohioan has served on the coveted Senate committee since Mike DeWine lost his 2006 re-election bid. In accepting the appointment, Voinovich will relinquish his seat on the Foreign Relations Committee.
On July 22, 2009, Voinovich opposed a measure that would have allowed people to cross state lines with concealed weapons.
During part of his tenure in the Senate (June 25, 2007 through January 3, 2009), Voinovich sat at what is traditionally known as the 'candy desk
'.
Voinovich also voted in favor of the Matthew Shepard Act
.
On December 18, 2010, Voinovich voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
.
found that he would face a tough "fight for a third term, with 36 percent wanting to give him another term and 35 percent backing an unnamed Democratic candidate." On January 11, 2009, Voinovich's aides reported that he had decided to retire from the Senate rather than seek reelection in 2010.
|+ Mayor of Cleveland: Results 1979-1985
U.S. Senate elections in Ohio: Results 1988, 1998–2004
Governor of Ohio: Results 1990–1994
!|Year
!|Office
!
!|Democrat
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Republican
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|3rd Party
!|Party
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
|-
|1979
|Mayor
|
| |Dennis J. Kucinich
| align="right" |?
| |44%
|
| |George Voinovich
| align="right" |?
| |56%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1981
|Mayor
|
| |Patrick Sweeney
| align="right" |?
| |23%
|
| |George Voinovich
| align="right" |?
| |77%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1985
|Mayor
|
| |Gary Kucinich
| align="right" |?
| |28%
|
| |George Voinovich
| align="right" |?
| |72%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1988
|Senate
|
| |
| align="right" |2,480,088
| |57%
|
| |George Voinovich
| align="right" |1,872,716
| |43%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1990
|Governor
|
| |
| align="right" |1,539,416
| |44%
|
| |
| align="right" |1,938,103
| |56%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1994
|Governor
|
| |
| align="right" |835,849
| |25%
|
| |
| align="right" |2,401,572
| |72%
|
| | Billy Inmon
| | Independent
| align="right" |108,745
| align="right" |3%
| |*
|-
|1998
|Senate
|
| |
| align="right" |1,482,054
| |44%
|
| |
| align="right" |1,922,087
| |56%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|2004
|Senate
|
| |
| align="right" |1,961,171
| |36%
|
| |
| align="right" |3,464,356
| |64%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from the state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, and a member of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. Previously, he served as the 65th Governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998, and as the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989.
Personal life
Born in Cleveland, OhioOhio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, his father was a Croatian Serb
Serbs of Croatia
Višeslav of Serbia, a contemporary of Charlemagne , ruled the Županias of Neretva, Tara, Piva, Lim, his ancestral lands. According to the Royal Frankish Annals , Duke of Pannonia Ljudevit Posavski fled, during the Frankish invasion, from his seat in Sisak to the Serbs in western Bosnia, who...
(from Kordun
Kordun
The Kordun region is a part of central Croatia from the bottom of the Petrova Gora mountain range, which extends along the rivers Korana and Slunjčica, and forms part of the border region to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The southern border of Kordun touches the Lika region...
), and his mother was Slovenian. Voinovich grew up in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland and graduated from Collinwood High School in 1954. He earned a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
from Ohio University
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...
in 1958 and received a Law degree
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
in 1961 from the Moritz College of Law
Moritz College of Law
The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law is a public law school and charter member of the Association of American Law Schools. According to the 2010 U.S. News & World Report rankings, the Moritz College of Law is 35th in the nation overall and is in the top ten among public law schools. The...
at the Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
. He was also a part of the fraternity Phi Kappa Tau
Phi Kappa Tau
Phi Kappa Tau is a U.S. national collegiate fraternity.-History:Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity was founded in the Union Literary Society Hall of Miami University's Old Main Building in Oxford, Ohio on March 17, 1906...
at Ohio University. He married his wife, Janet, in 1962. They had four children: George, Betsy, Peter, and Molly, as well as seven grandchildren. Molly, their youngest child, was killed in an auto accident at age 9.
Early career
Voinovich began his political career in 1963 as an assistant attorney general of Ohio. He then served as a member of the Ohio House of RepresentativesOhio House of Representatives
The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate....
from 1967 to 1971. From 1971 to 1976, he served as county auditor of Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Cuyahoga County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. It is the most populous county in Ohio; as of the 2010 census, the population was 1,280,122. Its county seat is Cleveland. Cuyahoga County is part of Greater Cleveland, a metropolitan area, and Northeast Ohio, a...
. In 1975, he made an unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination for Mayor of Cleveland against incumbent Mayor Ralph J. Perk
Ralph J. Perk
Ralph Joseph Perk was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the 52nd mayor of Cleveland, Ohio.-Political career:...
. From 1977 to 1978, he served as a member of the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners. In 1978, Voinovich was elected lieutenant governor on the ticket with James A. Rhodes
Jim Rhodes
James Allen Rhodes was an American Republican politician from Ohio, and one of only five US state governors to serve four four-year terms in office. As governor in 1970, he decided to send National Guard troops onto the Kent State University campus, resulting in the shooting of students on May 4...
(the first Ohio lieutenant governor not to be elected separately from the governor).
1979 Cleveland mayoral election
By 1979, elections in Cleveland had become nonpartisanNonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
, and with then-Mayor Dennis J. Kucinich
Dennis Kucinich
Dennis John Kucinich is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. He was furthermore a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections....
(D) about to enter a tough re-election campaign, Voinovich began to consider running for mayor again. Twice, Voinovich suggested his intent to stand for office but then changed his mind. Finally, on July 26, he made "one of the most difficult decisions in [his] life." He resigned from the office of lieutenant governor and entered the primary election.
Aside from Kucinich, Voinovich's other opponents included state Senator Charles Butts and city council majority leader Basil Russo. As the election drew closer, The Plain Dealer announced its endorsement of Voinovich. Voter turnout in the primary was greater than that of 1977 race among Perk, Kucinich, and Edward F. Feighan
Ed Feighan
Edward Farrell "Ed" Feighan is a former American politician. He served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, and as a Democratic Party U.S. Representative from 1983 to 1993, serving Ohio's 19th congressional district.-Early life and education:Feighan graduated in 1965 from St...
(when Voinovich had endorsed Kucinich). In the 1979 nonpartisan primary election, Voinovich led with 47,000 votes to 36,000 for Kucinich. Russo (who obtained 21,000) and Butts (with 19,000) did not qualify for the general election. The biggest surprise was Voinovich's showing in predominantly African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
wards, where he was expected to finish last. He trailed only Butts, with Kucinich last.
On October 8, 1979, a few days after the primary, Voinovich's nine-year-old daughter Molly was struck by a van and killed. The event brought the Voinovich campaign to a virtual halt and made it difficult for Kucinich to attack his opponent. Still, he challenged Voinovich to a series of debates to be held in various Cleveland neighborhoods. Voinovich declined the invitations, saying they would be unproductive, although they eventually did meet in a debate on November 3 at the City Club
City Club of Cleveland
The City Club of Cleveland was incorporated in 1912 as a non-partisan forum for debate. Known as "America's Citadel of Free Speech", it is the longest continuous independent free speech forum in the country and generally considered one of the top three speaking forums in America...
. Voinovich went on to win the election with 94,541 votes to Kucinich's 73,755.
Voinovich went on to be re-elected twice by a landslide: in 1981 he defeated former State Representative, Patrick Sweeney (107,472 to 32,940). In 1985 he defeated former councilman Gary Kucinich (82,840 to 32,185).
"The Comeback City"
Voinovich was considered shy and a rather low-key politician, a description he adopted himself. Once elected, he announced that he would meet immediately with Ohio Governor James Rhodes to solicit the state government's help in clearing up the city's debts. He negotiated a debt repayment schedule. In October 1980, eight local banks, with the state guaranteeing the loans, lent Cleveland $36.2 million, allowing the city to emerge from default. Despite this, the city's economy continued to decline and federal funding was cut. Two weeks earlier, voters turned down another 0.5 percent income tax increase. The opposition was led by Kucinich, who had been keeping a low profile since his defeat in the 1979 election. Voinovich said he would resubmit the tax issue on the February ballot to avoid facing a deficit in 1981. This time the voters approved the tax increase.By the time Voinovich was elected, Cleveland was the butt of late night comedians' jokes, where the river and mayor's hair burned, and the only major American city to go bankrupt. When Boston mayor Kevin White remarked that the city's finances had gone from "Camelot to Cleveland," Voinovich protested. White responded by saying that Boston had survived facetious remarks from a wide range of jokesters, from Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
to Johnny Carson. "I am sure Cleveland will also," he said.
Voinovich went on offense. He reversed a defensive attitude projected by the Cleveland media, going to "war...to save one of this country's greatest cities." Others soon jumped on board. For instance, The Smythe-Cramer Co., a local realty firm, tried to restore the city's former glory by running a series of ads with photographs of downtown Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of the City of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Reinvestment in the area in the mid-1990s spurred a rebirth that continues to this day, with over $2 billion in residential and commercial developments slated for the area over the next few years...
captioned "Take Another Look. It's Cleveland!" In May 1981, The Plain Dealer sent its Sunday subscribers bumper stickers saying, "New York's the Big Apple, but Cleveland's a Plum." The paper also passed out thousands of "Cleveland's a Plum" buttons and also ran a huge picture of Publisher Thomas Vail, with a smiling Voinovich beside him, throwing out the first plum at a Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
-Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
game. Sportscaster Howard Cosell
Howard Cosell
Howard William Cosell was an American sports journalist who was widely known for his blustery, cocksure personality. Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. I have been called all of these...
hailed the city during a baseball game and Voinovich subsequently presented him with a key to the city. A survey showed 65 percent of the residents of Greater Cleveland were very satisfied with their life in the city and even 57 percent claimed to be very satisfied, even in 1978, the year of default. Also, a national poll rated Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
as the city with the worst image, with New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
second. Cleveland was fifth-worst.
The New Cleveland Campaign, a promotion agency formed in 1978, began sending out news releases bragging about Cleveland's virtues and proudly circulating reprints whenever it got a favorable story. Unfortunately, to show how much the "new" Cleveland had improved, it had to highlight how bad the old Cleveland was. In particular, it stressed the city's 1978 default of $15.5 million short-term loans from local banks, even though New York City owed nearly 150 times as much when it received a $2.3 billion federal bailout to avoid bankruptcy in 1975.
The restoration campaign reached its peak in October with the society magazine Town and Country
Town & Country (magazine)
Town & Country, formerly the Home Journal and The National Press, is a monthly American lifestyle magazine. It is the oldest continually published general interest magazine in the United States.-Early history:...
. "Cleveland's Come-Around" explained how "businessmen, lawyers and concerned citizens" rescued the city from "the petulant, pugnacious Dennis Kucinich." It called Voinovich's Operation Improvement Task Force under E. Mandell de Windt "the most significant undertaking in Cleveland since Moses Cleaveland
Moses Cleaveland
Moses Cleaveland was a lawyer, politician, soldier, and surveyor from Connecticut who founded the U.S. city of Cleveland, Ohio, while surveying the Western Reserve in 1796.-Early life:...
stepped ashore on the bank of the Cuyahoga River in 1786." It also enticed its readers of Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
and its "beautiful and exciting year-round sailing."
So confident was Voinovich, that during election season, he even attracted presidential candidates Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
to debate in Cleveland. "Cleveland is making a comeback," Time Magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
declared at the close of 1980, "During the past year, convention business has flourished, school desegregation has proceeded peacefully, and a modest construction boom has begun. . . Most impressive of all, the city dug itself out of default."
Downtown development and other improvements
In order to accomplish more, Voinovich felt that the terms for mayor and Cleveland City CouncilCleveland City Council
Cleveland City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Cleveland in Ohio. Its members are elected from 19 wards to four-year terms. The number of council members has decreased over the years...
ought to be extended. He offered a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
to voters to extend them from two to four years and additionally asked voters to approve cutting down the number of council members from 33 to 21 in order to help ease the city's strained economy. They approved both requests.
Throughout the Voinovich years, neighborhoods began to see some improvement starting with the Lexington Village housing project, $149 million in Urban Development Action Grants, and $3 billion of construction underway or completed. In particular, the neighborhoods of Hough
Hough, Cleveland
Hough is a neighborhood situated along the midtown corridor on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the city's oldest neighborhoods. During the American Civil Rights era in the mid-20th century, the neighborhood received national attention as a flashpoint of racial tensions, when the...
and Fairfax
Fairfax, Cleveland
Fairfax is a neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. Roughly bounded between Euclid Avenue to the north, Woodland Avenue to the south, E.71st Street to the west and E.105th Street to the east, the predominantly poverty stricken neighborhood is overlapped by the city's cultural and...
, then two of Cleveland's worst east side neighborhoods, began to see new houses built and lesser amount of criminal activity. Voinovich also quietly moved to reconcile the warring groups of the 1970s. He made peace with business leaders and even posed with them in photographs that ran in New Cleveland Campaign ads in business magazines, captioned with the Voinovich slogan: "Together, we can do it." He refined the neighborhood groups, which, with the breakdown of the Democratic Party, became the most potent political force in the city. He also extended his hand to unions
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
as well, in particular the Teamsters
Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....
truck union.
As mayor, Voinovich oversaw a huge scale urban renaissance downtown. Sohio
Standard Oil of Ohio
Standard Oil of Ohio or Sohio was an American oil company that was acquired by British Petroleum, now called BP.It was one of the successor companies to Standard Oil after the antitrust breakup in 1911. Standard Oil of Ohio was the original Standard Oil company founded by John D. Rockefeller. It...
(purchased by BP America
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
in 1987), Ohio Bell
Ohio Bell
The Ohio Bell Telephone Company is the Bell Operating Company serving most of Ohio. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T.Its headquarters is the Ohio Bell Building at 750 Huron Road, Cleveland, Ohio...
, and Eaton Corporation
Eaton Corporation
Eaton Corporation is a global diversified power management company with 2010 sales of $13.7 billion. The company is a leading provider of electrical components and systems for power quality, distribution and control; hydraulics components, systems and services for industrial and mobile equipment;...
all built new offices downtown (most notably the BP Building). Brothers Richard and David Jacobs astonished the city by rescuing its troubled Indians franchise, ultimately turning it around for the better. The two also improved the desolate area located by the Erieview Tower
Erieview Tower
The Erieview Tower is a skyscraper located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The building has 40 stories, rises to a height of 529 ft , and has of office space...
and turned it into the glass-roofed Galleria at Erieview
The Galleria at Erieview
The Galleria at Erieview is a two floor shopping mall that opened in 1987 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, on the east side of the city's downtown. It is adjacent to the Erieview Tower, a 40-story office building. The Galleria is a few blocks away from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.- History :The concept...
. Voinovich also enticed Society Bank
Key Bank
KeyBank is a regional bank headquartered in Key Tower within Cleveland, Ohio's Public Square. , it is the 19th largest bank in the United States based on total deposits...
to the build Society Center
Key Tower
Key Tower is a skyscraper on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio designed by architect César Pelli. It is the tallest building in both the city of Cleveland and the state of Ohio, the 18th tallest building in the United States, and the 70th tallest building in the world...
, the largest skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
in Cleveland and the 15th largest in the nation (since renamed Key Tower). In addition, the National Civic League
National Civic League
The National Civic League is an American non-profit organization that advocates for transparency, effectiveness, and openness in local government...
awarded Cleveland the All-America City Award
All-America City Award
The All-America City Award is given by the National Civic League annually to ten cities in the United States.The oldest community recognition program in the nation, the award recognizes communities whose citizens work together to identify and tackle community-wide challenges and achieve uncommon...
three times, in 1982, 1984, and 1986, in addition to its first, won in 1950.
Voinovich and Municipal Light
One of the key issues surrounding the previous Kucinich administration was canceling the sale of Cleveland Municipal Light (today Cleveland Public PowerCleveland Public Power
Cleveland Public Power is a publicly owned electricity generation and distribution company in Ohio. It was founded in 1907 by Tom L. Johnson, then Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Before 1983 it was known as Municipal Light . CPP does not have sufficient capacity to compete across the entire Greater...
). Kucinich's insistence on saving it from being absorbed into the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI) led the business community to force Cleveland into default. Voinovich's successful negotiations reversed this action when he first assumed office as mayor. However, Voinovich's pro-business attitude did not change CEI's position on the issue, as they persisted in making efforts to buy out Muni Light and pressuring Voinovich into giving them the right to do so. Voinovich resisted. Early in his tenure, he arranged for capital improvements to strengthen the operation of Muni Light and by 1982, it was able to compete with CEI. He asserted that the company was making attempts to cripple Muni Light by lobbying council against much-needed legislation. "We still have a battle going on," Voinovich said, "They [CEI] are as dedicated as ever to laying away the Municipal Light system."
In 1984, however, Voinovich's pro-Muni attitude began to change, when his administration began negotiations for CEI. The deal would have allowed CEI to take over all of Muni's private customers in exchange for various benefits including a cash payment of $40 million. Furthermore, CEI threatened to move its more than 1,000 employees to the suburbs, instead of placing them in a major downtown development, if Voinovich did not agree to sell. CEI put additional pressure on the mayor to sell when it widely publicized its advantages in a full-page newspaper advertisement and letters to all city residents. Perhaps fearing a Kucinich comeback and after stating that he had been "leaned on by everyone in this town," Voinovich cancelled the sale once and for all. CEI itself was eventually acquired and became part of FirstEnergy
FirstEnergy
FirstEnergy Corp. , is a diversified energy company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Its subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, as well as energy management and other energy-related services...
.
1988 Senate race
In 1988, Voinovich ran for the Senate seat of Howard Metzenbaum, in what was a hard-fought and negative campaign. Voinovich accused Metzenbaum of being soft on child pornography, charges that were roundly criticized by many, including John GlennJohn Glenn
John Herschel Glenn, Jr. is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program as a member of NASA's original...
, Metzenbaum's Democratic party rival and then-Senate colleague, who recorded a statement for television refuting Voinovich's charges. Voinovich was also ridiculed for carrying around a cardboard cutout of Metzenbaum as he challenged him to multiple debates. Metzenbaum won the election by 57% to 43%, even as George H. W. Bush carried the state by 11 percent.
Governorship
Dick Celeste
Richard Frank "Dick" Celeste is an American politician from Ohio, and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as the 64th Governor of Ohio from 1983-1991.-Early life and career:...
, a Democrat who was barred from running for a third consecutive term. In that race, Voinovich defeated Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr.
Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr.
Anthony Joseph "Tony" Celebrezze Jr. was an American politician of the Democratic party, who served as Ohio Attorney General, Ohio Secretary of State and an Ohio State Senator. He was the son of Anthony J. Celebrezze Sr....
. In 1991 Voinovich served as the Chairman of the Midwestern Governors Association
Midwestern Governors Association
The Midwestern Governors Association is a 501 nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that brings together the Midwestern governors of states to work cooperatively on public policy issues of significance to the region. The MGA was created in December 1962 in Chicago, when articles of organization were...
. In 1994, Voinovich was re-elected to the governorship, defeating Democrat Robert L. Burch Jr. in a massive landslide. He won 72% of the vote.
Voinovich's tenure as governor saw Ohio's unemployment rate fall to a 25-year low. The state created more than 500,000 new jobs. Under Voinovich, Ohio was ranked #1 in the nation by Site Selection Magazine for new and expanding business facilities.
Beyond the Governor's office
In 1996, Voinovich was the first governor to endorse U.S. Senator Robert J. DoleBob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
's bid for the Republican Presidential nomination. Later, Voinovich was among nine candidates asked to submit to background checks as potential vice presidential running mates with Dole. However, Voinovich withdrew his name from consideration, reiterating his desire to run for the U.S. Senate in 1998.
In 1998, barred from running for a third term as governor due to term limits, Voinovich set his eyes on the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat being vacated by long-time incumbent Democrat John Glenn
John Glenn
John Herschel Glenn, Jr. is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program as a member of NASA's original...
. Voinovich, who had run for senate unsuccessfully in 1988, won the race, defeating Democrat Mary O. Boyle.
Overview
Marriage penalty
The marriage penalty in the United States refers to the higher taxes required from some married couples, where spouses are making approximately the same taxable income, filing one tax return than for the same two people filing two separate tax returns if they were unmarried...
."
In November 2004, in his bid for re-election, Voinovich defeated the Democratic nominee, Ohio state senator Eric Fingerhut
Eric Fingerhut
Eric David Fingerhut is an American politician of the Ohio Democratic party. Fingerhut was appointed the Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents on March 14, 2007 by Governor Ted Strickland. This position makes him a member of the Ohio Governor's Cabinet...
.
Voinovich gained national attention at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's confirmation hearing of John R. Bolton
John R. Bolton
John Robert Bolton is an American lawyer and diplomat who has served in several Republican presidential administrations. He served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 2005 until December 2006 on a recess appointment...
, nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, when he commented "I don't feel comfortable voting today on Mr. John Bolton." As a result, the committee recessed without a vote and thus stalled the nomination. Democrats refused to invoke cloture and end debate on the Bolton nomination the first time, Voinovich voted to end debate, the second time, he joined Democrats in voting to extend debate and urged Bush to choose another nominee. Voinovich has since amended his views and determined that Bolton did a "good job" as UN Ambassador, praising him by saying "I spend a lot of time with John on the phone. I think he is really working very constructively to move forward."
Voinovich was overcome by emotion during his May 25, 2005, address in the Senate pleading with fellow Republicans to reject Bolton's nomination; he explained that he ran for re-election in order to try to secure a stable future for his children and grandchildren.
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
that the President's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
would not be effective. The Senator did not share President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's optimism. "At this stage of the game, I don't think it's going to happen." As a moderate Republican, the Senator was viewed as one of few that could potentially influence the President. Five months later, Senator Voinovich requested to Bush in a five-page letter that the US begin pulling troops from Iraq and asking that the Iraqis start taking care of their own territory, calling for a "comprehensive plan for our country's gradual military disengagement from Iraq."
In May 2007, Voinovich and fellow Senator Sherrod Brown
Sherrod Brown
Sherrod Campbell Brown is the senior United States Senator from Ohio and a member of the Democratic Party. Before his election to the U.S. Senate, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 13th congressional district from 1993 to 2007...
(D-Ohio) introduced a bipartisan bill giving states the opportunity to receive grant money for hiring and training highly qualified early childhood educators.
On April 7, 2008, Voinovich departed from Republican party platform and stated at a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding the war in Iraq: "We've kind of bankrupted this country" through war spending. "We're in a recession...and God knows how long it's going to last."
When Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
became the eighth state to accede to the Great Lakes Compact
Great Lakes Compact
The Great Lakes--St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact is a legally binding interstate compact among the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The compact details how the states manage the use of the Great Lakes Basin's water...
on July 9, 2008, Voinovich is expected to be one of the lead legislators in supporting the interstate compact
Interstate compact
An interstate compact is an agreement between two or more states of the United States of America. Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution provides that "no state shall enter into an agreement or compact with another state" without the consent of Congress...
's passage in Congress.
On January 20, 2009, it was announced that Voinovich had been appointed to the powerful Appropriations Committee
United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate....
. His appointment marks the first time an Ohioan has served on the coveted Senate committee since Mike DeWine lost his 2006 re-election bid. In accepting the appointment, Voinovich will relinquish his seat on the Foreign Relations Committee.
On July 22, 2009, Voinovich opposed a measure that would have allowed people to cross state lines with concealed weapons.
During part of his tenure in the Senate (June 25, 2007 through January 3, 2009), Voinovich sat at what is traditionally known as the 'candy desk
Candy desk
The candy desk is a tradition of the United States Senate established in 1968, according to the Senate Historical Office. The desk, located on the Republican side of the Senate chamber, was first stocked with candy and treats by Senator George Murphy. Those entrusted with the candy desk have...
'.
Voinovich also voted in favor of the Matthew Shepard Act
Matthew Shepard Act
The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, is an American Act of Congress, passed on October 22, 2009, and signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009, as a rider to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2010...
.
On December 18, 2010, Voinovich voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 is a landmark federal statute that establishes a legal process for ending the Don't ask, don't tell policy , which since 1993 prevented openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the United States Armed Forces.The Act did not immediately repeal the...
.
2010 campaign
In an interview in 2005, Voinovich expressed his intention to run for reelection to the Senate in 2010. A December 2008 poll by Quinnipiac UniversityQuinnipiac University
Quinnipiac University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in Hamden, Connecticut, United States at the foot of Sleeping Giant State Park...
found that he would face a tough "fight for a third term, with 36 percent wanting to give him another term and 35 percent backing an unnamed Democratic candidate." On January 11, 2009, Voinovich's aides reported that he had decided to retire from the Senate rather than seek reelection in 2010.
Committee assignments
- Committee on AppropriationsUnited States Senate Committee on AppropriationsThe United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate....
- Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Energy and Water DevelopmentUnited States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water DevelopmentThe U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development is one of twelve subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Homeland SecurityUnited States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland SecurityU.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security is one of twelve subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. It was formally established in 2003 in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to oversee national security programs and the newly created...
(Ranking Member) - Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related ProgramsUnited States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related ProgramsUnited States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs is one of twelve subcommittees of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
- Committee on Environment and Public WorksUnited States Senate Committee on Environment and Public WorksThe United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is responsible for dealing with matters related to the environment and infrastructure.-Members, 112th Congress:...
- Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear SafetyUnited States Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear SafetyThe U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety is one of seven subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works...
- Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New EconomyUnited States Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New EconomyThe U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Green Job and the New Economy is one of seven subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.-Jurisdiction:According to the Committee's website:...
- Subcommittee on Transportation and InfrastructureUnited States Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation and InfrastructureThe U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure is one of seven subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The subcommittee's jurisdiction includes:*Transportation...
(Ranking Member)
- Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
- Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental AffairsUnited States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental AffairsThe United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has jurisdiction over matters related to the Department of Homeland Security and other homeland security concerns, as well as the functioning of the government itself, including the National Archives, budget and...
- Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security
- Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia (Ranking Member)
- Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration
Electoral history
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%"|+ Mayor of Cleveland: Results 1979-1985
U.S. Senate elections in Ohio: Results 1988, 1998–2004
Governor of Ohio: Results 1990–1994
!|Year
!|Office
!
!|Democrat
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Republican
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|3rd Party
!|Party
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
|-
|1979
|Mayor
|
| |Dennis J. Kucinich
| align="right" |?
| |44%
|
| |George Voinovich
| align="right" |?
| |56%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1981
|Mayor
|
| |Patrick Sweeney
| align="right" |?
| |23%
|
| |George Voinovich
| align="right" |?
| |77%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1985
|Mayor
|
| |Gary Kucinich
| align="right" |?
| |28%
|
| |George Voinovich
| align="right" |?
| |72%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1988
United States Senate election in Ohio, 1988
The 1988 United States Senate election in Ohio was held on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Howard Metzenbaum won re-election.-Republican:*George Voinovich, Mayor of Cleveland and former Lieutenant Governor of Ohio.-Results:...
|Senate
|
| |
| align="right" |2,480,088
| |57%
|
| |George Voinovich
| align="right" |1,872,716
| |43%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1990
United States gubernatorial elections, 1990
The 1990 United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 6, 1990 in 36 states. Most elected in these elections would serve for a four-year term, while those in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont would serve for a two-year term....
|Governor
|
| |
| align="right" |1,539,416
| |44%
|
| |
| align="right" |1,938,103
| |56%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1994
United States gubernatorial elections, 1994
The 1994 U.S. gubernatorial elections were held on November 8, 1994 in 36 states. Many seats held by Democratic Party governors switched to the Republican Party during the time known as the Republican Revolution....
|Governor
|
| |
| align="right" |835,849
| |25%
|
| |
| align="right" |2,401,572
| |72%
|
| | Billy Inmon
| | Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
| align="right" |108,745
| align="right" |3%
| |*
|-
|1998
|Senate
|
| |
| align="right" |1,482,054
| |44%
|
| |
| align="right" |1,922,087
| |56%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|2004
United States Senate election in Ohio, 2004
The 2004 United States Senate election in Ohio took place on November 2, 2004. It was concurrent with elections to the United States House of Representatives and the presidential election. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator George Voinovich won re-election to a second term.-Democratic:*Eric...
|Senate
|
| |
| align="right" |1,961,171
| |36%
|
| |
| align="right" |3,464,356
| |64%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
External links
- Profile at SourceWatchSourceWatchSourceWatch is an internet wiki site that is a collaborative project of the liberal Center for Media and Democracy...