Victoria Wells Wulsin
Encyclopedia
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and three-time Democratic congressional candidate in the Second District of Ohio (map). She is a resident of Indian Hill
Indian Hill, Ohio
The Village of Indian Hill is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and an affluent suburb of the Greater Cincinnati area. The population was 5,907 at the 2000 census. Prior to 1970, Indian Hill was incorporated as a village, but under Ohio law became designated as a city once its...
, an affluent suburb of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
.
Early life and career
Wulsin was born in Elyria, OhioElyria, Ohio
-Community:Elyria has an extensive, although financially burdened, community food pantry and "Hot Meals" program administered through the Second Harvest Food Bank and several churches Elyria is served by Elyria Memorial Hospital.-Recreation and parks:...
, the daughter of a teacher and a social worker. She attended high school in Ohio and completed her undergraduate coursework at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. After college, she returned to Ohio and earned a medical degree from Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
in Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
(1980). She received her masters in Public Health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
(1982) and her doctorate in Epidemiology
Epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study of health-event, health-characteristic, or health-determinant patterns in a population. It is the cornerstone method of public health research, and helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive...
(1985), both from the Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
School of Public Health. Wulsin has obtained medical licenses in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
(1981) and 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...
(1989). From 1989-1995, she was Director of Epidemiology in the City of Cincinnati's Health Department. From 1986-2001, she worked in various capacities for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...
. Her husband, Dr. Lawson Reed Wulsin, is a psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati, and they have four sons: Wells, Reed, Stuart and John,.
In April 2003, Wulsin founded SOTENI International, a non-profit organization to fight AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, which has its headquarters in Cincinnati and an office in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. SOTENI uplifts women and orphans who were most affected by the AIDS pandemic. Soteni is a Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
word which translates as "all of us". On 26th January 2011 during the award of charter to the Mount Kenya University in Thika, she was installed as its first Chancellor.
2005 special election for Congress
Wulsin was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Congress to replace Rob PortmanRob Portman
Robert Jones "Rob" Portman is the junior United States Senator from Ohio. He is a member of the Republican Party. He succeeded retiring Senator George Voinovich....
in the Second District of Ohio in the special primary held June 14, 2005. In the Democratic primary, Wulsin campaigned to reform health care to provide every citizen with coverage, promised to protect Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
and the environment
Environment (biophysical)
The biophysical environment is the combined modeling of the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables, parameters as well as conditions and modes inside the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories:...
, said the Iraq War "has not been worth the cost of American service personnel or the dollars we have spent", and said America needed "fair trade" in the proposed CAFTA agreement. She also defended contraception, legal abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and reproductive rights.
In the primary election, Wulsin finished second behind Paul Hackett. She received 3,800 votes (27.35%).
2006 election for Congress
In 2006, Wulsin sought the Democratic nomination again. With Paul Hackett having announced he would not run again, she faced health care administrator James John Parker and civil engineer Jeff Sinnard, who both ran in 2005, and newcomers Gabrielle Downey, a high school teacher, and Thor Jacobs, a building contractor. Wulsin won the May 2 primary by nearly 15 percentage points and received the Democratic nomination for the 2nd District. She faced Rep. Jean SchmidtJean Schmidt
Jeannette Marie Hoffman Schmidt, is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. She is a member of the Republican Party. The district stretches from eastern Cincinnati to Portsmouth....
(R) in the November 2006 general election and was defeated by only 2,517 votes out almost 240,000 votes cast. This is the closest that a Democrat has come to winning a full term in the heavily Republican 2nd District in 42 years; the last Democrat to win this district for a full term was future Governor Jack Gilligan
John J. Gilligan
John Joyce Gilligan is a American Democratic politician from the state of Ohio who served as a U.S. Representative and the 62nd Governor of Ohio. He is the father of Kathleen Sebelius...
, who held it for one term after being swept into office by the massive Democratic landslide of 1964.
Wulsin carried Pike County
Pike County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 27,695 people, 10,444 households, and 7,665 families residing in the county. The population density was 63 people per square mile . There were 11,602 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...
and Scioto County
Scioto County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 79,195 people, 30,871 households, and 21,362 families residing in the county. The population density was 129 people per square mile . There were 34,054 housing units at an average density of 56 per square mile...
by wide margins and narrowly carried Brown County
Brown County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 42,285 people, 15,555 households, and 11,790 families residing in the county. The population density was 86 people per square mile . There were 17,193 housing units at an average density of 35 per square mile...
. She also defeated Schmidt in the 2nd's share of Hamilton County
Hamilton County, Ohio
As of 2000, there were 845,303 people, 346,790 households, and 212,582 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,075 people per square mile . There were 373,393 housing units at an average density of 917 per square mile...
, by far the largest portion of the district; Schmidt had won Hamilton County during her special election victory against Hackett. However, Schmidt carried her home in Clermont County
Clermont County, Ohio
Clermont County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States, just east of Cincinnati. As of 2010, the population was 197,363. Its county seat is Batavia...
by over 8,000 votes, enabling her to keep the seat.
2006 Polls
| Source | Date | Wulsin (D) | Schmidt (R) | Undecided | Margin of error |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA | November 1, 2006 | 48% | 45% | 7% | -/+ 4 |
| SurveyUSA | October 17, 2006 | 40% | 48% | 12% | -/+ 4 |
| Majority Watch | October 10, 2006 | 48% | 45% | 6% | -/+ 3 |
| SurveyUSA | September 21, 2006 | 42% | 45% | 12% | -/+ 4 |
| Momentum Analysis | June 2006 | 44% | 44% | 11% | -/+ 4 |
2008 election for Congress
In the 2008 election cycle Wulsin ran as the Democratic candidate for the Second District of Ohio for a third time. She defeated Cincinnati attorney Steve Black by 28 points in the March 4 primary.In the general election, Wulsin faced two opponents, Republican
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...
incumbent Jean Schmidt
Jean Schmidt
Jeannette Marie Hoffman Schmidt, is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. She is a member of the Republican Party. The district stretches from eastern Cincinnati to Portsmouth....
and independent candidate David Krikorian
David Krikorian
David Krikorian is an American businessman and twice a candidate for Ohio's 2nd congressional district, the seat now held by Republican Jean Schmidt....
. Polls showed the race to be close between Wulsin and Schmidt, with Krikorian attracting a significant amount of support for an independent candidate.
The three candidates engaged in three debates. The first took place at the Anderson Community Center on October 6, 2008, the second was aired on WCET
WCET (TV)
WCET is the PBS member public television station serving Cincinnati, Ohio. It broadcasts digitally on channel 34 but is displayed on-screen as channel 48, its former analog and present virtual channel, via the PSIP protocol. Its signal is multiplexed, broadcasting one high-definition channel, CET...
on October 22, and the third was aired on Channel 12’s Newsmakers program on October 26. All three debates focused mainly on the economy, the financial crisis, and local issues.
On November 4, Representative Schmidt defeated Wulsin in the general election.
Malariotherapy controversy
Wulsin has stated that in 2004 she was hired by Cincinnati's Heimlich InstituteHenry Heimlich
Dr. Henry Jay Heimlich , an American physician, has received credit as the inventor of abdominal thrusts, more commonly known as the Heimlich maneuver, though debate continues over his role in the development of the procedure...
to conduct a literature review on "malariotherapy", a controversial AIDS treatment which consists of infecting HIV+ patients with malaria. Wulsin produced a report for the Heimlich Institute entitled "Immunotherapy and Beyond", which included suggestions for proceeding with the Heimlich Institute's ongoing "malariotherapy" experiments in Africa, but also concluded that the treatment found a "consistent pattern of increasing disapproval over time" and that "the preponderance of evidence indicates that neither malaria nor Immunotherapy will cure HIV/AIDS".
A "Wulsin for Congress" statement includes, In the course of her work, (Dr. Wulsin) was given a single page of data from an experiment taking place in Africa ... Dr. Wulsin's contract with the Heimlich Institute was terminated the day after her draft report was submitted for review by the Institute's board and the board of the parent Deaconess Foundation. Dr. Wulsin's report is dated December 2004. However, according to the January 21, 2005 Cincinnati Business Courier, "Last February, she was hired by the Heimlich Institute to do a four-month literature review of malariotherapy."
A request for an investigation of Wulsin's work for the Heimlich Institute was filed with the State Medical Board of Ohio on Nov. 3, 2006 by Dr. Robert S. Baratz of the National Council Against Health Fraud. The complaint accused Wulsin of "participation in unsupervised, unapproved, and dangerous experiments." An April 28, 2008 letter from the State Medical Board stated that "no further action was required by the board and the complaint has been closed."
Steve Black, Dr. Wulsin's opponent in the Spring 2008 Democratic primary, made the matter a campaign issue via mailers and a TV ad. A June 8, 2008 "Jean Schmidt
Jean Schmidt
Jeannette Marie Hoffman Schmidt, is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. She is a member of the Republican Party. The district stretches from eastern Cincinnati to Portsmouth....
for Congress" fundraising letter stated, Wulsin's contempt for the culture of life has even led her to participate in grotesque medical experiments. Wulsin was paid for her work in medical "studies" where victims of AIDS in Africa and China were, without their consent, injected with the malaria virus, all in the name of "scientific inquiry". Mr. Black later endorsed Wulsin: "During the primary election campaign, I raised the issue of a medical ethics complaint filed against Dr. Wulsin. Now that the Ohio State Medical Board has found no merit in that complaint, I hope we can all put this issue behind us".
External links
- Victoria Wulsin for Congress official campaign site