George Voinovich

George Voinovich
United States Senator from Ohio
Incumbent
Assumed office January 6, 1999 Serving with Sherrod Brown
Preceded by	John Glenn
Succeeded by	Incumbent (2011)
65th Governor of Ohio
In office January 14, 1991 – December 31, 1998
Lieutenant	Mike DeWine (1991–1994) Nancy P. Hollister (1995–1998)
Preceded by	Richard Frank Celeste
Succeeded by	Nancy P. Hollister
54th Mayor of Cleveland
In office 1980–1989
Preceded by	Dennis J. Kucinich
Succeeded by	Michael R. White
Personal details
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Janet Voinovich
Alma mater	Ohio University

George Victor Voinovich (born July 15, 1936) is the senior 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.

Personal life

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, to a Serb father from Croatia (from Kordun [1]) and a Slovenian mother, Voinovich earned a bachelor of arts degree in government from Ohio University in 1958 and a law degree from The Ohio State University in 1961. Voinovich is a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. 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 Representatives 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).

Cleveland Mayoralty, 1980–1989

1979 Cleveland mayoral election

By 1979, elections in Cleveland had become nonpartisan, 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.

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A 1979 Voinovich campaign poster for mayor of Cleveland.

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.

Then, a few days after the primary, Voinovich's nine-year-old daughter, Molly was struck by a van and killed on October 8. This tragic event brought the campaign to a virtual halt and made it difficult for Kucinich to attack his opponent. Still, he challenged Voinovich to a series of debates in Cleveland neighborhoods. However, the former lieutenant governor declined these invitations saying they would be unproductive. Finally, however, a debate between Voinovich and Kucinich was held at the City Club on November 3. Following the debate, Voinovich went on to win the election with 94,541 votes to Kucinch's 73,755.

After his victory in 1979, Voinovich won re-election in 1981 against Ohio state Rep. Patrick Sweeney (107,472 to 32,940) and in 1985 against councilman Gary Kucinich, Dennis' brother (82,840 to 32,185).

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Voinovich highlights Cleveland's misspent bond funds at a November 1980 press conference.

"The Comeback City"

Voinovich was considered 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 had long been the butt of late night comedians' jokes. 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.

The defensive attitude projected from the Cleveland media and Voinovich began to make inhabitants of other cities look twice at Cleveland. The Smythe-Cramer Co. especially helped 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, 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 stress how bad the old Cleveland was. In particular, it stressed on the city's 1978 default, even though New York City defaulted on 300 times as much in 1975 (which they referred to as a "moratorium.").

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Former Cleveland Mayor Voinovich speaking at the May Company ribbon cutting ceremony in 1981.

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."

Downtown development and other improvements

In order to accomplish more, Voinovich felt that the terms for mayor and Cleveland City Council 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 attracted the Key Bank company, which eventually led to the construction of Key Tower, the largest skyscraper in Cleveland and the 15th largest in the nation. 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.

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 Power). 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 Muny 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 Muny Light and by 1982, it was able to compete with CEI. He asserted that the company was making attempts to cripple Muny 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."

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Voinovich as Mayor of Cleveland.

In 1984, however, Voinovich's pro-Muny attitude began to change, when his administration began negotiations for CEI. The deal would have allowed CEI to take over all of Muny'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.

Criticisms

Despite the achievements of the Voinovich administration, there were still some problems and criticisms. The city's population continued to decrease and its public school system continued to experience issues, a problem that still plagues the city to this day. Critics of The Plain Dealer's "plum campaign" produced counter-bumper stickers that read "If Cleveland's a plum, no wonder why The Plain Dealer is the pits."

Voinovich also worked to have peaceful relations with city council, in particular, its then-President, George L. Forbes. The mayor and council channeled the funds to local groups and made sure that the groups knew whom to thank. The grants gave them the ability to reward or punish neighborhood groups. For that matter, Forbes could cut off money towards of council members who criticized him. Since being elected as Council President in 1973, Forbes had steadily built his power and appointed himself chairman of the Finance Committee, allowing him control of council's two most powerful positions. It was becoming clear to Voinovich that the price of peace was gradually yielding more power to Forbes.

The Plain Dealer also criticized Voinovich after he threatened mass layoffs if a second income tax increase (proposed in 1984) would not pass. It failed by an almost 2 to 1 margin. Instead of offering mass layoffs however, Voinovich apologized saying that he exaggerated the probable extent of the layoffs in an effort to persuade voters.

In 1988, Voinovich announced his retirement from his position as mayor and ran to unseat then U.S. Senator Howard Metzenbaum while still in the mayor's office. During his campaign, Voinovich charged that Metzenbaum was soft on child pornographers. He was roundly criticized for this attack and lost to Metzenbaum in a landslide. Meanwhile, Forbes, who was in firm control of council, decided to run for mayor in the 1989 election. He was subsequently defeated by his own protégé, Michael R. White, who is often credited with continuing Voinovich's work of urban renewal.

Governorship

Voinovich as Governor

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., a victory that made Voinovich the first Serb American ever to hold office as governor; no others were elected until Rod Blagojevich won the governorship of Illinois in 2002. 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 hoped to be chosen by then U.S. Sen. Robert J. Dole to be the Republican nominee for U.S. vice president. Dole, however, chose Jack Kemp instead. In 1998, barred from running for a third term as governor, Voinovich set his eyes on the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by long-time incumbent Democrat John Glenn. Voinovich won that race, defeating Democrat Mary O. Boyle.

Senate career

Voinovich introducing George W. Bush at Ohio Campaign Rally, 2004

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 2002, Voinovich came under fire from right-wing Senate Republicans for opposing President Bush's proposal to raise expenditures while lowering taxes. A television campaign labeled Voinovich as disloyal. While he did vote for the tax bills of 2001 and 2003 and has voted in favor of eliminating the estate tax, Voinovich is still more hesitant to support cutting taxes than most in his party.

On gun politics, Voinovich generally supports gun control legislation, which has earned him a 'D' rating from the NRA and an 'F' rating from Gun Owners of America.

In November 2004, in his bid for re-election, Voinovich defeated the Democratic nominee, Ohio state senator Eric Fingerhut, whose candidacy was overshadowed by persistent speculation that TV talk show host Jerry Springer might enter the race.

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. Again, Voinovich faced charges of disloyalty from conservative activists, and has been called a Republican In Name Only on multiple occasions. Voinovich later allowed the committee to send the nomination to the full Senate, but forced the committee to do so without a recommendation. 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 has a reputation of being overcome by emotion in public situations and has choked up on several occasions during important speeches, the latest example being during his May 25, 2005, address in the Senate pleading with fellow Republicans to reject Bolton's nomination. Voinovich lost his composure as he explained that he ran for re-election in order to try to secure a stable future for his children and grandchildren. Voinovich also got choked up when the Cleveland Browns announced their intent to move to Baltimore as the Ravens. In 1999, Voinovich said that President Clinton's signing of the "Ed-Flex" bill had brought tears of joy to his eyes.

In an interview, Voinovich has expressed his intent on running for re-election as Senator.

With the Senate debating lobbying reform following the Jack Abramoff scandal, Voinovich has expressed opposition to the creation of an independent "public integrity" office to police members of Congress because he believes that the Senate Ethics Committee, which he chairs, already handles that job. "Why create another entity that will do the same thing we are already doing and build up a big staff?" asked Voinovich. He stated that his committee will "get into the Abramoff situation" after the Justice Department finishes investigating the lobbyist's claims of bribing members of Congress.

Voinovich backed most of the reforms that were discussed by the Senate in the spring of 2006, and was particularly pleased with a section that would require his committee to publicly divulge its activities at the end of the year without revealing who was investigated unless they were sanctioned. Still, Voinovich worried that his committee's confidential nature makes the public wonder whether it's doing anything at all. "We do a tremendous amount of work in terms of following up on anything we feel would bring dishonor to the Senate," he said. "It bothers me that I am working my tail off in this committee, spending hours and hours, and I can't talk about what I'm doing."

On March 17, Voinovich brought issues regarding the Great Lakes to the Senate, stating that failure to promptly fix the Lakes' environmental problems could lead to a catastrophe as severe as Hurricane Katrina.

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--a longtime advocate for young children--and fellow Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced a bipartison bill giving states the opportunity to receive grant money for hiring and training highly qualified early childhood educators.

On June 27, 2007, the Senator was a guest on the Sean Hannity radio program. According to World Net Daily, radio talk-show host Sean Hannity's continued questioning about the senator's intentions on key cloture votes over what is characterized as an "amnesty" bill caused Senator Voinovich to "melt down before millions of listeners." Hannity questioned the senator as to whether he had done a cost analysis on the bill; the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, estimated the bill would cost the American taxpayers $2.5 trillion. Voinovich responds that he didn't believe the cost would be that high because a third of those eligible for a path to citizenship would never take it, for which he had no proof, later admitting that he had read neither the bill itself or the Heritage Foundation analysis. Eventually, the Senator implied Mr. Hannity was irrational and hung up on him. After stating that he would "not be intimidated" by Hannity or his constituents into voting against cloture on June 27, Voinovich reversed his decision and voted against cloture on June 28.

An August 2007 SurveyUSA poll showed that a majority of Ohioians disapproved of Voinovich's job in Washington, with 40% approval, and 50% disapproving.

Electoral history

• 1979 Race for Mayor (Cleveland)
  • George Voinovich (R), 56%
  • Dennis Kucinich (D) (inc.), 44%
• 1981 Race for Mayor (Cleveland)
  • George Voinovich (R) (inc.), 77%
  • Patrick Sweeney (D), 33%
• 1985 Race for Mayor (Cleveland)
  • George Voinovich (R) (inc.), 72%
  • Gary Kucinich (D), 28%
• 1988 Race for U.S. Senate (Ohio)
  • Howard Metzenbaum (D) (inc.), 57%
  • George Voinovich (R), 43%
• 1990 Race for Governor (Ohio)
  • George Voinovich (R), 56%
  • Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr. (D), 44%
• 1994 Race for Governor (Ohio)
  • George Voinovich (R) (inc.), 72%
  • Rob Burch (D), 25%
• 1998 Race for U.S. Senate (Ohio)
  • George Voinovich (R), 56%
  • Mary Boyle (D), 44%
• 2004 Race for U.S. Senate (Ohio)
  • George Voinovich (R) (inc.), 64%
  • Eric Fingerhut (D), 36%

See also

• Election Results, Ohio Governor

References

• The Encyclopedia Of Cleveland History by Cleveland Bicentennial Commission (Cleveland, Ohio), David D. Van Tassel (Editor), and John J. Grabowski (Editor) ISBN 0-253-33056-4
• Cleveland: A Concise History, 1796–1996 by Carol Poh Miller and Robert Anthony Wheeler ISBN 0-253-21147-6
• The Crisis of Growth Politics: Cleveland, Kucinich, and the Challenge of Urban Populism by Todd Swanstrom ISBN 0-87722-366-1
• Seven Making History: A Mayoral Retrospective by The League of Women Voters of Cleveland
• 25 Years of Cleveland Mayors: Who Really Governs? by Roldo Bartimole
• The New York Times, August 26, 1979. Mayor Kucinich Himself Is Issue In Upcoming Cleveland Primary by Edward Schumaker.
• The Cleveland Press, September 21, 1979. Mayor Accuses Rival On Funding by Walt Bogdanich.
• The Cleveland Press, November 3, 1979. City Club Debate: Candidates Go At It by Brent Larkin.
• The Cleveland Press, November 7, 1979. Mayor-Elect Voinovich Moves To End Default by Brent Larkin.
• The Cleveland Press, November 7, 1979. The Winner: Voinovich Is Subdued Victor by Fred McGunagle.
• The Plain Dealer, August 7, 1999. Our Century: Muny Survives, But Kucinich Is Out of Power by Fred McGunagle.
• The Plain Dealer, August 14, 1999. Our Century: Cleveland Climbs Out Of Default by Fred McGunagle.
• The Plain Dealer, August 22, 1999. Our Century: Beleaguered Cleveland Prunes Its Image – 'Plum' Campaign To Rescue City From the Nation's Punch Lines by Fred McGunagle.
• The Plain Dealer, September 5, 1999. Our Century: A Welcome Breather At City Hall While Voinovich Keeps Peace and Mends Fences, Kucinich Begins His Comeback, And Forbes Consolidates Power On City Council by Fred McGunagle.
• The Plain Dealer, March 9, 2006. Ethics Panel Chief Voinovich Opposes Key Lobbying Reform by Sabrina Eaton.
• The Plain Dealer, March 17, 2006. Great Lakes Need Help, Voinovich Says by Sabrina Eaton.
• Worldnetdaily.com, June 27, 2007 Voinovich self-destructs on Hannity. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56414

External links

• United States Senator George Voinovich official Senate site
• United States Congress. "George Voinovich (id: v000126)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Federal Election Commission — George V Voinovich campaign finance reports and data
• New York Times — George V. Voinovich News collected news and commentary
• On the Issues — George Voinovich issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — George V. Voinovich campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Senator George Voinovich (ND) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — George Voinovich profile
• Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: George Voinovich voting record
• Console George.com mocks opposition to John Bolton's appointment to the United Nations

Current Committee Assignments

Committee	Position
Environment and Public Works	Subcommittee Ranking Member
Foreign Relations
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs	Subcommittee Ranking Member