John W. Griffin

John William Griffin (born ca. 1927) is an Ohio farmer and a perennial candidate over the last forty years for various local, state, and federal offices in Ohio. While he has lost far more political races than he has won, he is currently a member of the Ohio State Board of Education. Griffin is a graduate of Jefferson Township High School and attended the University of Dayton. He currently resides in Miami Township in south central Montgomery County, Ohio between Miamisburg and Germantown.

Griffin won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Representative from Ohio's Eighth Congressional District in 1976, 1980, and 1982, each time losing to Republican incumbent Tom Kindness. In 1978, Griffin ran for Congress again, winning the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Republican Tennyson Guyer in the Fourth District. He was again unsuccessful.

Griffin ran again in the Eighth District in 1986 and 1988, both times losing to Kindness's successor Donald "Buz" Lukens. (Rather than seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Kindness had sought election to the U.S. Senate in 1986.) In 1998, Griffin again won the Democratic nomination in the Eighth District, defeating the Democratic party's endorsed candidate, but lost in the general election to Lukens's successor John Boehner. He sought the Democratic nomination in 2000 to challenge Boehner again, but lost the primary to John G. Parks – 15,924 (53 percent) for Parks, 14,126 (47 percent) for Griffin.

In 1976, Griffin ran as an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention, pledged to U.S. Rep. Morris K. Udall (D-Arizona) for President. Griffin was an elected member of the Ohio Democratic Party's State Central Committee for two decades, losing his seat in the mid-1990s. He unsuccessfully sought re-election to the committee in 1998 and 2000.

In 1990, he ran simultaneously for the Ohio House of Representatives from the 73rd district and the Ohio State Board of Education from the Eighth District, losing both races. Griffin was elected in 1992 to the Ohio State Board of Education, defeating three-term incumbent Chester A. Roush in the Third District for a two-year term. Griffin finished second to Diana M. Fessler in a six-candidate field in 1994 when he ran for a full four-year term. He moved to Minster, in northern Ohio, in 1996 to run against Virginia E. Jacobs for the First District seat on the Ohio State Board of Education and lost. In 1997 and 1999, he ran for the Board of Education of the Miamisburg City School District in Montgomery County and came in last both times. In 1998, he again ran against Fessler in the Third District and again lost. Griffin campaigned against school vouchers and for reform of school funding in Ohio.

In 2002, Griffin again sought a seat on the state education board. The Dayton Daily News that year ran a series of scathing pieces about Griffin's behavior during his first term on the state board and his tax problems. Dennis Lieberman, chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Party, stated "He has constantly been an embarrassment to our whole community." Nevertheless, Griffin unseated third district incumbent Carl Wick on November 5 to return to the State Board of Education. Griffin received 91,608 votes, Wick 70,886, and Adam Duberstein (a student at Earlham College) 35,266. Immediately after the election, party leaders in Dayton vowed they would try to remove him from office and the Daily News ran more scathing articles – one writer called Griffin a "rat" – but (as of 2005) he continues to hold his seat. "I am so disillusioned with our electorate," Lieberman said. Wick said the outcome showed why the board should be appointed as the voters had shown they could not be trusted with the decision.

See also

• Election Results, U.S. Representative from Ohio, 8th District
• Election Results, U.S. Representative from Ohio, 4th District

External links

• Official biography, with photograph, on the Ohio Department of Education web-site (http://www.ode.state.oh.us/board/members/district-3/default.asp)
• Biography on Smart Voter web-site (http://www.smartvoter.org/2000/03/07/oh/state/vote/griffin_j/)

References

• Leigh Allan. "Griffin conduct confounds." The Dayton Daily News. January 11, 2003.
• "Appoint the State School Board." (Editorial). The Plain Dealer. April 7, 1995.
• The Associated Press. "State Board Member Owes Taxes". The Plain Dealer. November 20, 1992.
• Jim Bebbington and Mark Fisher. "Parties aim to oust new school board member". The Dayton Daily News. November 22, 2002.
• Mark Fisher. "Critics say education board member isn't making the grade". The Dayton Daily News. August 7, 1994.
• Mark Fisher. "Three vie for education board." The Dayton Daily News. October 31, 2002
• Mark Fisher. "Griffin back in state post". The Dayton Daily News. November 6, 2002.
• Mark Fisher. "Griffin victory dismays leaders: History repeated in state school board election." The Dayton Daily News. November 13, 2002.
• Doug Page. "Politicians, useless rat very alike." The Dayton Daily News. November 21, 2002.
• Mary McCarty. "To avoid a disaster, please vote." The Dayton Daily News. November 3, 2002.
• Christine Vasconez and Benjamin Kline. "Familiar name reappears on ballot." The Dayton Daily News. October 29, 2002. 4B.