Ted Strickland
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Ted Strickland (born August 4, 1941, in Lucasville, Ohio) is an American politician of the Democratic party who currently serves as a U.S. representative for the sixth congressional district of Ohio (map (http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/oh06_109.gif)).
Strickland was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree from Asbury College (Wilmore, Ky.) in 1963. In 1966, he received a master of arts degree from the University of Kentucky (Lexington, Ky.). He received another master's degree in 1967 from Asbury Theological Seminary (Wilmore, Ky.). He received a doctorate degree in psychology from the University of Kentucky in 1980.
Strickland worked as a clinical psychologist and was a professor of psychology at Shawnee State University (Portsmouth, Ohio).
Strickland ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, 1978, and 1980, and lost each time, the first two times to long-time incumbent William H. Harsha, and the third time to Harsha's successor, Bob McEwen, who ran Harsha's last two campaigns.
Strickland ran in 1992 and again faced McEwen, a Hillsboro Republican who had defeated Clarence E. Miller of Lancaster in the nasty Republican primary by only 297 votes. (Miller's Tenth District was abolished by the Ohio General Assembly and combined with McEwen's Sixth because Ohio lost two Congressional seats following the 1990 census.) McEwen had faced charges in the primary campaign about his bounced checks at the House bank, his Congressional office expenses, and his overseas travel at taxpayer expense. Miller called McEwen "Pinnochio" and McEwen said of Miller "his misrepresentations and falsehoods are gargantuan. I tried to be his best friend in the delegation. I am deeply disappointed at the meanness of his effort." Tom Deimer of Cleveland's Plain Dealer wrote that the two candidates were largely identical on the issues: "both are textbook Republican conservatives, opposed to abortion, gun control, high taxes, and costly government programs - unless located in their districts." Miller noted he had no overdrafts, saying "the score is 166 to nothing."
McEwen's previous district was in southwestern and south-central Ohio centered around his hometown of Hillsboro, but he now found himself running in the new Sixth District, a huge area stretching from Lebanon in Warren County to Marietta in Washington County on the opposite side of the state, much of the district being territory that he did not know and which did not know him. The district was difficult to campaign in, being in half a dozen different media markets and having no large cities and few unifying influences.
Patrick J. Buchanan, the conservative columnist who challenged President Bush earlier in the year in the primaries, came to Ohio to campaign for McEwen as did Vice President Dan Quayle and Oliver North, but McEwen never recovered from the primary challenge and was narrowly defeated by Strickland in the general election on November 3, 1992. Strickland received 122,720 votes to McEwen's 119,252, a plurality of only 3,468. "I think McEwen's loss was a case of bounced checks and some arrogance," said Alfred Tuchfarber, a political science professor at the University of Cincinnati who runs the Ohio Poll. "He just had a certain personal arrogance about him that didn't go down well in a poor district."
Strickland said "I ran against Pat Robertson, Pat Buchanan, the National Rifle Association and Right-to-Life. They threw everything at me. I'm just so happy I beat back those guys. I think they're so divisive." Strickland began serving in 1993 (103rd Congress).
In 1994, the Republican wave swamped Strickland, who narrowly lost his seat to Republican Frank Cremeans. However, in 1996, Strickland won his seat back, again narrowly, taking office in 1997 (the 105th Congress). He won re-election in 1998, 2000, and 2002.
Strickland has announced that he will be running for governor of Ohio in 2006, when the current governor, Robert A. Taft II, will be barred from running for a third consecutive term. Talk show host Jerry Springer, 1998 gubernatorial nominee Lee Fisher and Columbus mayor Michael B. Coleman have also expressed interest in the Democratic nomination for governor in 2006.
2004 Democratic party primary election results:
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Ted Strickland | 72,796 | 83 |
| Diane DiCarlo Murphy | 14,847 | 17 |
Links
- Election Results, U.S. Representative from Ohio, 6th District
- List of United States Representatives from Ohio
- Ted Strickland for Governor '06 (http://ohiogov06.blogspot.com)
| Preceded by: Bob McEwen | U.S. Representative from Ohio's 6th Congressional District 1993-1995 | Succeeded by: Frank Cremeans |
| Preceded by: Frank Cremeans | U.S. Representative from Ohio's 6th Congressional District 1997- | Succeeded by: Incumbent |