Sherrod Brown

Sherrod Brown
United States Senator from Ohio
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2007 Serving with Rob Portman
Preceded by	Mike DeWine
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 13th district
In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Don Pease
Succeeded by	Betty Sutton
47th Ohio Secretary of State
In office 1983–1991
Governor	Dick Celeste
Preceded by	Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr.
Succeeded by	Bob Taft
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from the 61st district
In office January 3, 1975 – December 31, 1982
Preceded by	Joan Douglass
Succeeded by	Frank Sawyer
Personal details
Born	Sherrod Campbell Brown (1952-11-09) November 9, 1952 (age 59) Mansfield, Ohio
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Larke Ummel Brown (div. 1987) Connie Schultz
Children	Emily Brown Elizabeth Brown
Residence	Avon, Ohio
Alma mater	Yale University (B.A.) Ohio State University (M.P.A./M.A.)
Occupation	Teacher
Religion	Lutheran - ELCA
Website	brown.senate.gov

Sherrod Campbell Brown (born November 9, 1952) 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. He previously served as the Ohio Secretary of State (1983–1991) and a member of the Ohio House of Representatives (1974–1982).

Brown defeated two-term Republican incumbent Mike DeWine in the 2006 U.S. Senate election. In the U.S. Senate, he is chairman of the Agriculture Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition and Family Farms and the Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy, and is also a member of the Committee on Appropriations, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and Select Committee on Ethics.

Early life, education, and academic career

Brown was born in Mansfield, Ohio, the son of Emily (née Campbell) and Charles Gailey Brown, M.D.^[1] He was named after his maternal grandfather. He became an Eagle Scout in 1967. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian studies from Yale University in 1974. At Yale, he was in Davenport College, the same residential college as U.S. Presidents George H. W. and George W. Bush. He went on to receive a Master of Public Administration degree and a Master of Arts degree in education from the Ohio State University in Columbus in 1979 and 1981, respectively. He taught at the Mansfield branch campus of The Ohio State University from 1979 to 1981.

Early political career (1974-1991)

Brown served as an Ohio state Representative from 1974 to 1982. At the time of his election to the Ohio House, he was the youngest person elected to that body. Shortly after taking office, he was mistaken for a page by another Representative on the House floor and asked to run papers.^{[citation needed]} In 1982, he won a four-way Democratic primary that included Dennis Kucinich, then defeated Republican Virgil Brown in the general election for the office of Ohio Secretary of State, succeeding Anthony J. Celebrezze, Jr. In 1986, Brown won re-election as Secretary of State, defeating Vincent C. Campanella. In 1990, Brown lost his run for a third term as Secretary of State to Republican Bob Taft.

U.S. House of Representatives (1993-2007)

Elections

Congressman Brown

In 1992, Brown moved from Mansfield to Lorain, Ohio, and won a heavily contested Democratic primary for the open seat for Ohio's 13th district, located in the western and southern suburbs of Cleveland, after eight-term incumbent Don Pease announced his retirement. The Democratic-leaning district gave him an easy win over the little known Republican Margaret R. Mueller. He was re-elected six times. He faced substantial opposition only once, in in 1994, when his opponent was a popular long-time local prosecutor and Republican candidates did extremely well in Congressional races around the country.

Tenure

In 2001, the Republican-controlled legislature threatened to redraw Brown's district. Some top Democrats even urged Brown to relocate and take on fellow Democrat James Trafficant after he defected when he voted to elect Republican Dennis Hastert as speaker of the U.S. House.^[2] In retaliation, Brown threatened to run for governor in 2002 against incumbent Bob Taft. At risk of creating the next Democratic gubernatorial candidate the Republicans backed down, and in fact made his district even more heavily Democratic by adding most of Akron and removing Geauga and Portage counties.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, Brown led the Democratic effort to block the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). For many months, Brown worked as whip on the issue, securing Democratic "nay" votes and seeking Republican allies. After several delays, the House of Representatives finally voted on CAFTA after midnight on July 28, 2005 which ended in passage by one vote.

He opposed an amendment to Ohio's constitution that banned same sex marriage. Brown was also one of the few U.S. Representatives to vote against the then highly popular Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.^[3]

Committee assignments

Brown was the ranking minority member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee. He also served on the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet and the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. While serving on the House International Relations Committee, he was also a member of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. He was also a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

U.S. Senate (2007-Present)

Elections

2006

Brown hosts a panel of advisers to Barack Obama's presidential campaign during the first day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado

In August 2005, Brown announced he would not run for the United States Senate seat held by Republican Mike DeWine.^[4] In October, however, Brown reconsidered his decision.^[5] His announcement came shortly after Democrat Paul Hackett stated that he would soon announce his candidacy.

On February 13, 2006, Hackett withdrew from the race, all but ensuring that Brown would win the Democratic nomination. In the May 2 primary, Brown won 78.05% of the Democratic vote. His opponent, Merrill Samuel Keiser, Jr., received 21.95% of the vote.^[6]

In the middle of his Senate campaign in April 2006, Brown, along with John Conyers, brought an action against George W. Bush and others, alleging violations of the Constitution in the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.^[7] The case, Conyers v. Bush, was ultimately dismissed for lack of standing.^[8]

On November 7, 2006, Brown faced two-term incumbent senator Mike DeWine in the general election. Brown won the seat with 56% of the vote to DeWine's 44%.^[9]

2012

Senator Brown will come up for reelection in 2012. His opponent will be Josh Mandel, who has been described by some as a “rising GOP star” who in 2010, which was generally considered a good year for Republicans nationwide and in Ohio, defeated the state treasurer by 14 points. Mandel raised $2.3 million in the second quarter of 2011 alone, to Brown’s $1.5 million.^[10] So far, Brown has a enjoyed a steady lead in the polls.^[11] Mandel won the March Republican primary with 63% of the vote.^[12]

Brown seems to have positioned himself better in this campaign than some of the other more vulnerable Democratic Senators. A November 2011 article from the Washington Post states that if each swing state Democrat were to vote as consistently liberally as Brown, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chairman Patty Murray would have a more difficult job. They go on to say that the DSCC must see Brown as "something of a model for other candidates — in large part because his personal popularity and populist style they think could inoculate him from a voting record that at first glance looks to be the ideological left of the Buckeye State."^[13]

Tenure

An earlier photo of Senator Brown.

In 2011, among the National Journal’s annual rankings, Brown tied with eight other members for the title of the most liberal member of Congress.^[14]

Internet piracy

Brown was a cosponsor of the Protect-IP Act (PIPA).^[15]

Fiscal policy

Brown is also the co-author and sponsor of a bill that would official declare China a currency manipulator and require the Department of Commerce to impose countervailing duties on Chinese imports.^[16]

In 2009, when the vote on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act came down to just a few votes, Brown (an ardent advocate of the legislation) was attending services for his deceased mother. The White House provided a plane in order to fly him back to vote for the bill when it was determined that no commercial flight would make it on time. "Although most senators voted shortly after 5:30 p.m., the 60th and final vote was not cast until 10:46 p.m. by Sen. Sherrod Brown."^[17]

Foreign policy

Brown opposed the Iraq War and voted against the Iraq Resolution as a House Representative.^[18] He voted against the $87 billion war budgetary supplement. He also voted for redeploying US troops out of Iraq by March 2008.^[19]

In 2008, Brown joined 91 other senators in voting for the Iraq and Afghanistan War Funding, Unemployment Benefits Extension, and GI Bill, which required the Department of Defense to provide a timetable for achieving security in Iraq, provided education funding for veterans, extended unemployment compensation, and appropriated funds to combat drug trafficking, reduce Medicaid fraud, assist victims of natural disasters, and fund the Department of Defense.^[20]

In 2012, he co-sponsored a resolution to "oppose any policy that would rely on containment as an option in response to the Iranian nuclear threat."^[21], and voted in favor of the 2012 NDAA that sparked controversy over indefinite detention of US citizens.^[22]

LGBT rights

Brown is a strong advocate of equal rights for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Americans. He also voted against prohibiting same-sex couples from adopting children in Washington D.C., and received a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign.^[23][24] On November 30, 2010 Brown made a contribution to the It Gets Better Project from the Senate floor,^[25] and on December 18, 2010 he voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010.^[26][27]

Trade policy

Brown is an opponent of free trade, having voted against free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama, and criticized free trade with China and other countries. In a 2006 Washington Post article, Brown argued against free trade on the grounds that labor activism was responsible for the growth of the U.S. middle class, and that the U.S. economy is harmed by trade relations with countries that lack the kind of labor regulations that have resulted from that activism.^[28]

In 2011, the Columbus Dispatch noted that Brown "loves to rail against international trade agreements."^[29] Brown's book, Myths of Free Trade, argues that "an unregulated global economy is a threat to all of us."^[30] He recommends adopting measures that would allow for emergency tariffs, protect Buy America laws, including those that give preference to minority and women-owned businesses, and hold foreign producers to American labor and environmental standards.^[31]

Health care policy

In 2007 Brown and Sam Brownback (R-KS) sponsored an amendment to the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007. President George W. Bush signed the bill in September 2007. The amendment established a prize as an incentive for companies to invest in new drugs and vaccines for neglected tropical diseases. It awards a transferable “Priority Review Voucher” to any company that obtains approval for a treatment for a neglected tropical disease. This provision adds to the market based incentives available for the development of new medicines for developing world diseases in the developing world, among them malaria, tuberculosis and African sleeping sickness. The prize had been proposed by Duke University faculty members Henry Grabowski, Jeffrey Moe, and David Ridley in their 2006 Health Affairs paper "Developing Drugs for Developing Countries."^[32]

Brown supported the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, voting for it in December 2009,^[33] and he voted for the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.^[34]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
• Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Science and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Production, Income Protection and Price Support
  • Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition and Family Farms (Chairman)
• Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Economic Policy (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development
  • Subcommittee on Security and International Trade and Finance
  • Subcommittee on Children and Families
  • Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs
• Select Committee on Ethics

Personal life

Brown's second wife, Connie Schultz, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former newspaper columnist at the Cleveland Plain Dealer.^[35] She is also the author of Life Happens (2007) and ...and His Lovely Wife (2008), in which she describes her own experience as a feminist with her Congressman husband's campaign for the U.S. Senate. Throughout her husband's political career, Schultz has occasionally come under scrutiny for her position as a political reporter. In September 2011, she was accused of playing politics while covering a Tea Party event for her column, when she started videotaping her husband’s opponent, Josh Mandel, whom she did not cover in the column. Schultz later apologized in her column for giving “the appearance that I was covering Mandel for The Plain Dealer.”^[36][37] The same month, Schultz resigned her post at the newspaper, citing a conflict of interest while her husband runs for re-election.^[38]

Brown has three daughters: Emily, who works for the Service Employees International Union; Elizabeth, who was an Editorial Assistant at New York magazine and is currently a communication staffer for the Ohio House Democratic Caucus; and Caitlin, who is currently performing a year of service with City Year Rhode Island, an AmeriCorps program. Stepson Andrew C. Gard is a Ph.D. candidate in Mathematics at Ohio State University. Brown's sister-in-law Anne M. Swanson is a communications attorney in Washington, D.C. Brown and his family are Lutherans. They reside in Avon, Lorain County, Ohio.

Books authored

Brown is the author of two books:

• Congress from the Inside: Observations from the Majority and the Minority ISBN 0-87338-630-2
• Myths of Free Trade: Why American Trade Policy Has Failed ISBN 1-56584-928-0

Electoral history

See also

• Ohio United States Senate elections
• Election Results, U.S. Representative from Ohio, 13th District
• List of United States Representatives from Ohio
• Brown–Kaufman amendment

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sherrod Brown

• United States Senator Sherrod Brown official U.S. Senate site
• Sherrod Brown for U.S. Senate official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Sen. Sherrod Brown's Blog at Huffington Post
• Profile on SourceWatch
• Profile at Campaign 2004 at USA Today

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v t e Current elected statewide political officials of Ohio U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown Rob Portman State government John Kasich, Governor Mary Taylor, Lieutenant Governor Jon A. Husted, Secretary of State Mike DeWine, Attorney General Dave Yost, State Auditor Josh Mandel, Treasurer Senate Tom Niehaus, President Keith Faber, President pro tempore Vacant, Majority Leader Capri Cafaro, Minority Leader House William G. Batchelder, Speaker Lou Blessing, Speaker pro tempore Matt Huffman, Majority Leader Armond Budish, Minority Leader Supreme Court Maureen O'Connor, Chief Justice Paul Pfeifer Evelyn Lundberg Stratton Terrence O'Donnell Judith Ann Lanzinger Robert R. Cupp Yvette McGee Brown AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY

v t e Ohio Secretary of State Creighton McLene Kirby Hinkson Harlan Trevitt Sloane Galloway King Trevitt Baker A. Russell Cowen Kennon Armstrong W. Smith J. Russell Sherwood Wikoff Bell Barnes Townsend Newman Robinson Ryan Poorman Taylor Kinney Laylin Thompson Graves Hildebrant Fulton H. Smith T. H. Brown C. Brown Myers Kennedy Griffith Neffiner J. Sweeney Hummel C. Sweeney T. W. Brown Celebrezze S. Brown Taft Blackwell Brunner Husted