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Sherrod Brown




  Jr/sr Junior Senator
  State Ohio
  Party Democratic
  Term Start January 3 , 2007
  Alongside George Voinovich
  Preceded Mike DeWine
  Succeeded Incumbent (2013)
  State2 Ohio
  District2 13th
  Term Start2 January 3 , 1993
  Term End2 January 3 , 2007
  Preceded2 Don Pease
  Succeeded2 Betty Sutton
  Place Of Birth Mansfield, Ohio
  Dead alive
  Spouse Connie Schultz
  Alma Mater Yale University
  Religion Lutheran


Sherrod Campbell Brown (born November 9 1952 ) is the Junior United States Senator from the State of Ohio , and a member of the Democratic Party . Before his election to the Senate in 2006 , Brown served as a member of the House Of Representatives from Ohio's 13th District and as Ohio's Secretary Of State .


EARLY LIFE

Brown was born in in 1967. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian studies from Yale University ( New Haven , Connecticut ) 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 Arts degree in education and public administration from The Ohio State University ( Columbus, Ohio ) in 1981. He taught at the Mansfield branch campus of Ohio State University from 1979 to 1981.


CAREER IN POLITICS


State politics

Brown served as an Ohio state representative from 1975 to 1982. He was one of the youngest state representatives in Ohio history, and supposedly, shortly after taking office, he was mistaken for an intern and asked to fetch coffee by a staffer. In 1982, he won a four-way Democratic primary that included Dennis Kucinich , now a Cleveland Congressman, 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 when trying for a third term as secretary of state to Republican Bob Taft .


U.S. House of Representatives

In 1992, Brown won the Democratic primary for Ohio's 13th District , located in the western and southern suburbs of Cleveland , after eight-term incumbent Don Pease announced his retirement. The strongly Democratic-leaning district gave him an easy win over a little known, underfunded Republican. He was re-elected six times, never facing substantive opposition.

Brown was an Ohio delegate to the 2000 Democratic National Convention . He was an unpledged delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston .

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. As a member of the House International Relations Committee, he also served on the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. He was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus .

In 2001, the Republican-controlled legislature threatened to draw Brown's district out from under him. Brown threatened to run for governor in 2002 against incumbent Bob Taft . The Republicans backed down, and in fact made his district even more heavily Democratic by adding most of Akron and drawing out Geauga and Portage counties.

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 . The Republican leadership kept the Roll Call open well past the 15 minute standard, and the House approved CAFTA by a vote of 217 to 215. CAFTA effectively passed by one vote — a tie would have resulted in a defeat.

Brown cited this stinging outcome as the impetus for the next stage of his career: running for the U.S. Senate.


2006 Senate campaign

See Also: Ohio United States Senate election, 2006



In August 2005, Brown announced he would not run for the also 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.http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/ElectionsVoter/results2006.aspx?Section=1694

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 passing of the Deficit Reduction Act Of 2005 .1 The case ('' Conyers V. Bush '') was ultimately dismissed.2

On November 7, 2006, Brown faced two-term Incumbent senator DeWine in the general election. By 2:17 A.M. on November 8, most major television networks had declared Brown the winner against DeWine. Brown won the seat with 56% of the vote to DeWine's 44%. {Link without Title}


Subject of negative campaigning

One of DeWine's ads, aired in October 2006, suggests that opponent Sherrod Brown did not pay an unemployment tax bill for 13 years. This claim led to the Associated Press reporting on October 19, 2006 that, "Several Ohio television stations have stopped airing a Republican ad because state documents contradict the ad's accusation that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown didn't pay an unemployment tax bill for 13 years." Brown has produced a commercial citing these facts. Citing a clerical error, Brown actually paid the $1,700 bill, which was due in 1993, in April 1994. However, this clerical error made it appear as if he had not paid this bill. [http://www.cleveland.com/open/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/ispol/1161437516113470.xml&coll=2

Brown was the subject of a misunderstanding by Rush Limbaugh on his radio program on February 14 2006 . Commenting on Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett's withdrawal from the Senate race the previous day, Limbaugh declared there was a racial element to that withdrawal, making that statement on the erroneous assumption that Brown was black. (Limbaugh apparently perceived "Sherrod", with the pronunciation of "Shurr-odd", as a more common name among African-Americans than among whites.) He was corrected and withdrew his statement later in the same program.http://mediamatters.org/items/200602160001


FAMILY

Brown's wife, . His daughter Elizabeth is a senior at Columbia University , and his stepdaughter Caitlin is a sophomore at John Carroll University . His stepson Andrew C. Gard is a doctoral student (Ph.D., Mathematics) at The Ohio State University . Brown and his family are Lutherans . They reside in Avon, Lorain County, Ohio.


ELECTORAL HISTORY


  party Democratic Party (US)
  candidate Sherrod Brown
  votes 2,257,369
  percentage 562%


  party Republican Party (US)
  candidate Mike DeWine (Incumbent)
  votes 1,761,037
  percentage 438%
  change -158



AUTHOR

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



SEE ALSO



FOOTNOTES



EXTERNAL LINKS



  Before Anthony J Celebrezze Jr
  Title Ohio Secretary Of State
  Years 1983–1991


  State Ohio
  District 13
  Before Don Pease
  After Betty Sutton


  State Ohio
  Class 1
  Before Mike DeWine
  Years 2007–Present
  After Incumbent


  NAME Brown, Sherrod
  SHORT DESCRIPTION Ohio politician
  DATE OF BIRTH November 9 1952
  PLACE OF BIRTH Avon , Ohio
  DATE OF DEATH living