In 2008, Cong. Mary Jo Kilroy took over a House seat that had been in GOP hands since 1967, defeating former state Sen. Steve Stivers by just 2,312 votes. Now Stivers, a former banking lobbyist with strong right-wing credentials and powerful conservative allies, is seeking a rematch. He has the full force of the GOP behind him: House Minority Leader John Boehner, a fellow Ohioan, personally recruited Stivers to run again, and the National Republican Congressional Committee has been attacking Kilroy relentlessly since she took the oath of office in January 2009. They will stop at nothing to win this seat back in 2010.
An attorney and social worker, Kilroy is a persuasive advocate for her constituents, many of whom have been profoundly affected by the economic downturn. From her seat on the House Financial Services Committee, she is shaping legislation to retool the economy and restore oversight to the nation’s financial markets. Kilroy successfully pressured a reluctant AIG subsidiary to participate in the federal “Making Home Affordable” program and restructure subprime mortgages. She voted for landmark environmental legislation to limit carbon emissions and create green jobs. And Kilroy has emerged as one of the strongest voices for comprehensive health care reform, drawing on her personal experience with multiple sclerosis. She cosponsored legislation to extend health insurance coverage to thousands of uninsured children and to authorize federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Determined to give Ohioans a voice in the debate, she links citizens to federal resources and solicits their ideas for reform on her interactive website.
Kilroy is a native Clevelander whose father was a World War II veteran, a pipefitter, and union activist. After putting herself through college at Cleveland State University and law school at Ohio State, Kilroy went into private practice with her husband. With two daughters enrolled in public schools, she decided to run for the Columbus Board of Education, and served for eight years, including one as president. She then sought and won a seat on the Franklin County Board of Commissioners — defeating a Republican who vastly outspent her and becoming the only Democrat on the board. Four years later Kilroy won re-election, helping Democrats take control of the commission after a 20-year lockout. She was chosen as president in 2005 and 2007. Under her leadership, the commission instituted strong ethics policies, expanded access to affordable housing and health care, and balanced every county budget. During her tenure, Franklin County was named one of the five best-managed counties in the country by Governing magazine.
The 2008 campaign was Kilroy’s second bid for this seat; in 2006, she nearly defeated then-Cong. Deborah Pryce, the fourth-highest ranking Republican in the U.S. House, falling short by just 1,062 votes after a recount. Kilroy was set to run again when Pryce opted to retire. Republicans quickly recruited Stivers and began shepherding him around Washington, D.C., to introduce him to corporate and right-wing funders. It was a costly and vicious campaign that remained unresolved for weeks after election day. Republicans sued to stop the vote count before thousands of paper, absentee, and pro- visional ballots were tallied. Kilroy prevailed in one of the closest House races of 2008. Now she is one of the GOP’s top targets for defeat in 2010.
Stivers’ record in the state Senate on fiscal and social issues places him well outside the mainstream. One of four Republicans to vote against bipartisan legislation to curb predatory lending practices, he consistently opposed consumer protection efforts — a reflection of his loyalty to the banking industry. He repeatedly voted against reproductive freedom, earning “0” ratings from Ohio NARAL. In 2004, Stivers voted to require doctors to prescribe three times the necessary dosage of RU-486, effectively tripling the cost of medical abortions. He voted to codify Ohio’s ban on funding for abortions for poor women. Stivers even opposed requiring insurance companies to cover contraception and voted against allowing state funds to be used for stem cell research.
Republicans, smarting over the loss of this House seat, have been attacking Kilroy through paid radio and internet campaigns. They made Kilroy an early target of their juvenile campaign to create embarrassing “YouTube” moments by ambushing freshmen Democrats during floor speeches. Kilroy skillfully parlayed that attack into a national press opportunity, appearing live on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann to denounce GOP tactics.
If he wins, Stivers will be a reliable vote for Republicans seeking to thwart President Obama’s agenda for change. He is firmly entrenched in the state’s Republican establishment and is reportedly on Minority Leader Boehner’s speed dial. He is moving even further to the right to curry favor with Tea Party leaders and other fringe groups, including asserting his support for abolishing the Department of the Interior and selling off federally owned lands; his belief that global warming is not a scientific fact; and his support for eliminating the right of voters to directly elect their U.S. senators. At the same time, Stivers claims he is not a “right-wing nut.”
Stivers has cynically said that he’s counting on reduced voter turnout among traditionally Democratic constituencies in 2010 to lift him to victory, explaining his reasoning to Roll Call: “The urban turnout would be much lower, the university would be much, much lower, and the suburbs would stay about the same.” In a midterm election, without a presidential campaign to drive up excitement, Kilroy will need every penny to respond to GOP attacks and get her voters to the polls. She must raise a war chest of $3 million to hold onto this seat for Democrats in 2010.
“As a working mother and the daughter of a pipefitter, I know how hard it is for middle-class families to succeed in today’s world,” says Kilroy. “I’m fighting in Congress to expand access to affordable health care, improve our economy, and make sure that our children have a first-rate education that will prepare them for the future.”
Kilroy has dedicated considerable energy to improving public schools. “I supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which includes over $1.6 billion dollars for Ohio for education reform and teacher training,” she notes. She supports providing scholarships and subsidies to help education majors pursue teaching careers. “Research shows the value of early childhood education to the social and cognitive growth of children,” she says, “but that requires trained and reasonably paid preschool educators.”
Kilroy understands the challenges families face balancing responsibilities. She supports expanding the Family Medical Leave Act to give new parents paid time off, and quality child care, after- school care, and recreation programs “to assure parents that their children are safe while they are at work.”
Trade policies should stimulate investments while also protecting human rights and the environment, Kilroy says. “Sweatshops violate human dignity and give countries such as China an unfair advantage. Workers’ rights and environmental laws should be negotiated in trade agreements — and enforced.” She favors eliminating tax loopholes that give employers incentives to relocate overseas.
Kilroy cosponsored the “pay-as-you-go” bill that passed the House, which requires that new tax cuts and spending be offset. “Targeted investments in health care and education would make us more competitive in the long term,” she says. Kilroy supports tax incentives that promote energy independence and greater use of renewable energy.
“We need to enforce and strengthen civil rights laws to ensure freedom from discrimination based on gender, race, national origin, age, and sexual orientation,” Kilroy says. “That means fully funding the enforcement divisions of the Justice Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.” Kilroy is a cosponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, legislation to overturn the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
“Americans need quality health care that is affordable, accessible, and guaranteed,” says Kilroy. “Consumers should have peace of mind that changing jobs doesn’t mean losing their insurance, or that they won’t be dropped because of their age or pre-existing conditions.” She favors reform that emphasizes wellness care to reduce costly emergency room visits. “All of us pay the ‘hidden tax’ of the uninsured,” Kilroy notes. “Moving our country forward will depend upon reducing costs and increasing choices in health care.”
Efforts to eradicate poverty must include equal pay laws, Kilroy believes. “We need to address the wage gap,” she says, noting that one of her first acts in Congress was to cosponsor and vote for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. She supports workers’ rights to organize and seek fair wages, and says the U.S. should help developing nations build sustainable economies that do not destroy the environment.
Economic recovery and environmental stewardship are interconnected, Kilroy notes. “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dedicates $100 billion to help us shift away from fossil fuels, develop renewable resources, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” she says, noting that it also includes funding for the Ohio State University’s Center for Automotive Research to design the next generation of batteries for electric cars. Kilroy voted for the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, comprehensive energy legislation to limit greenhouse emissions that could create more than $5 billion dollars in revenue and 65,000 clean energy jobs in Ohio.
Kilroy is a cosponsor of the Prevention First Act to increase access to family planning services and prevent unintended pregnancies. In Congress, she will fight to protect Roe v. Wade and defeat legislative efforts to chip away at the fundamental rights it guarantees.
March 2010