Mary Jo Kilroy
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Mary Jo Kilroy (born April 30, 1949) is an American attorney and politician from Ohio. Kilroy, a Democrat, is a County Commissioner of Franklin County, Ohio, which includes a part of the capital city of Columbus, including its downtown area, and some of its surrounding suburban and rural areas. She ran unopposed and won her party's nomination for election to the 15th District of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2006 primary election. Kilroy narrowly lost to incumbent Republican Deborah Pryce in the November, 2006 general election.
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[edit] Personal life
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Kilroy grew up as the daughter of a pipefitter, and went on to receive her bachelor's degree from Cleveland State University and her J.D. from The Ohio State University. Mary Jo Kilroy currently resides in Columbus, Ohio. She and her husband, Robert Handelman, have two college-aged daughters, Julia, a graduate student at Columbia University and Rosa, an undergraduate at Brown University. Kilroy also owns three dogs adopted from Columbus area animal rescue organizations.
[edit] Career
After working in private practice as a partner in the law firm of Handelman and Kilroy, Kilroy served for eight years on the Columbus School Board. She was then elected county commissioner in 2000 and reelected in 2004 serving as the Board's President from 2005-2006. She lost the race for Representative from Ohio's 15th District to Deborah Pryce 50.2%-49.7%.
[edit] 2006 Congressional Race
- See also United States House elections, 2006
The 2006 race in Ohio's 15th district gained significant national attention as it was seen as one of a handful of seats that Democrats had an opportunity to gain from Republicans. As of mid-October, the race was generally considered to be a toss-up largely due to incumbent Representative Pryce's leadership in the GOP.[1] [2]
[edit] Endorsements
Kilroy received a number of endorsements in the 15th District race, including the Stonewall Democrats of Central Ohio [1], Upper Arlington Progressive Action, SEIU, AFL-CIO of Ohio, the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Emily's List, Democracy for America, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Ted Strickland. [2] The Human Rights Campaign has given a dual endorsement to both Kilroy and her opponent, Pryce.[3]
Monday, December 11, 2006. After two recounts and all of the votes were counted, Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R) prevailed over Democratic challenger Mary Jo Kilroy. The Franklin County Board of Elections announced the results Monday morning.
Pryce (R) gained 25 votes and Kilroy (D) gained 18 votes in the recount of votes in Franklin, Union, and Madison Counties in Ohio. Pryce won with 50.24% of the vote.
[edit] Issues
Issues such as Ohio's minimum wage, prescription drugs for seniors, a balanced budget, and support for U.S. troops in Iraq are among those for which Kilroy has shown support.[citation needed] Additional priorities include environmental stewardship and energy independence.[citation needed]
[edit] Debates
Two debates have been scheduled for the 2006 congressional race. The first took place September 18th [3] and the second was on October 12th.[4] [5] In the first debate Kilroy and incumbent U.S. Representative, Pryce discussed the war in Iraq, the war on terror, taxes, social security, the federal deficit and President Bush.
The second debate was marked by a more heated exchange on behalf of both participants. Kilroy referred to Pryce as a "right-wing apologist" and said that "Deborah Pryce continues to distort my record." [5] Meanwhile Pryce described her opponent as a "far left" fringe Democrat" and said that Kilroy, "spews lies and misinformation." [5] The debate was attended by 400 people at the Ohio State University Fawcett Center and reporters from as far away as Ireland.
[edit] References
- ^ Greg Giroux, "Pryce's Role in GOP Leadership Contribures to Race's Tossup Status", New York Times, October 13, 2006
- ^ Karen Tumulty, "CampaCampaign '06: No Politics Is Local in Ohio", Time.com, October 16, 2006
- ^ James Nash, Pryce, Kilroy trade jabs on Iraq, Bush, tax cuts, (report on the first of two debates scheduled) Columbus Dispatch, Sept. 19, 2006
- ^ Ohio News Network, "Kilroy, Pryce Square Off in Debate", (includes video clips) October 13, 2006
- ^ a b c Darrel Rowland, "Sparks fly as Kilroy, Pryce spar", Columbus Dispatch, October 13, 2006
[edit] External links
- Profile at the Franklin County web site.
- Kilroy for Congress, Ohio 15th District Congressional campaign web site.
- Biography at the Democratic Congressional Campaign web site.
- Positions, an analysis by Project Vote Smart
- Campaign finances in OH 15th District race, an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics
