Steve Driehaus | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 1st district |
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In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011 |
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Preceded by | Steve Chabot |
Succeeded by | Steve Chabot |
Minority Whip of the Ohio House of Representatives | |
In office January 2005 – January 2008 |
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Preceded by | Dale Miller |
Succeeded by | Fred Strahorn |
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from the 31st district |
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In office January 2003 – January 2009 |
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Preceded by | Catherine Barrett |
Succeeded by | Denise Driehaus |
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from the 33rd district |
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In office January 2001 – January 2003 |
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Preceded by | Jerry Luebbers |
Succeeded by | Tyrone Yates |
Personal details | |
Born | June 24, 1966 Cincinnati, Ohio |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Lucienne Driehaus |
Children | two daughters (Alex and Clare), one son (Jack) |
Residence | Cincinnati, Ohio |
Alma mater | Miami University, Indiana University |
Profession | Educator, Community activist |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Steven L. "Steve" Driehaus (born June 24, 1966 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is the former U.S. Representative for Ohio's 1st congressional district, serving from 2009 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served as the Minority Whip in the Ohio House of Representatives.
The district includes the western four-fifths of Cincinnati, as well as suburbs north and west of the city in Hamilton and Butler counties.[1] He was formerly a four-term member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 31st District from 2001 to 2009. His Ohio State House district included western Cincinnati and all of Addyston, Cheviot, Cleves and North Bend, Ohio.
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Driehaus, a 1984 graduate and class president of Elder High School in Cincinnati (the same high school his father graduated from in 1951),[2][3] studied political science at Miami University while earning a B.A. in 1988 and holds an Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) from Indiana University earned in 1995.[4][5][6] He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal where he worked with village groups and local schools as a natural resource volunteer to promote sustainable environmental practices from 1988 to 1990.[7]
Driehaus then served as Associate Director of the Center for International Education and Development Assistance at Indiana University. While serving in this role, he coordinated the South African Internship Program, which was sponsored by the United States Information Agency that is the largest professional exchange program between the United States and the "new" South Africa.[7]
Driehaus formerly directed and now serves as a consultant to the Community Building Institute, a collaborative effort of Xavier University and United Way & Community Chest that promotes citizen-led, asset-based community development. Driehaus is a member of the Price Hill Civic Club and serves on the Board of Seton High School.[7] He was also a part time political science instructor at Xavier University.[8]
Driehaus began his political career as an aide for Cincinnati City Council Member Todd Portune and former U.S. Rep. Charlie Luken in the 1990s.[8]
Driehaus served four consecutive terms.[9] He served as Minority Whip of the Ohio House of Representatives from the beginning of his third term in January 2005 until he resigned from the position to be replaced by Fred Strahorn in December 2007 due to his campaign for the United States House of Representatives.[10]
Driehaus took a leadership role on issues such as election law and redistricting reform.[11] He also took issue with information privacy in the state.[12] A fiscal conservative, Driehaus sponsored legislation to force a review of the billions of dollars Ohio foregoes in "tax expenditures."
Driehaus has been a highly regarded politician. The Cincinnati Enquirer named him legislative "Rookie of the Year" during his first term. In 2008, the ARC of Ohio and the Ohio Association of Election Officials named him Democratic Legislator of the Year.[7] He has a reputation as a pro-life fiscal conservative.[15]
In 2000, Driehaus ran for the Ohio House of Representatives from the 33rd district, which at the time included Delhi Township, Price Hill, Sayler Park and other parts of western Hamilton County.[16][17] The incumbent, Jerome Luebbers, had surrendered his seat due to term limits.[18] In the 2002 redistricting, Driehaus' district became the 31st district and surrendered many Republican constituents.[19][20] Driehaus has served the 31st Ohio House of Representatives district, which has included wards 19–22, 25 & 26 of Cincinnati as well as Cheviot, Cleves, North Bend, and Addyston since the 2002 redistricting. This district is fully contained in the United States House of Representatives Ohio first district. It is also (along with districts 32 and 33) part of Ohio Senate district 9, which encompasses the south central portion of Hamilton County.[21]
Driehaus did not have an opponent in any of his Democratic primaries,[22][23][24][25][26] and he earned at least 57% shares of the vote in each of his general elections for state legislature.[16][27][28][29]
Driehaus had been the choice of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) to run in Ohio's first congressional district for the 2006 United States House of Representatives elections, but he decided to run for re-election in his Ohio House of Representatives seat.[9] He had been elected as the Minority Whip of the Ohio House of Representatives, replacing Dale Miller for the beginning of the 2005 session, in a November 2004 vote after being reelected to his third term.[30][31] Driehaus survived his own challenge from Scott Gehring with a 2:1 victory margin in the 2006 election for his state house seat.[1][29]
Based on the 2000 and 2004 United States Presidential election the district has voted 1% more Republican than the nation as a whole.[32] The district is regarded as a Democratically shifting maturing suburban district that is expected to vote more city-like as it becomes more dense.[9] The district was one of four Republican Ohio congressional seats that the party had targeted for takeover, but Chabot held off Cincinnati Councilman John Cranley by a 52% to 48% margin and the Republicans held on to three of the four seats.[9]
Although Driehaus passed on the 2006 race, he began planning a run for the district in 2008 almost as soon as the 2006 election cycle ended. This was largely because he was barred from running for a fifth term in the state house.[33]
Ohio's 1st district was very high on the target list for the Democrats in both 2006 and 2008.[34][35] Seven-term Republican incumbent Steve Chabot, elected in the Republican wave of 1994, had won the district consistently, but with varying margins.[1] He had won the seat with less than 55% of the vote in four of his seven previous victories.[9]
In previous elections, the 1st congressional district was hotly contested. It narrowly favored Democratic Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and United States Senator Sherrod Brown in 2006; and United States President George W. Bush narrowly outpaced Democratic nominee John Kerry by just 1 percentage point in the 2004 United States presidential election.[1] Driehaus was recruited for the race by Democratic party officials,[36] and he received early contributions for this race from Nancy Pelosi, Steny H. Hoyer, James E. Clyburn, and Chris Van Hollen that were included in his 2007 second quarter financial filings.[37] From the time of the first official announcement on May 3, 2007 and first financial filing deadline on July 15, 2007, the race has been closely watched in the national media, and Time described it as one of the 15 Congressional races to watch in the 2008 election.[36][38] The DCCC has named the district's race as one of the thirteen that it is supporting in hopes of ousting a Republican incumbent in the 2008 United States House of Representatives elections.[39]
In the midst of the financial crisis of 2007–2010, especially the subprime mortgage crisis, one of the issues in the race has been the candidates stances on foreclosures.[40]
The race was considered to be close. As of October 14, 2008 (three weeks before election day), The Rothenberg Political Report considered the race to be a toss-up.[41] A poll by Survey USA indicated that African-American turnout would probably determine who won the race.[42] Although it was considered a marginally Republican district, 27 percent of the district's voters are African-American—one of the highest percentages for a Republican-held district in the 109th Congress. The district includes nearly all of Cincinnati's African-American voters. In the November 4 election, Driehaus defeated incumbent Chabot with 52 percent of the vote, largely on the strength of a 16,000-vote margin in Hamilton County. He was also helped by Barack Obama carrying the district with 55 percent of the vote.
Driehaus was challenged by Republican nominee and his predecessor, former U.S. Congressman Steve Chabot, as well as Libertarian nominee James Berns, and Green Party nominee Richard Stevenson.[43] As Chabot was ahead in public opinion polls, the DCCC pulled its financial support for TV ads from the Driehaus campaign, indicating to Chuck Todd that they expected Driehaus to be defeated,[44] which he was, 52% to 45%.[45][46][47] Driehaus proceeded to sue the Susan B. Anthony List, saying the group caused his "loss of livelihood" by "defaming" him by saying he supported taxpayer funded abortion.[48] The case is currently pending in federal court.
Date | Office | District | Democrat | Votes | Percentage | Republican | Votes | Percentage |
November 7, 2000 | Ohio House of Representatives | 33[16] | Steve Driehaus | 19,263 | 57.26% | Tony Condia | 14,377 | 42.74% |
November 5, 2002 | Ohio House of Representatives | 31[27] | Steve Driehaus | 13,916 | 65.21% | Sheryl Ross | 7,425 | 34.79% |
November 2, 2004 | Ohio House of Representatives | 31[28] | Steve Driehaus | 26,330 | 69.36% | Terry Weber | 11,634 | 30.64% |
November 7, 2006 | Ohio House of Representatives | 31[29] | Steve Driehaus | 15,557 | 67.33% | Scott Gehring | 7,550 | 32.67% |
November 4, 2008 | U.S. House of Representatives | Ohio's 1st[49] | Steve Driehaus | 155,089 | 52.45% | Steve Chabot | 140,469 | 47.5% |
Driehaus was raised in Green Township by H. Donald "Don" Driehaus and his wife Clare along with his seven siblings.[2] His wife, Lucienne, their two daughters Alex and Clare, and a son, Jack, live in Price Hill, Cincinnati and attend the Roman Catholic St. Teresa of Avila parish.[6][50] His father, Don Driehaus, is a former Hamilton County Democratic Party Co-chairman.[2][8] He was succeeded in the Ohio House of representatives by his sister Denise Driehaus.[51] Don died on September 21, 2008 at the age of 75.[2] Driehaus's other siblings who survived his father were brothers Don, Joe, Jim, and Dan and sisters Dianne Brinkman and Cathy Allaben. He has twenty nieces and nephews as well as two uncles and two aunts who survived his father.[2]
In October 2011, it was reported that Driehaus had filed a lawsuit against the Susan B. Anthony List for allegedly publishing false information about his political positions on abortion and health care.[52]
Ohio House of Representatives | ||
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Preceded by Jerry Luebbers |
Ohio House of Representatives 33rd District 2001–2003 |
Succeeded by Tyrone Yates |
Preceded by Catherine Barrett |
Ohio House of Representatives 31st District 2003–2009 |
Succeeded by Denise Driehaus |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by Dale Miller |
Minority Whip of the Ohio House of Representatives 2005–2008 |
Succeeded by Fred Strahorn |
United States House of Representatives | ||
Preceded by Steve Chabot |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 1st congressional district 2009 - 2011 |
Succeeded by Steve Chabot |