Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr.

Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr.
Attorney General of Ohio
In office January 10, 1983 – January 6, 1991
Governor	Dick Celeste
Preceded by	William J. Brown
Succeeded by	Lee Fisher
46th Ohio Secretary of State
In office January 8, 1979 – January 12, 1983
Governor	James A. Rhodes
Preceded by	Ted W. Brown
Succeeded by	Sherrod Brown
Member of the Ohio Senate from the 25th district
In office January 3, 1975-December 31, 1978
Preceded by	Paul Matia
Succeeded by	Paul Matia
Personal details
Born	September 8, 1941 Cleveland, Ohio
Died	July 4, 2003(2003-07-04) (aged 61) De Graff, Ohio
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Louisa
Children	Anthony J. III, Catherine, Charles, David, Maria (Celebrezze) McBride
Alma mater	United States Naval Academy Cleveland–Marshall College of Law (Juris Doctor)
Occupation	politician, attorney
Religion	Catholic

Anthony Joseph "Tony" Celebrezze Jr. (September 8, 1941 – July 4, 2003) was an American politician of the Democratic party, who served as Ohio Attorney General, Ohio Secretary of State and an Ohio State Senator. He was the son of Anthony J. Celebrezze Sr.

Early life and education

Celebrezze was born to Anthony Celebrezze and Anne M. Celebrezze in 1941. He was the oldest of three, along with sisters Jean Ann (Celebrezze) Porto, and Susan Marie (Celebrezze) Sullivan.

Celebrezze graduated from John Marshall High School in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1963, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy.^[1] He served in the United States Navy for five years and was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal. In 1974, Celebrezze was awarded a Juris Doctor degree from Cleveland State University.

Political career

Ohio state senator

Celebrezze was elected an Ohio state senator in 1974. While in the Ohio General Assembly, he was known for his honesty and fair dealing. In 1978, Celebrezze defeated incumbent Republican Ted W. Brown in the election for Ohio Secretary of State. He served as Ohio secretary of state from 1979 to 1983.

Attorney general

In 1982, Celebrezze ran for Ohio Attorney General, facing off against by Republican Charles R. Saxbe, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. Both were the sons of former Presidential Cabinet members with good name recognition. He would beat Saxbe by a margin of nearly two-to-one (2,036,243 to 1,203,797).^[2]

Celebrezze easily won re-election in 1986 by defeating Barry Levey, 1,821,587 to 1,222,102.^[3] While serving as attorney general, Celebrezze fought a legal battle against the United States Department of Energy over the nuclear and chemical pollution at the Fernald nuclear weapons plant, which for years had been kept secret under the disguise of the Fernald Feed Materials Production Center. The legal victory gave the Ohio state government the right to regulate the clean-up of the site.

Run for governor

In 1990, Celebrezze ran for governor to replace Richard F. Celeste, who was barred from running for a third consecutive term due to term limits. For lieutenant governor, Celebrezze chose Eugene Branstool, an Ohio state senator who was a mid-state farmer from Utica, Ohio. The pair easily won the Democratic primary over Michael Hugh Lord and Judy Wynn Parker (683,932 to 131,564).^[4]

For the general election, Celebrezze faced a formidable Republican foe, George Voinovich, the popular out-going Cleveland Mayor. Voinovich's running mate was Mike DeWine, a U.S. Congressman from Cedarville, Ohio. Celebrezze lost in a landslide (1,938,103 to 1,539,416).^[5] Some analysts attribute his loss, in part, to Celebrezze's much-criticized switch from his long-held pro-life views to a pro-choice position. However, the combination of Voinovich and DeWine was balanced better geographically, whereby Voinovich took the northeast Ohio votes from Celebrezze's natural base and DeWine adding the votes from down-state urban areas in the southeast such as Greater Dayton and Greater Cincinnati.

After politics

Celebrezze was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame in 1998.^[6] In April 2001, Celebrezze joined Kegler Brown Hill & Ritter, a law firm based in Columbus, Ohio.^[7]

Personal life

Celebrezze and his wife, the former Louisa Godwin, had five children: Anthony J. III, Catherine, Charles, David, and Maria (Celebrezze) McBride.

Celebrezze died on July 4, 2003, of a heart attack after finishing third in a Dwarf Car auto race at Shadybowl Speedway in De Graff, Ohio.^[8]

Celebrezze's cousins were former Ohio Chief Justice Frank Celebrezze Jr. and former Ohio Supreme Court Judge James Celebrezze. Celebrezze was the father of Anthony J. Celebrezze III and the cousin of Ohio appeals court judge Frank D. Celebrezze, III. His uncle was Frank D. Celebrezze, Sr..

See also

• Election Results, Ohio Governor
• Election Results, Ohio Governor (Democratic Primaries)

References

Ohio Attorneys General Stanbery McCormick Pugh McCook Kimball Wolcott Murray Critchfield Richardson Olds West Pond Little Pillars Nash Hollingsworth Lawrence Kohler Watson Richards Monnette Sheets Ellis Denman Hogan Turner McGhee Price Crabbe Turner Bettman Bricker Duffy Herbert Jenkins Duffy O'Neill Saxbe McElroy Saxbe Brown, P. Brown, W. Celebrezze Fisher Montgomery Petro Dann Rogers Cordray DeWine

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