Jim Renacci

Jim Renacci
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 16th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	John Boccieri
Mayor of Wadsworth
In office 2004–2008
Preceded by	Caesar A. Carrino[1]
Succeeded by	Robin L. Laubaugh
Personal details
Born	(1958-12-03) December 3, 1958 Monongahela, Pennsylvania[2]
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Tina[2]
Children	Drew, Ryan, Rhiannon
Residence	Wadsworth, Ohio
Alma mater	Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Religion	Roman Catholicism[2]
Website	www.renacci.house.gov

James B. "Jim" Renacci /rᵻˈneɪsi/ (born December 3, 1958) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Ohio's 16th congressional district since January, 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he is an Ohio entrepreneur and served for a time as Mayor of Wadsworth, Ohio.^[3]

On November 6, 2012, Renacci defeated Betty Sutton, as redistricting forced the two incumbents to run against each other. Sutton was defeated by a vote of 181,137 to 165,636 in the new, Republican-leaning district.

Early life and education

Jim Renacci was born December 3, 1958, in Monongahela, Pennsylvania. Renacci’s father was a railroad worker and his mother was a nurse. Renacci earned a degree in business administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and became a Certified Public Accountant and financial advisor.^[4]

Business career

A self-made millionaire, Renacci started his first business at the age of 24. It is estimated that Renacci is currently worth between $35 and $100 million and made salary, interest and other income of between $500,000 and $4.3 million in 2008 and 2009.^[5] In June 2006, the Ohio Department of Taxation assessed Renacci $1.4 million in back taxes, interest and penalties for disclosed but unreported year 2000 income.^[6] Renacci stated that the dispute stemmed from a change in Ohio tax policy which he disputed. He and his wife paid the State of Ohio more than $1.3 million, along with approximately another 1000 Ohio citizens who also fought the dispute.^[7]

In 2003, Renacci formed the LTC Companies group, a financial consulting service which included a partial ownership of three Harley-Davidson dealerships in Columbus, the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion in Columbus, and Renacci-Doraty Chevrolet in Wadsworth.

Renacci and LTC owned, operated and managed over 60 businesses, employed approximately 3000 people and created over 1500 jobs. Over his 30 years in business, his companies have been a party in multiple legal cases,^[7] including two wrongful death suits related to Renacci's nursing home business,^[8] and a complaint filed by more than a half-dozen temporary employees alleging they were not paid for work they did for Renacci's medical billing firm.^[9] In all cases, Renacci either settled out of court or the case was dismissed.^[8]

Renacci became a partner and managing board member of the former Arena Football League's Columbus Destroyers. The team finished the 2007 season as the AFL Eastern Conference Champions with Renacci as President and General Manager.^[10] Renacci also served as AFL Executive Committee Vice Chairman and is a partial owner of the Lancaster JetHawks, a minor league baseball team.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2010

Renacci announced on August 24, 2009 that he would run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Ohio's 16th district,^[11][12] officially filing on January 11, 2010.^[13] Renacci ran as a "Contender" of the National Republican Congressional Committee in its "Young Guns" program.^[14] Renacci defeated Democratic incumbent John Boccieri by 52% to 41% with 7% of the vote going to Libertarian candidate Jeffrey Blevins.

In a town-hall forum in Canton, in September, 2010, Renacci was accused of stating that civil rights issues should be addressed by local governments, stating that the solution is "to get our federal government out of the way" because "it's not the federal government's job". But a reporter from the Christian Science Monitor who was at the event noted Renacci's words were twisted by a reference to the blight in local communities.^{[15][16][17][18]}

2012

The Plain Dealer reported in September 2011 that the new district map of Ohio would place Congressman Betty Sutton in “a largely Republican district that's being constructed to favor Renacci.”^[19] In December, Sutton filed to run against Renacci.^[20] Later that month, Roll Call reported that a poll taken at least two months earlier showed the two congress members “neck and neck at 45 percent.”^[21] On the Washington Post's list of top 10 House races in 2012, Sutton's was at #8.^[22]

According to the Sunlight Foundation, Sutton had the highest staff turnover rate in the House.^[23] “The group's examination of House pay records for two years ending in the third quarter of 2011.” reported the Plain Dealer, “found that just 19 percent of Sutton's staffers remained throughout the period. The average House office had a 64.2 percent retention rate during that time, the study found.”^[24]

Renacci defeated Sutton by a 52% to 48% margin on Election Day.

Tenure

In May 2012, a Renacci campaign contributor was the subject of a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe into $100,000 of campaign contributions made by employees of an Ohio-based direct marketing corporation, Suarez Corporation Industries, to Renacci's campaign. Many of the non-executive employees had never donated to a campaign before and owned modest homes, yet were reported as donating the maximum legal amount of $5,000 to Renacci. The investigation was sparked by prior Toledo Blade reports of the alleged violations of federal campaign finance law prohibiting a donor from contributing in another's name and prohibiting a corporation from using bonuses or other methods of reimbursing employees for their contributions. Not only did Renacci’s campaign return all of the donations it was later determined in a Cleveland court that the contributors did not violate federal law..^[25][26]

Committee assignments

• House Ways and Means Committee^[27]
  • Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures
  • Subcommittee on Social Security^[28]
• United States House Budget Committee

In the 112th congress, Renacci served on the Committee on Financial Services, as vice chair of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, and a member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. ^[29]

Caucus memberships

Rep. Renacci has been a member of the following caucuses in the 112th and 113th Congresses

• Republican Study Committee
• Congressional Coal Caucus
• Congressional Steel Caucus
• Congressional CPA Caucus
• NorthEast-MidWest Coalition
• General Aviation Caucus
• Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Caucus
• Congressional Academic Medicine Caucus (113th only)^[27][29]

Electoral history

References

External links

• Congressman Jim Renacci official U.S. House site
• Jim Renacci for Congress
• Jim Renacci at DMOZ
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress

Ohio's 16th congressional district Whittlesey Giddings Mathews Cummins Hoagland Johnson Ball Tompkins Cutler White Bingham Danford McKinley Updegraff Taylor Wilkins Geddes Wilkins Owens Warwick Ohliger Pearson Danford Gill Weems Hollingsworth Francis McCulloch Himes McSweeney McClintock Thom Seccombe Thom Carson Thom Carson McSweeney Bow Regula Boccieri Renacci Other Ohio Districts: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Other