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Bob McEwen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's6th district | |
| In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Bill Harsha |
| Succeeded by | Ted Strickland |
| Member of theOhio House of Representatives from the 77th district | |
| In office January 3, 1975 – December 31, 1980 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph Hiestand |
| Succeeded by | Joe Haines |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1950-01-12)January 12, 1950 (age 76) Hillsboro, Ohio, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Boebinger |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of Miami (BBA) Ohio State University |
Robert D. McEwen (born January 12, 1950) is an American lobbyist and formerRepublican Party politician. He was a member of theUnited States House of Representatives from southernOhio'sSixth District, from January 3, 1981, to January 3, 1993. Tom Deimer ofCleveland'sPlain Dealer described him as a "textbook Republican" who isopposed to abortion,gun control andhigh taxes. In the House, he criticized government incompetence and charged corruption by theDemocratic majority that ran the House in the 1980s. McEwen, who had easily won three terms in theOhio House, was elected to Congress at the age of thirty to replace a retiring representative in 1980 and easily won re-election five times.
After aprimary battle with another incumbent whose district was combined with his, McEwen narrowly lost the1992 general election to DemocratTed Strickland. Followinga run in the adjacentsecond district in 1993, McEwen was largely absent from the Ohio political scene for a decade, until in 2005 when he sought the Republican nomination for Congress in thesecond district special election to replaceRob Portman, who beat him in 1993, and finished second to the winner in the general election,Jean Schmidt. McEwen's 2005 platform was familiar from his past campaigns, advocating apro-life stance, defendingSecond Amendment rights, and promising to limit taxes and government spending.
Born inHillsboro, Ohio, McEwen graduated fromHillsboro High School in 1968. He earned aBachelor's in Business Administration from theUniversity of Miami inCoral Gables, Florida in 1972. He also attendedOhio State University's College of Law for one year from 1972 to 1973.[1]
McEwen and his wife, the former Elizabeth Boebinger, have four children. He is a member of many fraternal organizations and civic groups, includingSigma Chi, theFarm Bureau, theGrange,Rotary International, theJaycees, and theOptimist Club.[1]
After two years in his wife's family real estate business, serving as a vice president of Boebinger, Inc., he was elected at the age of twenty-four to theOhio House of Representatives in 1974 from the 72nd House District representing southern Ohio. McEwen's district contained parts of Clinton, Fayette, Greene, and Highland Counties and all of Madison County. He was re-elected to two more two-year terms. In 1976, his plurality against Democrat L. James Matter was 14,816 votes, a number larger than the votes cast for Matter. (McEwen received 27,657 to Matter's 12,841.) McEwen was a supporter of the statelottery in the House.[2] Having previously directed Sixth District CongressmanBill Harsha's re-election campaigns to Congress in 1976 and 1978, McEwen ran for Harsha's seat when he retired in 1980. Harsha was neutral in the eight-man primary that McEwen won but supported McEwen in the general election where he defeatedpsychologist and ministerTed Strickland, Harsha's opponent in 1976 and 1978, who went on to become Governor of Ohio.
In Congress, McEwen, who "had a reputation as a man who thinks about politics every waking moment," claimedCongressional Quarterly, was a staunchconservative, advocating a strong military.[2] In addition, he was a strong advocate for government works in his district — dams, roads, locks and the like much as Harsha had been — as McEwen was on the House'sPublic Works and Transportation Committee.[3]TheChillicothe Gazette would salute him for his work on funding forU.S. Route 35, alimited access highway linkingChillicothe toDayton.[4] In general, however, McEwen advocated reduced government spending.
A vehementanti-Communist, he visitedTbilisi in the former SovietRepublic of Georgia in 1991 to help tear down the hammer-and-sickle iconography of the Communist regime.[5] That year he also called for the House to establish a select committee to investigate theVietnam War POW/MIA issue – whether any soldiers declared "missing in action" in theVietnam War and other American wars were still alive – by sponsoring H. Res. 207.[6]
When McEwen was first elected in 1980, the Sixth District of Ohio consisted ofAdams,Brown,Clinton,Fayette,Highland,Pickaway,Pike,Scioto, andRoss Counties plusClermont County outside the city ofLoveland,Harrison Township inVinton County and theWarren County townships ofClearcreek,Deerfield,Hamilton,Harlan,Massie,Salem, andWayne.[7]The Washington Post described the Sixth as "a fail-safe Republican district."[8] It had been in Republican hands since a 1959 special election.
TheOhio General Assembly redrew the Sixth District following the results of the1980 Census. The boundaries from 1983 to 1987 included all ofAdams,Clinton,Fayette,Highland,Hocking,Jackson,Pike,Ross,Scioto,Vinton andWarren Counties, plusWaterloo andYork Townships inAthens County;Wayne Township inClermont County;Concord,Jasper,Marion,Perry,Union, andWayne Townships inFayette County; andWashington Township and the Cities ofMiamisburg andWest Carrollton inMontgomery County.[9]
Effective with the100th Congress in 1987, adjustments were made by the legislature to the boundaries. A small part of the Montgomery County territory was detached, as were parts of Fayette County inWashington Court House inUnion Township and the townships ofJasper andMarion. Part ofBrown County was added,Jackson andEagle Townships. These were the boundaries for the rest of McEwen's service in Congress.[10]
The district was largely rural and agricultural with no large cities. One of the major industries was theUnited States Department of Energy's PortsmouthGaseous Diffusion Plant atPiketon, which manufactureduranium fornuclear weapons. The district was 97%white with a median household income of $21,761.
In a heated debate in 1985 over a Congressional seat inIndiana between RepublicanRichard D. McIntyre, whom theIndiana Secretary of State had certified as winning a seat in the99th Congress, and DemocratFrank McCloskey, in which the House declined to seat McIntyre, McEwen declared on the House floor, "Mr. Speaker, you know how to win votes the old fashioned way — you steal them."[11] When McEwen was late in 1990 to the House because of a massive traffic jam on theI-495 beltway around Washington, D.C., he said on the House floor on February 21 that the District of Columbia's government should be replaced:
The total incompetence of the D.C. government in Washington, DC, has become an embarrassment to our entire Nation. This experiment in home rule is a disaster. All of us who serve in this Chamber, well over 95% of us, have held other positions in government. We have been mayors. We have been township trustees, State legislators, and the rest. I am convinced, Mr. Speaker, that there are well over 2,000 township trustees in my congressional district who with one arm tied behind their backs, could blindfolded do a better job of directing this city than the city council of D.C. It is high time that this experiment inhome rule that has proven to be a disaster for our nation be terminated, that we return to some sort of logical government whereby the rest of us can function in this city.[12]
After McEwen was criticized for his remarks, he delivered a thirty-minute speech in the House on March 1, 1990, on "The Worst City Government in America".[13] Because of the crime problem in the District, McEwen also attempted to pass legislation overturning the District council's ban onmace, saying people in the District should be able to defend themselves.[14] During thePersian Gulf War in 1991, McEwen introduced legislation to end PresidentGerald Ford's ban on U.S. government employees assassinating foreign leaders (Executive Order 12333) in order to clear the way forSaddam Hussein's removal, McEwen objecting to the "cocoon of protection that is placed around him because he holds the position that he holds as leader of his country."[15]
In October 1987, encouraged by SenatorPhil Gramm ofTexas, McEwen announced he would challenge SenatorHoward M. Metzenbaum, a Democrat, in his 1988 bid for re-election, but McEwen found he lacked statewide support and would face a strong primary challenger in Cleveland mayorGeorge V. Voinovich. He dropped out of the race in December.[16] McEwen's name was floated in 1991 as a possible challenger in 1992 to Ohio's other senator,John Glenn, another Democrat, but McEwen did not enter the race.[17]
McEwen was easily re-elected to the House in every election but his last. In 1982, he defeated Lynn Alan Grimshaw, 92,135 to 63,435, and in theReagan landslide of 1984 he beat Bob Smith nearly three-to-one, 150,101 to 52,727. In 1986 and 1988 he faced Gordon R. Roberts, defeating him two-to-one in 1986 (106,354 to 42,155 with independent Amos Seeley receiving a scattering) and three-to-one in 1988 (152,235 to 52,635).[18] In the rematch, McEwen outspent Roberts twenty-to-one, $884,754 to $43,485.[19] McEwen in 1990 beat his opponent, Raymond S. Mitchell — who theDayton Daily News said "is an unknown small businessman who hasn't thought things through" — by three to one. The tally was 117,200 to 47,415 in a race where Mitchell was outspent seventeen-to-one, McEwen spending $196,934 and Mitchell $11,171.[20] Congressional Quarterly'sPolitics in America pronounced him "invincible" in his district.[19]
McEwen served on thePublic Works and Transportation andVeterans' Affairs Committees from his election to 1991. By 1989, he had risen to be theranking minority member of the Public Works Committee's Economic Development Subcommittee and was sixth in seniority on the full committee.[21] During the 99th and100th Congresses, he was also a member of theSelect Committee on Intelligence. During his last term, in the102nd Congress, he left Public Works and Veterans' Affairs for the powerfulRules Committee and served on its Legislative Process Subcommittee. He was chosen for the Rules Committee by Republican leaderBob Michel ofIllinois, but McEwen would grumble that "the Committee on Rules is stacked in a partisan manner 2 to 1 plus 1" by the Democratic majority.[22] During the 102nd Congress, he was also on theSelect Committee on Children, Families, and Youth.
Late in his Congressional career, he began regular appearances on public affairs programs such asNightline and theMacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour and was often a guest onC-SPAN and theCable News Network. Martin Gottlieb of theDayton Daily News, a Democratic newspaper, thought McEwen's performances showed why he had remained in the background previously:
In the past, McEwen's ambition has taken the form of interest in higher office. Twice he made feints about seeking statewide office. But he didn't want to risk his congressional seat. Now he's found a way to nurse a healthy level of ambition without taking that risk. He has, of course, a pronounced tendency to be wrong about the issues . . . . Most typically, he appears as an ideological combatant. He seems to be selling himself to the nation's conservatives as an attractive spokesman. He's got enough talent to do it. In the days when McEwen was content to be a back-bencher, he was criticized on this page for his irrelevance on the important issues. Now, however, it is clear that the nation as a whole was better off when he was keeping his views to himself.[23]
In his decade in Congress, McEwen compiled a conservative voting record, usually scoring in the single digits in the annualAmericans for Democratic Action ratings and 85% or higher in theAmerican Conservative Union's similar polls, though McEwen was never one of the most conservative Republicans in the House nor the most conservative Republican in the Ohio delegation.[2]
McEwen often joined his fellow Republicans in making special order speeches in the House, which occur after the business for the day has concluded and are made to a nearly empty chamber. McEwen's allyNewt Gingrich ofGeorgia had discovered that, thanks to the C-SPAN cable network's promise of "gavel-to-gavel coverage" of the House, he and his fellow conservatives such as McEwen, Mississippi'sTrent Lott, California'sRobert K. Dornan, andPennsylvania'sRobert S. Walker could speak directly to Americans.Congressional Quarterly wrote viewers often found "McEwen playing the trusty sidekickSancho Panza to Bob Dornan of California, both tilting at the latest liberal windmill."[2]
McEwen easily won re-election in every race save his last and was seen as unbeatable in his district. However, Ohio lost two seats in the 1990reapportionment. The Democrats and Republicans in the Ohio General Assembly struck a deal to eliminate one Democratic and one Republican district, as one congressman from each party was expected to retire. The Republican expected to retire wasClarence E. Miller, a thirteen-term veteran called "chairman of the caucus of the obscure" for his invisibility onCapitol Hill. However, Miller surprised everyone by deciding to run for a fourteenth term. The Democrats in the Statehouse would not reconsider the deal and Miller's Tenth District was obliterated.[24]
The new district map was not agreed upon by the General Assembly until March 26, 1992, one week before the filing deadline for the primary originally scheduled for May 5. GovernorGeorge Voinovich signed the new map into law on March 27, and on April 1 the General Assembly moved the primary to June 2. Miller's hometown ofLancaster was placed in freshmanDave Hobson'sSpringfield-based Seventh District, but Miller chose to run in the Sixth District against McEwen since the largest piece of his old district — five counties — was placed in the new Sixth. Miller's decision was also impacted by his strong personal distaste for McEwen.
After being hurt in a fall in his bathtub after slipping on a bar of soap, Miller was expected to withdraw and the Republican leadership hoped for a deal as late as May 15, the day Miller was to hold a press conference Ohio political observers thought he would use to announce his withdrawal. However, Miller stayed in the race and the two incumbents faced each other in the Republican primary on June 2, 1992.
The primary race was bitter. Miller called McEwen "Pinocchio," and McEwen said of Miller, "His misrepresentations and falsehoods are gargantuan. I tried to be his best friend in the delegation. I am deeply disappointed at the meanness of his effort." Tom Deimer of Cleveland'sPlain Dealer wrote that the two candidates were largely identical on the issues: "both are textbook Republican conservatives, opposed to abortion, gun control, high taxes, and costly government programs — unless located in their districts." Miller noted he had no overdrafts at the House bank, saying, "the score is 166 to nothing." McEwen said "every one of my checks was free and clear. Every month's statement had a balance." McEwen ran commercials against Miller claiming the long-time congressman "has fallen out of touch with Ohio" and "doesn't live in our district and isn't even registered to vote here." Miller struck back in a live-television interview by taking aWheat Thin, claiming it to be McEwen, and then taking a bite out of it.[25]
The 1992 primary was so close it forced a recount and prompted a lawsuit. WhenOhio Secretary of StateBob Taft dismissed Miller's charges of voting irregularities in Highland, Hocking and Warren counties, Miller filed suit in theOhio Supreme Court.[26] Miller dropped his court challenge in August and then only because his campaign treasury was exhausted.[27] In the final count, McEwen won 33,219 votes to Miller's 32,922, a plurality of 297 votes. In the end, McEwen's geographic advantage (he retained 59% of his old territory) put him over the top. Ominously, however, Miller trounced him in the five counties that had been in Miller's old district.
After the final result, Miller refused to endorse McEwen, though McEwen tried to soothe feelings by introducing H.R. 5727 in the House to name the dam and locks on theOhio River nearGallipolis after Miller.[28] Miller carried an unsuccessful legal challenge to the redistricting to theUnited States Supreme Court, insisting district lines should be drawn on a politically neutral basis.
The old Sixth District was centered in southwestern and south-central Ohio around McEwen's hometown, Hillsboro. After redistricting, McEwen found himself running in a huge area stretching fromLebanon toMarietta. This new district was very difficult to campaign in. It spilled across six media markets, meaning that McEwen had to buy ads in cities where most of the viewers couldn't vote in the district. It also lacked any large cities and possessed few unifying elements. His Democratic opponent was psychologistTed Strickland, whom he had defeated in his initial run in 1980.
Pat Buchanan, the conservative columnist who challenged President Bush in the 1992 presidential primaries, came to Ohio to campaign for McEwen, as did Vice PresidentDan Quayle andOliver North. ThoughGeorge H. W. Bush won the district, McEwen was narrowly defeated by Strickland in the general election on November 3. While he won 55–45 in the area he once represented, McEwen did not win in any of the counties that had once been in Miller's district, losing the unfamiliar territory 59-41. Strickland received 122,720 votes to McEwen's 119,252, a plurality of only 3,468.[29] "I think McEwen's loss was a case of bounced checks and some arrogance," said Alfred Tuchfarber, apolitical science professor at theUniversity of Cincinnati who runs theOhio Poll. "He just had a certain personal arrogance about him that didn't go down well in a poor district."[30] Strickland said, "I ran againstPat Robertson, Pat Buchanan, theNational Rifle Association andRight-to-Life. They threw everything at me. I'm just so happy I beat back those guys. I think they're so divisive."[30]
McEwen thensought election to the House in the Second District nearCincinnati, immediately west of his former district, and which contained some territory he represented in the 1980s. The election was to fill the vacancy caused byWillis D. Gradison's resignation to become a lobbyist for the insurance industry on January 31, 1993, three months after his re-election.[31] "It's important that we have an experienced person to fight for jobs for Southwest Ohio. We need to bring economic growth to our area," McEwen said. "It's important that we have someone who can hit the ground running, representing our values of economic growth and low taxes."[32] Though a congressman does not need to live in the district he represents, McEwen put his home in Hillsboro up for sale and rented a home inBethel in Clermont County.[33]
In the Republican primary on March 16, McEwen faced trade lawyerRob Portman, who had worked in theWhite House under PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush; real estate developer Jay Buchert, the president of theNational Association of Home Builders; and several lesser known candidates: real estate appraiser Garland Eugene Crawford ofLoveland; anti-abortion activist Ken Callis of the Cincinnati suburb ofWyoming; Robert W. Dorsey, a professor at theUniversity of Cincinnati and township trustee in Hamilton County'sAnderson Township; andKu Klux Klan leader Van Darrell Loman ofCheviot. Three other candidates filed and qualified but withdrew from the primary, formerMadeira mayor Mary Anne Christie;Lebanon attorney Bruce Gudenkauf, a member of the Warren County Republican Party's central committee; and Donnie Jones, city auditor inNorwood.[34]
In February the press reported that, according to campaign finance filings, McEwen trailed both Buchert and Portman in funds, Buchert having three times the treasury McEwen did.[35] McEwen was endorsed byOliver North, whose prosecution in theIran-Contra Affair McEwen had labeled a "political witch hunt" when he was in Congress.[36] McEwen also criticized Portman for lobbying Congress to pass the tax increase PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush supported when Portman was a White House aide. He also criticized Portman for being a lobbyist forOman. McEwen brought his former House colleagueJack Kemp to Ohio to campaign for him.
McEwen faced questions about the bounced checks he had written on the House bank. Buchert ran campaign commercials citing McEwen's checks, the expenses of his Congressional office, and his campaign finance disclosures, while noting Portman was "the handpicked choice of the downtown money crowd" and was "a registered foreign agent for the biggest Democrat lobbying firm in Washington," labeling Portman and McEwen "Prince Rob and Bouncing Bob."[37] McEwen, who had taken a hard-line on his checks in 1992, relented in the campaign. Martin Gottlieb wrote, "McEwen says now that his problem was a form of excessive pride. He says he used to 'demand perfection' of himself." McEwen also said, "I felt I could never admit a mistake. . . . I am very, very sorry. I should have watched it more carefully. . . . I have learned a great deal."[38]Les Spaeth, chairman of the Warren County Republican Party and former Warren County Auditor, said, "People very much disliked the check overdraft thing, but I think they don't see it as happening again. I think it's past. He made a mistake and he got caught. But that's overridden by the service he's given, particularly to our county."[38]
After his successor in Congress, Ted Strickland, found election-related files on his office computers, questions were raised about whether McEwen had been illegally using his House office in his re-election campaign in 1992. McEwen's former chief of staff said McEwen knew nothing about it, and the chief of staff admitted "a technical violation of the rules."[39]
McEwen won four of the five counties in the district — Adams, Brown, Clermont and Warren. In Adams, once part of his district, he received 77% of the vote, sixty-seven points ahead of Portman. However, McEwen finished third in the largest county in the district,Hamilton, one he had never represented and which contained 57% of the Second District's registered voters. In the primary, Portman won only Hamilton County, but by a large enough margin to win the primary with 17,531 votes (35.61%), while McEwen received 14,542 (29.54%), Buchert 12,488 (25.37%), Dorsey 2,947 (5.99%), the rest scattering. The race in the Second District, one of the most Republican in the country, was determined in the primary — six times as many Republicans as Democrats voted in the primary — and Portman easily defeated attorneyLee Hornberger 53,020 (70.1%) to 22,652 (29.1%) in the special election on May 4.[40]
Following the primary, theDayton Daily News criticized McEwen for having voters return absentee voter request forms to his campaign office rather than directly to the county boards of elections.[41] TheDaily News also said the "primary was completely about personalities, rather than issues."[42]
After his defeat, McEwen remained active in politics, but press accounts said he spent most of his time in the Washington, D.C., area residing in northernVirginia.[43] Since 1997, he has been a partner with eleven other former Members of Congress in the Washington firmAdvantage Associates, a lobbying and consulting firm. He founded FreedomQuest International, an internationalinvestment banking firm based in Washington, D.C. McEwen took to thelecture circuit, delivering speeches for $10,000 apiece.[44] During the2004 presidential election, McEwen traveled widely to speak forGeorge W. Bush, focusing on Ohio. In 2006, he joined the law firm of Greenebaum, Doll, and McDonald as a consultant in its Cincinnati and Washington offices.[45]
As executive director of theCouncil for National Policy, McEwen was embroiled in controversy over inaction of alerting theOhio Republican Party aboutWes Goodman's sexual activities in 2015 before Goodman ran for office of the Ohio House of Representatives. Goodman resigned from his seat in November 2017 when allegations were made public.[46]
Days after PresidentGeorge W. Bush nominated Second District CongressmanRob Portman to beUnited States Trade Representative in March 2005, McEwen announced he would run for Portman's seat. He then moved from his home inFairfax Station, Virginia and purchased a second residence, acondominium in Hamilton County'sAnderson Township, east ofCincinnati. McEwen drew upon his connections and quickly had high-profile endorsements fromFocus on the Family leaderJames Dobson, formerUnited States Attorney GeneralEdwin Meese,Cincinnati Bengals playerAnthony Muñoz,American Family Association presidentDonald Wildmon,Citizens for Community Values anti-pornography crusaderPhil Burress, and former New York congressmanJack Kemp, who came to the district to campaign for him.[47] Kemp said in a rally in Clermont County on May 20 that "Bob and his wife Liz are like part of our family."[48] Dobson wrote in his endorsement letter, "I have rarely been more excited about a candidate running in a highly significant race than I am about Bob McEwen for Congress . . . . If Bob returns to the House of Representatives, he will once again emerge as a tireless champion for the family and for traditional conservative values."[49]
Ed Meese came to Cincinnati on May 31 to campaign for McEwen saying "Ronald Reagan relied on him heavily." Rival candidatePat DeWine, a Hamilton County Commissioner and the son of SenatorMike DeWine, the same day questioned McEwen's post-Congressional career as a lobbyist, issuing a press release saying "no one who has ever served in Congress ought to be allowed to become a lobbyist. Ever."[50] CongressmanJohn Boehner, whose Eighth District was to the west of the Second, endorsed McEwen on June 7. Boehner was a freshman in McEwen's final term. He said, "Bob is the most qualified to step in and represent that district."[51] The Congressmen from other neighboring districts,Steve Chabot andMike Turner, were silent in the primary race. McEwen a week before the primary was reported to have raised $366,429, McEwen donating $250,000 to his campaign; DeWine's total was $743,407.
DeWine focused his attention on the most experienced candidate, McEwen. DeWine attacked McEwen with charges used against him in his last two campaigns. Dewine charged McEwen had "wasted taxpayers' money" by having the most expensive Congressional office of any Ohio member of the U.S. House and criticized McEwen's bouncing of 166 checks on the House bank. DeWine also tried to depict McEwen as acarpetbagger, asking in television advertisements "If Bob McEwen really cares about us, why has he spent the last twelve years living inVirginia?" McEwen denied he had bounced any checks, repeating what he had claimed in 1992 and insisted that he had continued to reside in Ohio since he lost his re-election bid, noting he had never voted in Virginia nor held a Virginia drivers license.[52] (McEwen did not live in the second district until April 11, when he bought a condominium inAnderson Township; but DeWine did not live in the district until he bought a home there on April 6.[53]) DeWine quoted correspondence from theHighland County Board of Elections claiming the Board had cancelled McEwen's voter registration for living in Virginia.
DeWine also questioned McEwen's record on taxes, sending out mailings criticizing McEwen's vote on May 24, 1982, in the97th Congress "in support of a Democrat budget that raised out taxes by $233 billion." Two mailings focused on this issue, one featuring a photograph of Ronald Reagan that was captioned "When President Reagan Needed Votes to Keep Taxes Low, Bob McEwen Said 'NO'", the other asking "Are We Still the Party of Lower Taxes?"
Jean Schmidt, a former member of the Ohio House, benefited from the conservative vote being split by McEwen andTom Brinkman. The official returns showed Schmidt had won with 14,331 votes (31%). McEwen finished second with 11,663 (25%), Brinkman was third with 9,320 (20%), and DeWine, who spent $1 million on his campaign, finished a distant fourth with 5,467 (12%). The remaining vote was split by the seven others, none of whom received more than 5%. Following the primary, McEwen campaigned with Schmidt in the general election against the Democratic nominee, attorneyPaul Hackett.
On October 12, 2005, the Internet domain name BobMcEwenForSenate.com was registered.[54][55] McEwen also considered a campaign forLieutenant Governor as the running mate ofSecretary of StateJ. Kenneth Blackwell, who sought to replaceBob Taft asgovernor.[56] On December 16, 2005,The Cincinnati Enquirer reported McEwen was considering challenging Schmidt for her congressional seat in 2006 and had formed anexploratory committee. "I am in serious consideration," he told the newspaper.[57] On January 18, 2006, McEwen confirmed that he would run in the May 2 primary againstJean Schmidt.[58]He started his campaign with little in the way of reserve cash.[59] "I won't let this distract me from my duties as a congresswoman," Schmidt toldThe Cincinnati Enquirer upon McEwen's announcement. "I have a job to do. I can't worry about this."[60] Anti-pornography activist Phil Burress told the Associated Press that a race between Schmidt and McEwen would be tough. "They are two totally different types of personalities. Bob is a statesman, and I love that. Jean will get in your face in a heartbeat, and I like that too," said Burress.[61] Also running were Deborah A. Kraus, who worked for the West Clermont school district's computer services department, and James E. Constable, who ran to protest the care his disabled son received from a state hospital.
McEwen finished second to Schmidt in the May 2 primary. Unofficial returns gave her 33,314 votes (47.75%) to McEwen's 29,611 (42.45%), Kraus's 4,358 (6.25%), and Constable's 2,480 (3.55%). McEwen won Adams, Brown, Pike, and Scioto counties while Schmidt won Clermont, Hamilton, and Warren.
Following his primary challenge to Schmidt, McEwen worked as alobbyist forCôte d'Ivoire strongmanLaurent Gbagbo.[62] "In December [2010], McEwen was hired at a rate of $25,000 per month to assist the Ivorian ambassador to the U.S. 'in exerting his influence in the most strategic way possible,' according to lobbying records."[62] When asked about his representation of Gbagbo, McEwen said: "I was a member of the intelligence committee. There are not too many places in Africa I haven't been. So I'm knowledgeable of the issue and what's going on."[62] "Despite allegations of human rights abuses, McEwen still supports Gbagbo, callingthe 2010 crisis 'acoup in progress' by Gbagbo's opponents. He believes the international response is driven by French financial interests in the country."[62]
There is a water treatment plant in Clermont County'sBatavia Township named for McEwen. Clermont County was grateful to McEwen because he successfully forced the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to sell the county water from Harsha Lake after the state denied them water for years; the plant treats the Harsha Lake water he obtained for the county.[63]
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| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
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