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Jim Jontz | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIndiana's5th district | |
| In office January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Elwood Hillis |
| Succeeded by | Steve Buyer |
| Member of theIndiana Senate from the 7th district | |
| In office November 7, 1984 – November 18, 1986 | |
| Preceded by | John "Jack" Martin Guy[1] |
| Succeeded by | Katie Wolf |
| Member of theIndiana House of Representatives from the 25th district | |
| In office November 3, 1982 – November 7, 1984 | |
| Preceded by | Ralph Duckwall[2] |
| Succeeded by | Katie Wolf |
| Member of theIndiana House of Representatives from the 20th district | |
| In office November 6, 1974 – November 3, 1982 | |
| Preceded by | John "Jack" Martin Guy[3] |
| Succeeded by | Barbara Louise Engle |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Prather Jontz (1951-12-18)December 18, 1951 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | April 14, 2007(2007-04-14) (aged 55) Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Williams College Indiana University Bloomington Butler University Valparaiso University School of Law |
| Occupation | Politician |
James Prather Jontz (December 18, 1951 – April 14, 2007) was an American politician who represented theIndiana's 5th congressional district, comprising rural north central Indiana, centering on Kokomo and Logansport. ADemocrat, he served in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993. He was previously a member of theIndiana General Assembly. To date, he was the last Democrat to represent his district in Congress.
He was born inIndianapolis, Indiana, in 1951. He graduated at the age of 17 fromNorth Central High School in Washington Township in Indianapolis.
Jontz began his collegiate studies atWilliams College and transferred toIndiana University Bloomington, where he graduated with honors (Phi Beta Kappa) in less than three years with a degree in geology. He was active inCrisis Biology and lobbied on behalf of a host of environmental causes while a student on the IU Bloomington campus. Despite a heavy study load, and involvement in student government and extra curricular affairs, Jontz co-founded the Indiana Public Interest Research Group as a Senior working project. He obtained a master's degree in history fromButler University, and graduated fromValparaiso University School of Law during his third term as State Representative.[4] He also took graduate courses atPurdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
His political career began in 1974, sparked by his opposition to a dam-building project in Central Indiana. Running for a seat in theIndiana House of Representatives against the dam's sponsor, House Majority Leader John Guy, he was elected at age 22 - the second youngest person to serve in the Indiana House at the time[5] - by a margin of only two votes. He was reelected five more times in a heavilyRepublican district, even after the Republican-controlled legislature made it even more Republican on paper after the 1980 census. He was elected to theIndiana Senate in 1984, where he served for only two years before being elected to the U.S. House.
Jontz's campaigns for Congress drew national attention. Celebrity supporters included singersCarole King,[6]Bob Weir, andDon Henley, designerLiz Claiborne, and actorsBonnie Franklin[7] andWoody Harrelson. Most of this support stemmed from Jontz's work on environmental issues.[citation needed]
In 1990, he appeared in the press room atFarm Aid IV where he played an impromptustraight man whileArlo Guthrie made jokes.[8]
Jontz was elected to Congress in 1986 after the retirement of 16-year incumbent RepublicanBud Hillis. However, the Republican nominee,State Senator James Butcher, was wounded from a fractious Republican primary, allowing Jontz to win narrowly.[9] He was handily reelected in1988, but faced much stiffer competition in1990.
Jontz was aprogressive Democrat, which seemingly made him an odd fit for his mostly rural north central Indiana district, centering onKokomo andLogansport. He relied on two key strategies for his congressional elections. First, he embraced a very personal style ofpopulist politics that included frequent appearances in every community in his district. Secondly, Jontz assembled a highly talented and dedicated staff of individuals to work with him, and later many of them-including Tom Sugar, Mike Busch, and Kathy Altman-held prominent government positions.
Jontz was narrowly defeated in 1992 bySteve Buyer, a young Army officer,Persian Gulf War veteran, and lawyer making his first bid for office.[9]
During his six-year tenure, he held committee memberships on the House Agriculture, Education and Labor, Veterans Affairs, andSelect Committee on Aging. He also championed the preservation of the ancient forests in thePacific Northwest, and worked to foster collaborations betweenorganized labor andenvironmentalists.
Jontz attempted to return to Washington in1994 by challenging three-term SenatorDick Lugar. He lost to Lugar by more than 600,000 votes, and even lost his old congressional district.
Following his 1994 defeat, Jontz began working as Executive Director for the Western Ancient Forest Campaign, advocating against the TimberSalvage Rider.[10][11][12] In 1999, Jontz helped organize the Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment (ASJE).[13] While with WAFC, Jontz built a grassroots organizing campaign which pushed aggressively to protect forests, remove federal subsidies that financed clearcutting, and preserve millions of acres of previously unprotected roadless areas in National Forests. During his tenure with WAFC, he travelled extensively around the country forming relationships with state and local forest protection groups. As a result, Jontz was revered by forest activists throughout North America. In the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr.,[citation needed] Jontz participated in acts of civil disobedience – including blocking a logging road in theSiskiyou National Forest in Oregon – to raise awareness about the plight of ancient forests.[14] These acts were hailed by forest advocates as further proof that Jontz was one of the greatest leaders of the modernenvironmental movement. In 1998, Jontz was elected president ofAmericans for Democratic Action (ADA). He was most recently the ADA president emeritus and served as a project coordinator for ADA'sWorking Families Win project.[5]
Jontz died on April 14, 2007, in Portland, Oregon following a lengthy battle withcolon cancer.[5][15]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jack Wickes | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator from Indiana (Class 1) 1994 | Succeeded by David L. Johnson |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromIndiana's 5th congressional district 1987–1993 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
