John Hostettler | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIndiana's8th district | |
| In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Frank McCloskey |
| Succeeded by | Brad Ellsworth |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Nathan Hostettler (1961-07-19)July 19, 1961 (age 64) Evansville, Indiana, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Hostettler |
| Children | 4, includingMatt |
| Education | Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (BS) |
John Nathan Hostettler (born July 19, 1961) is an American politician who served in theUnited States House of Representatives for 12 years, representingIndiana's 8th congressional district as aRepublican. He lost his reelection bid for a seventh term toDemocratic challengerBrad Ellsworth in the2006 midterm election by a landslide.
In 2010, he was a Republican candidate for Indiana's openU.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retiringEvan Bayh, but lost the primary to former U.S. SenatorDan Coats, denying Hostettler a rematch with Ellsworth in the general election for Senate.[1][2][3][4]
In February 2024, Hostettler announced he was running for his former house seat in2024. He lost the Republican primary toMark Messmer.[5]
Hostettler was born inEvansville, Indiana, the eighth of ten children. He is ofSwiss German andIrish descent. He grew up in ruralPosey County near theOhio andWabash rivers.
After graduating from North Posey High School in 1979, he enrolled inRose–Hulman Institute of Technology inTerre Haute, Indiana. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science inMechanical Engineering (BSME) in 1983.
Later that year, Hostettler married his high school sweetheart, Elizabeth Ann Hamman. They live inBlairsville, an unincorporated suburban community near Evansville, and have four children. He is a longtime member and former deacon of WestwoodGeneral Baptist Church (formerly Twelfth Avenue General Baptist Church) in Evansville.
Prior to his service in Congress, Hostettler was a power plant performanceengineer with Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Company (SIGECO, now part ofVectren); he received hisPE license during his tenure.
Hostettler became part of the104th Congress, the first Republican majority in the House in 40 years. In subsequent years, Hostettler depended on his base of fellow social and fiscal conservatives to keep him in office. While southern Indiana has been traditionally Democratic, the 8th has always had a strong social conservative tint.
Hostettler's campaign was distinctive in several respects. One of Hostettler's assets in his run for Congress was his distinctive "Red Army" or "Army of Red Volunteers." Parades and similar events would typically feature people of varying backgrounds wearing red t-shirts with white lettering that simply stated "Hostettler for Congress". Hostettler family members were particularly involved in campaign efforts. Karen Hammonds, Hostettler's sister, was also his office manager and a campaign coordinator. Being one of ten children, his brothers and sisters have assisted in campaign efforts. Media has attributed this as an area of success and influence that helped Hostettler achieve six straight victories.[6]
Hostettler signed theContract with America,[7] but he told anEvansville Courier & Press reporter the day he signed it he did not support two provisions: abalanced budget amendment and term limits.[8] He was one of 40 Republicans in the House to vote in March 1995 against a constitutional amendment to set 12-year term limits for Representatives.[9]
In 2002, Hostettler met in Washington with eleven breast cancer survivors from Indiana who were seeking support for more research funding. According to the women, during the meeting Hostettler spent time "outlining possible links between abortion and breast cancer." There is no 100% accepted link between breast cancer and abortion.
In June 2005, Democratic RepresentativeDavid Obey introduced a measure to declare congressional opposition to "coercive proselytizing" at theUnited States Air Force Academy after cadets complained that some of their evangelical Christian superior officers had pressured them about their religious beliefs. During debate on the measure on the House floor on June 20, 2005, Hostettler said: "Like a moth to a flame the Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to denigrating and demonizing Christians." Democrats objected and threatened to censure Hostettler for his comment. Debate did not resume until Hostettler withdrew his statement 20 minutes later.[10]
In the aftermath of theJune 2006 arrests of 17 alleged terrorist bomb-plotters in and aroundToronto, Hostettler warned that Toronto was a "breeding ground for Islamic terrorists and that the United States will be under threat as long as passports are not required of all Canadians crossing the border."[11]
Hostettler served on theHouse Armed Services Committee and theJudiciary Committee.
In 1999, Hostettler was appointed vice-chairman of the Armed Services Research and Development Subcommittee for the106th Congress.
In 2003, Hostettler was appointed the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims. He previously served as chairman of the Congressional Family Caucus, and was a member of the conservativeRepublican Study Committee.
In late 1995, Hostettler was the sponsor of a bill passed by the House to repeal a District of Columbia law that allowed city workers to register domestic partners for health benefits.[12]
In January 1996, Hostettler was one of 17 Republicans who voted against a legislation supported by House SpeakerNewt Gingrich that ended a federal government shutdown. After the vote, Gingrich canceled plans to visit Evansville for a fund-raising event for Hostettler. Gingrich offered to reschedule, but Hostettler turned him down, saying "I cannot allow my fund raising to be tied in any way to specific votes."[13] That November would be Hostettler's closest re-election, against future Evansville Mayor Jon Weinzapfel.
In June 2000, Hostettler was one of 10 Republicans voting against a prescription drug bill that passed the House 217–214. The bill failed in the Senate.[14]
In June 2001, Hostettler and CongressmanWalter B. Jones ofNorth Carolina (another member of the Republican class of 1995) co-authored a bill, H.R. 2357, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit churches and other houses of worship to engage in political campaigns[15] without losing their tax-exempt status. In October 2002 the bill was defeated in a 178 to 239 vote in the House.[16]
On July 10, 2002, Hostettler introduced House Amendment 523 to House Resolution 4635, which would have removed the 2% cap on the number of pilots who could be deputized as federal flight deck officers and thus permitted to carry firearms to as well as requiring theTransportation Security Administration to train 20% of all pilots who volunteer for the program within six months of enactment and train 80% by the end of the two-year pilot program. There were no cosponsors to his amendment and it failed in aroll call vote.
On October 10, 2002, he was one of six House Republicans who voted against theAuthorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that authorized theinvasion of Iraq.[17] In a speech to the U.S. House on October 8, 2002, invokingSt. Augustine's Just War Thesis, theMinutemen, and theFramers of the U.S. Constitution, Rep. Hostettler said that:
... Iraq indeed poses a threat, but it does not pose an imminent threat that justifies a pre-emptive military strike at this time.[18]
On July 15, 2003, the House voted 226–198 on a Hostettler-sponsored amendment to the State Departments's "Foreign Relations Authorization Act" reauthorization bill for Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005, requiring tighter regulation of consular cards of foreign nations within the United States, including Mexico's "matricula consular" cards. The Senate did pass corresponding legislation in the 108th Congress.[19]
Also in 2003, he amended the Commerce, State, and Justice appropriation bill to restrict any funding for a ruling calling by the Court of Appeals 11th Circuit for the removal of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama State Supreme Court House. Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was removed from office later in 2003, had placed a 5-ton granite monument that included the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court building on July 31, 2001.[20]
In 2004, the House passed the Hostettler-sponsored Marriage Protection Act (MPA). This kept federal courts from ruling on same-sex marriage licenses, as a result of Massachusetts' Supreme Court ruling on February 3, 2004, on the Massachusetts ban on same-sex marriage.[21]
In September 2005, Hostettler was one of 11 representatives who voted against the $51.8 billion aid package for relief and recovery fromHurricane Katrina.[22] Spokesman Matt Faraci said Hostettler voted against the hurricane measure because it included a provision making it easy for supposed do-gooders to pilfer federal funds. Faraci said that Hostettler would like to see federal funds spent helping victims of natural disasters so long as those dollars are not squandered. "He was very supportive of giving assistance to people affected by Rita and Katrina," Faraci said. "He was concerned that there were provisions in the bill that were open to abuse."[23]
Hostettler had introduced legislation in five consecutive Congress' to prevent organizations such as theAmerican Civil Liberties Union from collecting attorneys' fees when they win lawsuits challenging religious symbols on public land or religious groups' use of government property. Hostletter said in a speech in February 2006 that his bill would "restore legal balance in this country, and it will protect us from being the victims of this assault on our religious liberties".[24] At least one columnist claimed that this change would allow teachers to force students to pray to their specific deity with no possibility of damages or attorney's fees. In other words, only those who could afford to hire an attorney to challenge the practice would be able to object in court. Since monetary damages were precluded, the only remedy would be an injunction.[25]
In 2006, Hostettler voted against a constitutional amendment that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.[26]
Prior to the early 1990s, Hostettler had little interest in politics; his only political activity had been primary and general election voting.[citation needed] However, in January 1994, he announced that he would run against DemocratFrank McCloskey, a six-term incumbent, in theNovember election. Hostettler claimed his opponent was among the House's biggest-spending liberals. Hostettler also claimed McCloskey was too loyal to PresidentBill Clinton;[27] he frequently referred to McCloskey as "Frank McClinton."
Hostettler was also inspired to enter politics after watching a television program by Dr.D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries, interviewing Rev. Peter Marshall (son of the late Senate ChaplainRev. Dr. Peter Marshall), whereby Rev. Marshall, historian and author, recounted a Christian Heritage of the United States of America.[28]
Hostettler won 52%–48%, becoming the sixth challenger to oust an incumbent in the 8th since 1966. In part due to its volatile nature, the district had long been called "the Bloody Eighth."
In 1996, Hostettler defeated Democratic challengerJonathan Weinzapfel 50%–48%. This was the narrowest win of his six Congressional victories. Weinzapfel later became mayor of Evansville.
In 1998, with a total of 92,785 votes, he defeated his Democratic challenger, Evansville City CouncilwomanGail Riecken, with 52% to Riecken's 46% of the vote.[29]
In 2000, with 116,879 votes, Hostettler defeated Democratic challenger Paul Perry, a surgeon, with 53% of the vote to Perry's 45%.
Doctors for Hostettler, a group of 82 physicians operating in tandem with the Hostettler campaign, organized against the healthcare issues raised by the Perry campaign, a campaign that was healthcare-oriented almost exclusively.
Some attributed this organization as one of the critical factor in the 2000 election, as the subsequently inactive group's statements played a role in the 2006 campaign.[30]
Redistricting after the 2000 census theoretically made the 8th friendlier to Hostettler. Heavily DemocraticBloomington was cut out of the district and replaced with more conservative-leaningTerre Haute. However, he defeated Democratic challenger Bryan Hartke by only five points—a narrower margin than 2000. He took 51% to Hartke's 46% percentage of the vote.
Hartke was the nephew of former SenatorVance Hartke.[31]
In 2004, he defeated Democratic challengerJon Jennings with 53% of the vote.[32]
In 2006 Hostettler's Democratic opponent wasVanderburgh County SheriffBrad Ellsworth. Like Hostettler, Ellsworth identified as a social conservative.
TheNational Republican Congressional Committee had spent $163,000 in his district as of mid-July 2006. (The DCCC, its counterpart, had spent $166,000 for Ellsworth as of that date.)[33][34] He had never been a strong fundraiser; he never raised more than $800,000 in any campaign. Some attributed Hostettler's refusal to accept anypolitical action committee money to his relatively low funding levels during campaigns.[35][36][37][38][39] In part because of this, he was on somewhat less secure footing than conventional wisdom would suggest for a six-term incumbent.
As of early September, theRothenberg Political Report called Hostettler one of the three most endangered House incumbents in the country;Chris Cillizza, political analyst forThe Washington Post, ranked Hostettler as the most vulnerable House incumbent in the nation; and Robert D. Novak, a syndicated columnist and editor of the Evans-Novak Political Report, also rated Hostettler's seat a likely win for Ellsworth.[40]
In mid-October, an opinion poll commissioned by theEvansville Courier & Press showed Ellsworth leading Hostettler, 55% to 32%.[41]
Hostettler debated Ellsworth on October 23, 2006. The debate was at public television stationWVUT atVincennes University, and involved theLeague of Women Voters.[42]
In the November election, Hostettler was soundly defeated, taking 39 percent of the vote to Ellsworth's 61 percent. He was the first House incumbent to lose reelection in 2006.[43] The 22-point margin was the largest margin of defeat for an incumbent in the 2006 cycle, and the second-biggest margin of a defeat in a Republican-held district. Hostettler was the only incumbent in either party who did not receive 40% of the vote, although a few senators such asRick Santorum andMike DeWine came close. The 8th district vote tally for Ellsworth was only 1% shy of the same district's tally for President Bush in 2004.[44]
In 2007, Hostettler decided to begin a book publishing company called Publius House.Nothing for the Nation – Who Got What Out of Iraq examines the true motives of American political leaders behind the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.[45]
Hostettler said of the book that it "... reveals why political leaders and their subordinates sought to remove Saddam Hussein from power" and that there was an underlying and unapparent "motivation of those who sold America on the idea of ousting the Butcher of Baghdad."[46]
Hostettler endorsedChuck Baldwin,nominee of theConstitution Party in the 2008presidential election. He spoke at the Constitution Party's national committee meeting inOrlando, Florida, on December 12–13, 2008.[47] Prior to his announcement on December 3, 2009, Hostettler was highly mentioned as a possible candidate to run againstEvan Bayh.
Hostettler officially announced in a video posted by the campaign on December 3, 2009, that he would seek the office held by retiringUnited States SenatorEvan Bayh in the 2010 election, following much speculation.[48]
Hostettler had been widely reported to be the leading Republican in the race even after former Senator andLobbyistDan Coats announced in February that he would relocate to Indiana and attempt to challenge Hostettler for the open seat, but ultimately placed third in the primary.[2]
In February 2019, Hostettler joined theTexas Public Policy Foundation as the head of the organization's state-based policy efforts. The Texas Public Policy Foundation States Trust initiative is pushing for a reduction of federal involvement in the education system as well as for guest worker programs to allow states to fill employment needs.[49]
Hostettler was one of the "true believers" in the Republican freshman class of 1995. He believed theU.S. Constitution should be strictly interpreted[50] and was very critical of government actions—especially those of judges—that he felt overstepped their constitutional limits. Even those who disagreed with Hostettler felt that they knew where he stood and would likely give him the benefit of the doubt that he regularly voted in principle and not for political ends.[51]
He isanti-abortion and opposesgun control. He favors the dissolution of theDepartment of Education, and voted against theNo Child Left Behind Act because he felt education was a state matter.[52] He also voted against most federal health care bills with the view that health care is a private or state matter. He maintains that many federal environmental laws and regulations infringed on individuals' property rights. Hostettler voted against theFederal Marriage Amendment in both 2004 and 2006, due to what he construed as ambiguous wording that would have allowedcivil unions anddomestic partnerships.[53]
Hostettler was very active on issues of religious freedom and expression. For example, during his last term, he was the chief sponsor of theVeterans' Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals, and Other Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2006, which would have prevented attorneys who successfully challenge violations of theEstablishment Clause from collecting attorneys' fees.
On economic issues, he supported repeal of theestate tax, thecapital gains tax and the "marriage tax penalty."
Hostettler was a hawk by inclination (he strongly supported theStrategic Defense Initiative). However, he was one of the leading Republican opponents of theIraq War. He felt that preemptive military strikes were improper, and also felt that the military should not go into action unless there was an "imminent threat" to national security.
Hostettler was a hardliner on immigration issues:[54]
... the Constitution ... is very clear. These are violations of our immigration law, and those that violate our immigration law should be dealt with, and should be punished, and should be ultimately deported.[55]
On April 20, 2004, Hostettler was briefly detained at theLouisville International Airport when he attempted to board a flight for Washington, D.C., with a loaded 9 mm Glock pistol in his briefcase[62] The congressman explained he "completely forgot" the gun was there, and called it a rather stupid mistake. His spokesman said Hostettler never brought the gun, registered to the Congressman, to Washington, where handguns are illegal. Hostettler did not have a house or apartment in D.C., but slept in his office.[63]
In August, Hostettler pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon. He agreed to a plea-bargained sentence of 60 days in jail, with the jail time to be conditionally discharged rather than served if he had no more legal problems in the next two years.[64] On October 4, 2004, aKentucky judge issued abench warrant for his arrest after Hostettler failed to pay court costs, but it was recalled the same day after his attorney paid the $122.50.[65]
Hostettler received strong support over the gun incident from an aviation security expert, Joseph Gutheinz, a retired NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Senior Special Agent and a former Special Agent with both U.S. Department of Transportation OIG and FAA Civil Aviation Security. In his Op/Ed appearing in the Courier Journal, Gutheinz said that rather than charging Hostettler for an obvious mistake, law enforcement "could have ... and should have exercised discretion ... by not charging him for bringing his weapon through security at Louisville International Airport." Gutheinz is a well known critic of letting pilots fly armed.[66][67]
During his six terms, Hostettler, a conservative, was outspoken on curbing illegal immigration.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIndiana's 8th congressional district 1995–2007 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
