Steve LaTourette | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromOhio | |
| In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Eric Fingerhut |
| Succeeded by | David Joyce |
| Constituency | 19th district (1995–2003) 14th district (2003–2013) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Steven Clare LaTourette (1954-07-22)July 22, 1954 |
| Died | August 3, 2016(2016-08-03) (aged 62) |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Susan LaTourette (1982–2003) Jennifer Laptook (2003–2016) |
| Children | 6, includingSarah |
| Education | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (BA) Cleveland State University (JD) |
Steven Clare LaTourette (July 22, 1954 – August 3, 2016) was an American politician who served as theU.S. representative forOhio's 19th congressional district and thenOhio's 14th congressional district from 1995 to 2013. He was a member of theRepublican Party. On July 30, 2012, it was reported that he would retire at the end of his term and not seek re-election. He subsequently co-founded a lobbying firm.[1]
LaTourette was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Patricia Munn and Eugene LaTourette, an accountant.[2] The LaTourette family were FrenchHuguenots who fled persecution in the 1600s and first settled inStaten Island, New York.
A graduate of Cleveland Heights High School (1972) and theUniversity of Michigan, LaTourette studied law at theCleveland State University College of Law.
After a stint as a public defender, LaTourette was elected the County Prosecutor ofLake County, Ohio, and served from 1989 to 1995. There, he made his name prosecuting the Kirtland mass murders that were organized by mass-murderer and self-proclaimed prophet,Jeffrey Lundgren.
LaTourette was a member of theRepublican Main Street Partnership. In 2006, LaTourette co-authored the Financial Data Protection Act of 2006, which sought to unify state and federal laws on banking and privacy and ease the burden of patchwork legislation.
In 1997, LaTourette sponsored H.R. 1151, a law that among other things exempted credit unions chartered for the purpose of making, or had a history of primarily making, member business loans, from certain regulatory restrictions. The effect of the deregulatory change was to increase risky lending to taxi companies, helping temporarily drive up the price of taxi licenses before eventually resulting in large credit union losses and hundreds of bankruptcies.[3][4]
LaTourette had voted to impeach Bill Clinton for theLewinsky scandal while he himself was having a long-term affair with his chief of staff, Jennifer Laptook.[5]
On Thursday, March 17, 2011, LaTourette became one of only seven Republicans who voted "NO" on a measure introduced in the US House of Representatives to strip all government funding from NPR.[6]
In a meeting with transit advocates, LaTourette disparaged fellow legislators, referring to them as "knuckledraggers that came in during the last election that hate taxes" and are reluctant even to consider raising revenues as part of a compromise to extend thedebt ceiling.[7][8]
On June 28, 2012, LaTourette was one of only two Republicans (along withScott Rigell of Virginia) who voted against a motion to hold Attorney GeneralEric Holder in criminalcontempt of Congress, though he did vote to bring civil charges against Holder for his handling of theFast and Furious gunrunning scandal.[9][10]
LaTourette was elected to the House in 1994 in the wave of Republican successes in that year, defeating incumbentEric Fingerhut. LaTourette served the 19th district of Ohio from 1995 to 2003. After another district was eliminated in the round of redistricting following the2000 Census, LaTourette's district was renumbered to the 14th district of Ohio, where he represented the easternsuburbs ofCleveland, northeasternSummit County, northernTrumbull County, northernPortage County,Ashtabula County,Lake County, andGeauga County.
LaTourette defeatedDemocratic nominee and formerAppellate Court judgeBill O'Neill in the general election, along withLibertarian nominee and accountant John Jelenic.
On July 30, 2012, it was reported that LaTourette would retire at the end of his term and not seek re-election.[11]
| Year | Republican | Votes | Pct | Democratic | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Steven C. LaTourette | 99,997 | 48% | Eric Fingerhut | 89,701 | 43% | Ronald Young | Independent | 11,364 | 6% | Jerome Brentar | Independent | 5,180 | 3% | |||||
| 1996 | Steven C. LaTourette | 135,012 | 55% | Thomas Coyne Jr. | 101,152 | 41% | Thomas Martin | Natural Law | 10,655 | 4% | |||||||||
| 1998 | Steven C. LaTourette | 126,786 | 66% | Elizabeth Kelley | 64,090 | 34% | |||||||||||||
| 2000 | Steven C. LaTourette | 206,639 | 65% | Dale V. Blanchard | 101,842 | 32% | Sid Stone | Libertarian | 10,367 | 3% |
| Year | Republican | Votes | Pct | Democratic | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Steven C. LaTourette | 134,413 | 72% | Dale V. Blanchard | 51,846 | 28% | * | |||||||
| 2004 | Steven C. LaTourette | 201,652 | 63% | Capri Cafaro | 119,714 | 37% | ||||||||
| 2006 | Steven C. LaTourette | 144,069 | 58% | Lewis R. Katz | 97,753 | 39% | Werner J. Lange | Nonpartisan | 8,500 | 3% | ||||
| 2008 | Steven C. LaTourette | 188,488 | 58% | William O'Neill | 125,214 | 39% | David Macko | Libertarian | 9,511[13] | 3% | ||||
| 2010 | Steven C. LaTourette | 149,878 | 65% | William O'Neill | 72,604 | 31% | John Jelenic | Libertarian | 8,383 | 4% |
LaTourette established aSuper PAC, Defending Main Street. The PAC was created to curb the influence of theTea Party movement in the Republican Party.[14]
Despite his previous opposition tosame-sex marriage, in 2015, LaTourette signed a Supreme Court brief to support the overturn of state bans on the practice.[15]
In mid-2014 LaTourette discovered that he hadpancreatic cancer. Consequently, he filed a claim in May 2015 against the Office of theAttending Physician of the United States Congress citing a lack of information in that regard when he was observed earlier.[16] LaTourette died on August 3, 2016, frompancreatic cancer, aged 62.[17]
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| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's 19th congressional district 1995–2003 | Constituency abolished |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's 14th congressional district 2003–2013 | Succeeded by |
 | ||
