David Bonior | |
|---|---|
 Bonior in 2004 | |
| House Minority Whip | |
| In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2002 | |
| Leader | Dick Gephardt |
| Preceded by | Newt Gingrich |
| Succeeded by | Nancy Pelosi |
| House Majority Whip | |
| In office September 11, 1991 – January 3, 1995 | |
| Leader | Tom Foley |
| Preceded by | William H. Gray III |
| Succeeded by | Tom DeLay |
| House Democratic Chief Deputy Whip | |
| In office January 3, 1987 – September 11, 1991 | |
| Leader | Jim Wright Tom Foley |
| Preceded by | Bill Alexander |
| Succeeded by | Butler Derrick Barbara Kennelly John Lewis |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan | |
| In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | James G. O'Hara |
| Succeeded by | Candice Miller |
| Constituency | 12th district (1977–1993) 10th district (1993–2003) |
| Member of theMichigan House of Representatives from the75th district | |
| In office 1973–1977 | |
| Preceded by | David M. Serotkin |
| Succeeded by | David H. Evans |
| Personal details | |
| Born | David Edward Bonior (1945-06-06)June 6, 1945 (age 79) Detroit,Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic Socialists of America |
| Spouse | Judy Bonior |
| Education | University of Iowa (BA) Chapman University (MA) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1968–1972 |
| Rank | Staff Sergeant |
David Bonior on the death of his former House colleague,George Crockett Jr. Recorded September 9, 1997 | |
David Edward Bonior (born June 6, 1945) is anAmerican politician from the U.S. state ofMichigan. First elected to theU.S. House of Representatives in 1976, Bonior served asDemocratic whip in the House from 1991 to 2002, during which time Democrats were in both the majority (1991–1995) and minority (1995–2002), making Bonior the third and second highest-ranking Democrat in the House, respectively.
During his tenure in office, Bonior was the public face ofDemocratic opposition to theNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),[1] and was known for his tenacity in opposing RepublicanSpeaker of the HouseNewt Gingrich, against whom Bonior filed more than seventy-five ethics charges.[2]
Bonior was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Irene (Gavreluk) and Edward Bonior.[3] He traces his family history fromUkraine andPoland.[4][5] He graduated fromNotre Dame High School inHarper Woods, Michigan, in 1963, where he excelled in sports. He received a B.A. from theUniversity of Iowa, where he also played football and became a member of the Iowa Beta chapter ofSigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, in 1967. He received anM.A. fromChapman College inOrange, California, in 1972.
He served in theUnited States Air Force during the peak of theVietnam War from 1968 to 1972, though not inVietnam. He was a founder of the Vietnam Era Veterans Caucus on Capitol Hill and was a strong supporter of the Vietnam veterans' movement.
Bonior was aDemocratic member of theMichigan State House of Representatives from 1973 to 1976. In 1976, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's 12th District (based inMacomb County) for the95th and to the twelve succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1977, to January 3, 2003. His district was renumbered as the 10th in 1993, after Michigan lost a House seat as a result of the1990 United States census.
From 1991 to 2002, Bonior was the House Democratic Whip. He served asMajority Whip in the102nd and103rd Congresses. He wasMinority Whip for the104th through107th Congresses. While the Democrats were in the majority, Bonior was the third-ranking Democrat in the House, behindSpeakerTom Foley andHouse Majority LeaderDick Gephardt. While they were in the minority, Bonior was second-in-command behind Gephardt.
In Congress, Bonior generally had a progressive voting record, but opposed abortion in most cases.[6] In 1991 he strongly supported recognition ofUkraine as an independent nation and was critical of theBush administration on that matter.[5]
For most of his tenure in Congress, Bonior represented a fairly compact district inMacomb andSt. Clair counties northeast of Detroit. However, after the2000 United States Census, Michigan lost one of its 16 seats in the House of Representatives. The redistricting task process was controlled by theRepublican majority in the state legislature, and Bonior's home inMount Clemens was shifted from the 10th District to the 12th District. That district had long been represented by DemocratSandy Levin, a longtime friend of Bonior's. At the same time, the state legislature radically altered the 10th, extending it all the way tothe Thumb. The new district was considerably more rural and Republican than its predecessor;George W. Bush narrowly won the old version of the 10th federal congressional district, but would have won the new modern version of the federal 10th congressional district by a large margin. By all accounts, the 10th had been redrawn for the popular RepublicanMichigan Secretary of State and Macomb County residentCandice Miller.[citation needed]
Due to this, Bonior did not run for reelection to the House, and chose to run forGovernor of Michigan, stepping down as House Democratic Whip in January 2002;Nancy Pelosi of California succeeded him as Whip. He lost in a heavily contested Democratic Party primary between former GovernorJames Blanchard, and then-Michigan Attorney General and eventual party nomineeJennifer Granholm, who went on to win the general election. As expected, Miller easily won Bonior's House seat and held it until eventually retiring in 2016. Proving how Republican-dominated the new district is, no Democratic nominee has won more than 40% of the vote since Bonior retired.[7]
Following his retirement from the House, Bonior became a professor oflabor studies atWayne State University,[8] and foundedAmerican Rights at Work, aunion advocacy organization, of which he currently serves as chairman.[9] In 2006, former SenatorJohn Edwards chose Bonior to run hiscampaign for the presidency in 2008.[10] Bonior served ascampaign manager for the duration of Edwards' candidacy. Upon the election of Barack Obama in November 2008, Bonior was a member of the President-Elect's economic advisory board.[11]
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He has also become arestaurateur, owning and operating the restaurants Agua 301 and Zest.[12]
Bonior is a member of the ReFormers Caucus ofIssue One.[13]
Bonior and his wife were described as "longtime" members of theDemocratic Socialists of America in 2015.[14]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's 12th congressional district 1977–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's 10th congressional district 1993–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | House Majority Whip 1991–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | House Minority Whip 1995–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | House Democratic Chief Deputy Whip 1987–1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | House Democratic Whip 1991–2002 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former House Majority Whip | Order of precedence of the United States as Former House Majority Whip | Succeeded byas Former US Representative |
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