Joe Donnelly

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Joe Donnelly

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 4, 2007–
Preceded by	Chris Chocola
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	September 29, 1955 (age 51) Massapequa, New York
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Jill Donnelly
Religion	Roman Catholic

Joseph "Joe" Donnelly (born September 29, 1955^[1]) is an American politician who in 2006 was elected to Congress as a Democrat in Indiana's 2nd congressional district. He defeated the Republican incumbent, Chris Chocola, in a rematch of their 2004 race.

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the Notre Dame Law School, Donnelly lives in Granger, Indiana.

1 Early life, education, and career
2 Early political career
3 On the Issues
4 Congressional elections
- 4.1 2004
- 4.2 2006
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early life, education, and career

Joe Donnelly was born in Massapequa, New York.^[2] He graduated from Notre Dame in 1977 and remained in South Bend to obtain his law degree, which he did in 1981. He practiced law until 1996, when he opened Marking Solutions, a printing and rubber stamp company.^[3]

Donnelly and his wife, Jill, have been married for 27 years and have a son and a daughter. They reside in Granger, Indiana.

[edit] Early political career

Donnelly held two public positions before deciding to run for Congress. From 1988 to 1989 he served on the Indiana State Election Board, which was charged with ensuring accurate election results. He served on a local school board from 1997 to 2001, serving as president of the board from 2000 to 2001.^[4]

He ran a campaign for Indiana attorney general in 1988, but lost at the Democratic state convention. He also ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Indiana State Senate in 1990.^[5]

[edit] On the Issues

Donnelly campaigned on a platform of seeking to improve the lot of the middle-class citizens of his district, promising to revise trade agreements to make them more fair to American workers, to raise the minimum wage, and to allow Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices.

On foreign policy, Donnelly violated a March 1st promise to oppose the arbitrary withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq Friday when he joined a narrow Congressional majority in passing H.R. 1591*. The Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act of 2007 contained a controversial provision to withdraw all U.S combat troops from Iraq by August of 2008 and was passed 218-212.

On March 1st Rep. Donnelly and his office sent a letter to a constituent stating "While I oppose an immediate or arbitrary withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and I oppose cutting funds for troops in the field, we also need to be honest with the Iraqis that our commitment to them is not unconditional or open ended." Rep. Donnelly was explaining to the constituent his reasons for his February 16th vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 63, a non-binding resolution expressing Congressional disapproval of President Bush's decision to deploy more service members to Iraq. The letter, signed by Donnelly on official stationary, also expressed the Congressman's respect for the "...approximately 130,000 brave men and women [who] are serving in Iraq."

Rep. Donnelly apparently reneged on his opposition for "...an immediate or arbitrary withdrawal of American forces from Iraq..." after coming under intense pressure by House Democratic leadership. According to Brian Sikma, the constituent who received the letter: "While I disagree with Rep. Donnelly's vote Friday I am more concerned about his failure to keep his promises. Regardless of where we stand on this issue we should all be able to come together and demand that our elected officials be honest with us as to their position on a particular issue."

Roll Call No. 186, U.S. House of Representatives, 3/23/2007. You can view the letter at http://frugalhoosiers.typepad.com/frugal_hoosiers/2007/03/we_cant_hear_yo.html and http://ingenjnetwork.blogspot.com/2007/03/rep-joe-donnelly-violates-pledge.html. This story could quickly become a major factor in the 2008 re-election campaign for Donnelly.

^[6]  He is a strong advocate of implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.  Donnelly also feels that the U.S.'s growing trade deficit with China is a serious national security issue.

Donnelly breaks with the mainstream of the national Democratic Party on some social issues, holding pro-life and pro-gun rights positions. He supports the idea that marriage is a union of a man and a woman, but stated during the debates that there are existing safeguards in place that do not require a constitutional amendment.

Donnelly is a member of Blue Dog Coalition, a group of conservative Democrats in Congress.

[edit] Congressional elections

Donnelly has twice run for U.S. Congress in Indiana's 2nd Congressional district.

[edit] 2004

Donnelly ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the second district, where he faced off against incumbent Chris Chocola.^[7] Chocola was helped by several fundraising visits from President George W. Bush, and was able to outspend Donnely by a two to one margin, $1.4 million to $700,000. Donnelly lost the election, 54%-45%.^[8]. Due to his relatively late entrance into the contest, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) did not offer much support to Donnelly's 2004 campaign. This would change in 2006, when the race was identified by the DCCC as a "Red-to-Blue" contest and sent extra funds were sent from out of the district in an effort to win back control of the House of Representatives.

[edit] 2006

On May 2, 2006, Donnelly defeated Steve Francis for the Democratic nomination, setting up a rematch against Chris Chocola.^[9]

Because Chocola was a strong supporter of George W. Bush, the race was expected to be more competitive than in 2004 in light of Bush's waning popularity. The website Moveon.org identified Donnelly as a top contender to defeat a Republican incumbent in the house, and began running its "Red-Handed" ads against Chocola early in the campaign.[1] Chocola still maintained a significant money advantage over Donnelly, but in 2006, Donnelly had enough to maintain a competitive advertising presence throughout the campaign.

The campaign was heated, with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sponsoring ads attacking Chocola as being beholden to monied interests in the insurance, pharmaceutical, and energy industries. Chocola returned fire by attacking Donnelly over a late tax filing and by attempting to link him to liberal House leader Nancy Pelosi.[2]

On November 7, 2006, Donnelly defeated Chris Chocola by 15,145 votes, or 8% of a substantially larger total of votes relative to 2004. [3] The key difference between the 2006 and 2004 elections for Donnelly lay in the results within St. Joseph County, the location of South Bend and by far the largest county in the district. Traditionally reliably Democratic, voters in the county chose Donnelly over Chocola by only a few hundred votes in the 2004 election. In 2006, however, Donnelly amassed 58% of the county's votes, generating a 14,000-vote margin.

Donnelly has been named to the House Financial Services Committee for the 110th Congress.[4]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

U.S. Congressman Joe Donnelly official House site
Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Federal Election Commission - Congressman Joseph Simon Donnelly campaign finance reports and data
On the Issues - Joe Donnelly issue positions and quotes
OpenSecrets.org - Joe Donnelly campaign contributions
Project Vote Smart - Representative Joe Donnelly (IN) profile
SourceWatch Congresspedia - Joe Donnelly profile
Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: Joe Donnelly voting record
Joe Donnelly for Congress official campaign site

Political offices
Preceded by Chris Chocola	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 2nd congressional district 2007-Present	Succeeded by Incumbent