Richard Dean McIntyre (October 5, 1956 – October 30, 2007) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge from the state of
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
.
Early life
He was born in 1956 and his original ambition was to become a Navy Pilot. He enrolled in Naval air training in
Pensacola, but was forced to quit after a knee injury. He then entered law school in Bloomington, Indiana, and also entered the Indiana National Guard, where he became a military lawyer and rose to the rank of Colonel.
Political career
In 1980 he entered politics and ran successfully for the
Indiana House of Representatives
The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House memb ...
to which he was reelected two years later.
1984 U.S. House of Representatives election
In
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
, he ran for the
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
against freshman Democrat
Frank McCloskey
Francis Xavier McCloskey (June 12, 1939 – November 2, 2003) was an American journalist, lawyer, and politician from Indiana who served in the United States House of Representatives as a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat from 1983 to 1 ...
. Initial returns put McCloskey in the lead by 72 votes, but after a tabulation error was found a month later McIntyre took the lead by 34 votes and was certified a winner even though a recount was still underway. The recount was still underway when the new House was sworn in, and so the Democrat-controlled House voted, along party lines, to seat neither contestant, but to pay them both as though they were congressmen. Normally the House seats a certified winner on a provisional basis, but not if a recount is underway.
The recount was completed by the end of January 1985; the final result had McIntyre ahead by 418 votes. He was again certified the winner and, after Republicans forced a vote on the matter, again denied a seat, though the House Administration Committee promised to resolve the matter in 45 days. A federal recount, led by the Government Accounting Office under rules that were mostly agreed upon on bipartisan basis, found that McCloskey won by four votes, though the task force made several controversial decisions which led the task force's lone Republican to compare it to being raped. Republicans then sought to seat neither candidate and have a new election, but the House, on a party-line vote, chose to seat McCloskey causing House Republicans to stage a symbolic walkout, protest with procedural delays and declare the race stolen.
Later career
McIntyre was interested in running for Lieutenant Governor in 1986, but was persuaded to seek a rematch with McCloskey. By this time, President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
was less popular than in 1984 and McIntyre was outspent. As a result, McCloskey won by a 53% to 47% margin.
McIntyre lost interest in the national arena and was appointed a
Lawrence County Circuit Court Judge in 1988. He was reelected without opposition in 1990, 1996, and 2002, and served until his death.
Personal life and death
McIntyre lived in Bedford, Indiana. He married Meredith Mettlen in 1979, and they had three children.
On October 30, 2007, McIntyre died at his home, aged 51, from an apparent suicide through carbon monoxide poisoning.
He was under federal investigation in relation to a scandal involving the purchase of furniture through a military contract.
At the time of his death, McIntyre was a member of the
Indiana National Guard, 76th Infantry Brigade Combat team, serving as a
judge advocate and preparing for deployment to
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
.
Notes
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntyre, Rick
1956 births
2007 deaths
2007 suicides
20th-century American judges
20th-century American lawyers
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American judges
21st-century American lawyers
21st-century American politicians
American politicians who died by suicide
Candidates in the 1984 United States elections
Candidates in the 1986 United States elections
Indiana National Guard personnel
Indiana University Maurer School of Law alumni
Indiana lawyers
Indiana state court judges
United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps
Republican Party members of the Indiana House of Representatives
People from Bedford, Indiana
Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning
Suicides in Indiana