Anthony Joseph "Tony" Celebrezze Jr. (September 8, 1941 – July 4, 2003) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

politician of the

Democratic party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, who served as

Ohio Attorney General The Ohio Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state, State of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio Attorney General is Republican Dave Yost. History The office ...

, Ohio Secretary of State and an

Ohio State Senator The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such tha ...

. He was the son of

Anthony J. Celebrezze Anthony Joseph Celebrezze Sr. (born Antonio Giuseppe Cilibrizzi, ; September 4, 1910 – October 29, 1998) was an American politician of the Democratic Party, who served as the 49th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, as a cabinet member in the Kennedy a ...

, and part of the Celebrezze political dynasty, which was prominent in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

in particular and statewide in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

throughout the second half of the 20th century and early 2000s.

Early life and education

Anthony Joseph Celebrezze was born to

and Anne M. Celebrezze in 1941. Tony was the oldest of three, along with sisters Jean Ann (Celebrezze) Porto, and Susan Marie (Celebrezze) Sullivan. Anthony Joseph Celebrezze graduated from John Marshall High School in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. In 1963, Tony graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

. Tony served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

for five years and was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal. In 1974, Anthony Joseph Celebrezze was awarded a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in operation since 1923. ...

Political career

Ohio state senator

Anthony Joseph Celebrezze was elected an Ohio state senator in 1974. While in the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...

, Tony was known for his honesty and fair dealing. In 1978, Anthony Joseph Celebrezze defeated incumbent Republican Ted W. Brown in the election for Ohio Secretary of State. Tony served as Ohio secretary of state from 1979 to 1983.

Attorney general

In 1982, Anthony Joseph Celebrezze ran for

, facing off against by Republican Charles R. Saxbe, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. Both were the sons of former Presidential Cabinet members with good

name recognition In politics, name recognition is the ability a voter has to identify a candidate's name due to a certain amount of previous exposure through various campaigning methods. It can be described as the awareness voters have about specific candidates r ...

. Tony would beat Saxbe by a margin of nearly two-to-one (2,036,243 to 1,203,797). Anthony Joseph Celebrezze easily won re-election in 1986 by defeating Barry Levey, 1,821,587 to 1,222,102. While serving as attorney general, Anthony Joseph Celebrezze fought a legal battle against the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

over the nuclear and chemical pollution at the Fernald nuclear weapons plant, which for years had been kept secret under the disguise of the Fernald Feed Materials Production Center. The legal victory gave the Ohio state government the right to regulate the clean-up of the site.

Run for governor

In 1990, Celebrezze ran for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

to replace Richard F. Celeste, who was barred from running for a third consecutive term due to term limits. For lieutenant governor, Celebrezze chose

Eugene Branstool Charles Eugene Branstool (born December 13, 1936) is an American politician of the Democratic party. Branstool, a Utica, Ohio, farmer, originally ran for a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives in 1974, and beat Republican Raymond Luther in ...

, an Ohio state senator who was a mid-state farmer from

Utica, Ohio Utica is a village in Knox and Licking counties in the U.S. state of Ohio, along the North Fork of the Licking River. The population was 2,132 at the 2010 census. The village is home to the general headquarters (HQ) of the Velvet Ice Cream Comp ...

. The pair easily won the Democratic primary over Michael Hugh Lord and Judy Wynn Parker (683,932 to 131,564). For the general election, Celebrezze faced a formidable Republican foe,

George Voinovich George Victor Voinovich (July 15, 1936June 12, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 1999 to 2011, the 65th governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998 and the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989, th ...

, the popular out-going

Mayor of Cleveland The mayor of Cleveland is the head of the executive branch of Local government in the United States, government of the Cleveland, City of Cleveland, Ohio. As the chief executive in Cleveland's Mayor–council government#Strong-mayor government fo ...

. Voinovich's running mate was

Mike DeWine Richard Michael DeWine (; born January 5, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 70th and current governor of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, DeWine began his career as a prosecutor before being elected to the O ...

, a

U.S. Congressman 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 ...

from Cedarville, Ohio. Celebrezze lost in a landslide (1,938,103 to 1,539,416). Some analysts attribute his loss, in part, to Celebrezze's much-criticized switch from his long-held pro-life views to a pro-choice position. However, the combination of Voinovich and DeWine was balanced better geographically, whereby Voinovich took the

northeast Ohio The region Northeast Ohio, in the US state of Ohio, in its most expansive usage contains six metropolitan areas ( Cleveland–Elyria, Akron, Canton–Massillon, Youngstown–Warren, Mansfield, and Weirton–Steubenville) along with eight m ...

votes from Celebrezze's natural base and DeWine adding the votes from down-state urban areas in the southeast such as Greater Dayton and Greater Cincinnati.

After politics

Celebrezze was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame in 1998. In April 2001, Celebrezze joined Kegler Brown Hill & Ritter, a law firm based in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

Personal life

Celebrezze and his wife, the former Louisa Godwin, had five children. Celebrezze died on July 4, 2003, of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

after finishing third in a Legend Car auto race at Shadybowl Speedway in De Graff, Ohio.Congressional Record
/ref> Celebrezze's cousins were former Ohio Chief Justice

Frank Celebrezze Frank D. Celebrezze Jr. (November 13, 1928 – March 21, 2010) was an American politician and jurist of the Ohio Democratic party, having served as Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. He was elected as a judge of the Ohio Supreme Court in ...

and former Ohio Supreme Court Judge

James Celebrezze James Patrick Celebrezze (February 6, 1938 – February 10, 2021) was an American politician and jurist of the Ohio Democratic party, who served as a judge of the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, common pleas court (domestic relations division). His daught ...

. Celebrezze was the father of Anthony J. Celebrezze III and the cousin of Ohio appeals court judge Frank D. Celebrezze III. His uncle was Frank D. Celebrezze Sr.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Celebrezze, Anthony J. Jr. 1941 births 2003 deaths Cleveland–Marshall College of Law alumni American prosecutors Secretaries of State of Ohio Ohio Attorneys General Democratic Party Ohio state senators Lawyers from Cleveland Military personnel from Cleveland United States Naval Academy alumni Celebrezze family 20th-century American politicians Politicians from Cleveland 20th-century American lawyers American people of Italian descent