Paul Eugene Gillmor (February 1, 1939 – September 5, 2007) was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the
U.S. representative
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 c ...
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 ...
from 1989 until his death in 2007.
Early life, career, and family
Gillmor was born in
Tiffin, Ohio
Tiffin is a city in and the county seat of Seneca County, Ohio, United States. Developed along the Sandusky River, which flows to Lake Erie, Tiffin is about 55 miles southeast of Toledo. The population was 17,963 at the 2010 census.Associated Press profile, 2006 accessed May 14, 2007 and grew up in Old Fort; his father owned a trucking business in the area. His mother was Lucy Fry Gillmor. He attended
Old Fort High School
Old Fort High School is a public high school in Old Fort, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Old Fort Local School District. Their nickname is the Stockaders. They were long-time members of the Midland Athletic League but joined the Sandusk ...
, graduating in 1957. In 1961 he received a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
.
From 1965 to 1966, Gillmor was on active duty in the
U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
as a Judge Advocate, attaining the rank of captain. He then entered the practice of law.
Paul Gillmor married Brenda Lee Luckey. She died in a car accident in
Fremont, Ohio
Fremont is a city in and the county seat of Sandusky County, Ohio, United States, located along the banks of the Sandusky River. It is about 35 miles from Toledo and 25 miles from Sandusky. It is part of the Toledo metropolitan area. The populat ...
in September 1972. They had two daughters, Linda and Julie, who were in the car at the time.
Gillmor married Karen Lako, who also served in the Ohio Senate, in 1983. They had three sons: Paul Michael and twins Adam and Connor."Ohio congressman found dead in apartment" ''CNN'', September 5, 2007
Political career
Ohio State Senate
Gillmor was elected as an Ohio state senator in 1967, where he remained until being elected to Congress in 1988. For the last 10 years of his tenure, he was the leader of the Republicans in the chamber, serving as president of the state senate for three General Assemblies from 1981 to 1982 and from 1985 to 1988. He ran in the 1986 Republican primary 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 ...
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
, Gillmor entered the Republican primary for the 5th District after 30-year incumbent
Del Latta
Delbert Leroy Latta (March 5, 1920 – May 12, 2016) was an American lawyer and politician who served 15 terms as a United States Representative from Ohio's 5th district from 1959 to 1989. A Republican, he is one of the state's longest-servin ...
retired. Latta endorsed his son,
Bob
Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to:
Places
* Mount Bob, New York, United States
*Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica
People, fictional characters, and named animals
*Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
*Bob (surname ...
, as his successor; Gillmor defeated him by only 27 votes. He was then handily elected in November and was reelected nine times in this heavily Republican district, usually by margins of 2-to-1. He ran unopposed in 1992.
In 2002, Gillmor defeated Republican Rex Damschroder in the primary.
Committees and positions
Gillmor was the ranking Republican on the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee of the Financial Services Committee. He also served on the Energy and Commerce Committee, and chaired its Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee until the Republicans lost control of Congress following the
2006 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 2006.
* Elections in 2006
* Electoral calendar 2006
* 2006 Acehnese regional election
* 2006 American Samoan legislative election
* 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election
* 2006 Costa Rican president ...
. In 2006, Gillmor served as a member of a bipartisan reform task force on ethics and congressional mailing practices. He was a member of the moderate
Republican Main Street Partnership
The Republican Main Street Partnership is a 501(c)(4) organization that was allied with the congressional Republican Main Street Caucus. The Partnership continues to exist, while the Caucus was dissolved by its members in February 2019.
Hist ...
.
The
American Conservative Union
The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Political Action Conference. Founded on ...
gave Gillmor's 2005 voting record a rating of 82 points out of a possible 100; the liberal
Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is a liberal American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA views itself as supporting social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research, and supporting pro ...
Barney Frank
Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committ ...
to propose the Industrial Bank Holding Company Act of 2006, which was designed to prevent retailers such as
Wal-Mart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
and
Home Depot
The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement r ...
from operating banks to process their credit card transactions.
Banking interests
Gillmor became partial owner of Old Fort Bank in Seneca County, about southeast of Toledo, after the death of his father, Paul M. Gillmor.
In 2007, Gillmor received approval from the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and the offices of two federal regulators to be an initial director and investor in a new Florida bank, the Panther Community Bank.Joshua Boak "Gillmor takes lead on bank law while he's a bank owner" ''Toledo Blade'', May 27, 2007
Death
On September 5, 2007, Gillmor was found dead in his
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...
, townhouse by members of his staff after he failed to show up for a
House Financial Services Committee
The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...
meeting, and did not respond to repeated telephone calls and e-mails. While it was initially believed that he died from a heart attack, the Virginia state medical examiner's office announced that Gillmor died from blunt head and neck trauma consistent with a fall down the stairs. Police assessed the scene and ruled out foul play. Gillmor's death was ruled an accident.John McCarthy ( AP) "Report: Congressman Likely Fell to Death" , Associated Press (Fox News), September 7, 2007.
In a special election held in December, Bob Latta, the man Gillmor had narrowly defeated in the 1988 primary, won the seat.
List of United States Congress members who died in office
There are several lists of United States Congress members who died in office. These include:
*List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)
*List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–1949)
*List of ...
SourceWatch
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes ExposedbyCMD.org, SourceWatch.org, and ALECexposed.org.
History
CMD was founded in 1993 by prog ...