Brad Ellsworth

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Brad Ellsworth
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 8th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 4, 2007
Preceded by	John Hostettler
Born	September 11, 1958 (1958-09-11) (age 49) Jasper, Indiana
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Beth Ellsworth
Religion	Roman Catholic

John Bradley Ellsworth^[1] (born September 11, 1958), usually known as Brad Ellsworth, is the Democratic congressman for Indiana's 8th congressional district. The district is located in the southwestern portion of the state, and includes Evansville and Terre Haute.

In 2006, he defeated the Republican incumbent, John Hostettler.^[2] He previously served as the sheriff of Vanderburgh County, Indiana.

[edit] Early life

Ellsworth was born in Jasper, Indiana and spent his early years in Huntingburg, Indiana. When he was still in grade school, his family moved to Evansville, where his father took a job as a crane operator in Warrick County's Alcoa plant.

After graduation from William Henry Harrison High School in 1976, he attended Indiana State University-Evansville (now the University of Southern Indiana) where he received a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology, and was a Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternal member. Ellsworth worked in the paint and hardware department at Sears while in school to pay for his education. He later received a Masters Degree in Criminology from Indiana State University. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology also gave him an honorary doctorate of humane letters at their 2008 commencement (coincidentally, his predecessor in IN-08, John Hostettler, received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from RHIT in 1983.)

[edit] Law enforcement

In 1982, Ellsworth began a career in the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's office. Over the next 23 years, he held every merit rank, and was twice decorated for heroism in the line of duty. While serving in the Department, Brad Ellsworth instituted the first Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program in the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation. He later attended and graduated from the FBI National Academy.

In 1998, Ellsworth ran for sheriff and won by a large margin. He was unopposed running for a second term. In 2005 he announced his intention to seek the Democratic Party's nomination for Indiana's 8th Congressional District, which was held by six-term incumbent John Hostettler.

[edit] U.S. House of Representatives campaign

As of June 30, 2006, Hostettler had raised $287,000 and had $195,000 on hand, compared to Ellsworth's $1,036,000 raised and $676,000 on hand. However, Hostettler had won campaigns in the past against opponents with more funding. In addition, the National Republican Congressional Committee had spent $163,000 in his district as of mid-July 2006. (The DCCC, its counterpart, had spent $166,000 for Ellsworth as of that date.)^[3][4]

The Cook Political Report, an independent non-partisan newsletter, listed the race as a toss-up as of mid-August.^[5] As of early September, the Rothenberg Political Report called Hostettler one of the three most endangered House incumbents in the country; Chris Cillizza, political analyst for The Washington Post, ranked Hostettler as the most vulnerable House incumbent in the nation; and Robert D. Novak, a syndicated columnist and editor of the Evans-Novak Political Report, also rated Hostettler's seat a likely win for Ellsworth.^[6]

In mid-October, an opinion poll commissioned by the Evansville Courier & Press showed Ellsworth leading Hostettler, 55% to 32%.^[7]

Hostettler debated Ellsworth on October 23, 2006. The debate was at public television station WVUT at Vincennes University, and involved the League of Women Voters.^[8]

Ellsworth scored a landslide victory over Hostettler on November 7, 2006. He took 61% of the vote to Hostettler's 39% – by far the most lopsided defeat for an incumbent in the 2006 election.^[2] Ellsworth's victory was the first of 30 seats that the Democrats took from the Republicans in the cycle.

Ellsworth has been named to the House Armed Services Committee as well as the Agriculture Committee, and Small Business Committee for the 110th Congress.

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Agriculture Committee
  • Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research
  • Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management
• Armed Services Committee
  • Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Subcommittee
  • Terrorism and Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee
• Small Business Committee
  • Subcommittee on Finance and Tax
  • Subcommittee on Rural and Urban Entrepreneurship

[edit] Issues and positions

Ellsworth is generally a conservative Democrat with a populist streak. He opposes abortion and gun control. These stances are not unusual given the nature of his district. Although southern Indiana has historically leaned Democratic, the Democrats in this area tend to be somewhat more conservative on social issues than their counterparts in the rest of the nation. On economic issues, however, Ellsworth tends to vote more with his party.

After his election to Congress, he joined the Blue Dog Coalition.

He was one of 16 Democrats who voted against providing federal funds for embryonic stem cell research.^[9]

Ellsworth was one of 10 pro-life House Democrats who wrote a letter condemning the National Right to Life Committee for not supporting the extension of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover more families. While Ellsworth voted an earlier version of the bill, he joined the other nine signatories in voting for the final bill.^[10]

[edit] Earmarking

Openly supporting and aggressively pursuing earmarks, in July 2007, Ellsworth designated $2 million to extend the John T. Myers lock chamber on the Ohio River and $750,000 for manufacturing and engineering equipment for the University of Southern Indiana. He also nabbed two projects: the construction of a campus perimeter road system at USI for $350,000 and a portion of University Parkway construction also at $350,000.

Smaller projects for which Ellsworth gained House approval include $200,000 to restore Evansville's Alhambra Theater, $135,000 for emergency warning sirens in Vanderburgh County and $75,000 to train utility workers at Ivy Tech Community College. ^[11]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• U.S. Congressman Brad Ellsworth official House website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
• Brad Ellsworth for Congress official campaign website