George Voinovich – Senator

With its 312 miles of coastline along Lake Erie, glaciated plains and foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, the state of Ohio is a vast mix of urban and rural communities. A major producer of machines, tires, steel, processed foods, automobile parts, chemical and basic consumer items, Ohio is also contained within the Corn Belt, making it one of the nation’s highest producers of agricultural products.

In 2004, the gross state product was $419 billion and per capita income in 2003 was just at under $30,129. Ohio boasts a population of over 11 million people with a state-wide unemployment rate of 5.3%. Eighty-six percent of Ohioans are Caucasian, and African-Americans follow with 12.18%. The balance of Ohio’s population is mixed between American Indians, Asians, Pacific Islanders and a growing number of Hispanics.

In terms of politics, Ohio is considered a swing state, a balance of conservatives and liberals. These demographics cause many to see Ohio as a microcosm of the nation as a whole. A Republican president has never taken the White House without first winning the 20 electoral votes of Ohio. Called the “Modern Mother of Presidents”, Ohio has sent 8 of her finest to the White House (7 Republicans and 1 Whig). Ohio’s present governor is Democrat, Ted Strickland.

No one understands these demographics more than Ohio’s present Republican Senator, George Victor Voinovich. Born in 1936 of first-generation Roman Catholic Americans, Sen. Voinovich’s father was from Croatia and his mother was Slovenian. Voinovich earned his Bachelor of Arts at Ohio University in 1958, and his law degree from Ohio State University in 1961. He was an upstanding member of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity during his college career. His professional and political career spans over 40 years and includes:

• Ohio House of Representatives 1967-1971
• County Auditor of Cuyahoga County, Ohio 1971-1976
• Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners 1977-1978
• Lieutenant Governor 1978
• Ohio Governor 1991-1998
• Senior U.S. Senator 1996 to present

Throughout his distinguished career in service to the people of Ohio, Senator Voinovich has

endeavored to make government “work harder and smarter and do more with less.” These words provide us with good insight into the man who helped turn Cleveland around after it became the first major city since the Depression to declare bankruptcy. Voinovich also led the Ohio state government into a model of efficiency and effectiveness while controlling state spending and improving the quality of services. He listens to the people and works hard to affect the changes they need to make Ohio and the United States of American a stronger, better place.