Ted Strickland believes that values define us. Values sustain us. And that values nurture us. He says, “The next time some politician, including me, starts preaching to you a sermon on values, look us in the eye and ask us point blank: Do your values include doing everything in your power to make sure that my hard work translates into a decent living for my family, that we have access to affordable health care, that I can offer my kids a solid, affordable education as far as their abilities will take them? Or are you, in fact, selling me, my family and my community out to give your big contributors special breaks and are you turning our hard-earned tax dollars over to people who lose or steal them?”

What Makes Ted an Extraordinary, Visionary Leader?

Ted Strickland took a courageous stand for all America when he voted against the 2002 resolution to authorize force in Iraq- the only required vote that took America to war three years ago. Unlike some Democrats, Strickland was unmoved by President Bush’s arm-twisting to open up a second Middle East war: “It was the wrong war then, and it has proven to be the absolute wrong war now,” he says.

Now Ted is running for Governor of Ohio to do what is right for Ohio: funding schools; extending health insurance to the 1 million without coverage; creating new job opportunities; supporting a living wage. He calls his plan “TurnAround Ohio (link).”

Strickland sees Ohio’s resources as a “hub for manufacturing new, efficient and environmentally friendly technologies”- including components for hybrid cars and equipment necessary to advance solar power.

Ted also supports:

1. High quality early care and education
2. Public schools equipped with new technology
3. Increasing the populations of Ohio’s colleges and universities
4. Spurring small and mid-size business growth
5. Supporting emerging entrepreneurs

TurnAround Ohio is the idea, Ted says, that “each problem we have is affecting all the others. Education, health costs, and business development are so closely connected we can’t fix them one at a time. We have to confront them as a total picture.” Background

Professionally, Ted has served as a minister, a psychologist, and a college professor. He was an administrator at a Methodist children’s home, an assistant professor of psychology at Shawnee State University, and a consulting psychologist at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF).

In 1992, he was elected to Congress. After narrowly losing his congressional seat in 1994, he was once again elected to the 6th Congressional District in 1996. He has represented the district in Congress ever since. In 2002, the 6th district lines were radically redrawn, resulting in a congressional district that was substantially new. In all, he has represented twenty Ohio counties stretching from the suburbs of Cincinnati to the suburbs of Youngstown.

During his last five terms in Congress, Ted has served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Ted is also an active member of the Congressional Steel Caucus and has vigorously opposed trade policies that threaten the steel industry.

In 2003, Ted became a member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and is the ranking Democrat on its Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. As a member of that committee, he has been tireless in his advocacy for full funding of promised veterans’ health programs. And last year he became a national leader in the fight to see that our troops have life-saving armor and equipment.

Race Facts

Race Type: Open Seat
Primary Opponent: Bryan Flannery
Primary Election Date: May 2, 2006
Primary Election Result: Won
General Opponent: Ken Blackwell
General Election Date: November 7, 2006
General Election Results: Won, 60 – 37 percent