Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)

U.S. Representative (since January 2007)

(Gpoaccess.gov)

Why He Matters

A former NCAA wrestling champion, Jordan now represents the Ohio 4th district that gave George W. Bush his biggest win in the 2004 presidential election. In December 2010, he was elected to a two-year term as chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, which is likely to play a significant role in the GOP-led 112th Congress.

The rising Republican star is well-suited to the RSC role in a Congress full of tea-partiers. Jordan was well-known for championing conservative causes during his 12 years in the Ohio legislature, often clashing with his party leadership in the process. This helped him land the Club for Growth's endorsement in his first congressional race, and he has kept a similarly committed conservative outlook since joining the U.S. House.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Ohio Senate (2001-2006), Ohio House of Representatives (1995-2000), assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University (1987-1995)
Birthday: February 17, 1964
Hometown: Urbana, Ohio
Alma Mater: B.A. from University of Wisconsin (1986), M.E. from Ohio State University (1991), J.D. from Capital University (2002)
Spouse: Polly Jordan
Religion: Christian

Committees: Budget Committee , Judiciary Committee , Oversight and Government Reform Committee (chair, subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending)
DC Office: 515 Cannon House Office Bldg: 202-225-2676
District Offices: Findlay: 419-423-3210; Lima: 419-999-6455; Mansfield: 419-522-5757
Email
Web site

Path To Power

Born in Ohio's Champaign County, Jordan was a four-time state wrestling champion while attending Graham High School. He went on to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he continued wrestling, winning his way to two NCAA championships. After graduating in 1986, Jordan returned to his home state to work as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State for nine years.

Ohio Legislature

Jordan got involved in politics by running in 1994 for the Ohio state House. Amidst historic Republican gains nationally, Jordan was part of a wave of conservative lawmakers who helped the GOP gain control of the chamber.

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He quickly gained attention for his efforts to push his party rightward by championing legislation to limit taxes that quickly put him at odds with fellow Republican Gov. Bob Taft. For instance, Ryan pushed a five percent across-the-board income tax cut in 1999.

In 2000, Jordan moved to the state Senate after winning a rough Republican primary against fellow state Rep. Jim Buchy. While both men were known as strong conservatives, Buchy was closer to the establishment while Jordan seized the outsider mantle, touting his frequent clashes with his party's leadership and relying on a network of socially-conservative activists to blast Bluchy as too liberal. In particular, Jordan went after Buchy for favoring legalized abortion in cases of rape or incest.

In the Senate, Jordan found himself among a group of newly-empowered conservatives, which helped him champion causes like restricting abortion rights, banning gay marriage, and charter schools. But here again, his outspoken conservatism often put him at odds with his own party. He voted against state budgets crafted by Republicans because of what he deemed excessive spending; supported a constitutional amendment limiting government spending; and aligned himself with then-Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell (R), a conservative politician who often battled other GOPers.

U.S. House

In 2005, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Mike Oxley (R-Ohio) announced he would not seek reelection to the 4th Congressional District, by some measures the state's most Republican district. Jordan emerged as the clear frontrunner before he even officially got into the race, and he quickly collected endorsements both from establishment figures and from conservative groups like the Club for Growth.

But after cruising for months, Jordan suddenly faced a heated race in the final weeks of the primary. Businessman Frank Guglielmi poured nearly $1.5 million of his own money into the race, introducing himself as a social conservative and charging that Jordan was a "career politician." In response, Jordan affirmed his own conservative credentials, taking to the airwaves touting his support for a constitutional amendment limiting spending and his opposition to tax increases pushed by Taft. On May 2, Jordan beat Guglielmi by 20 points and went on to win the general election in the conservative district.

Jordan is the ranking minority member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Domestic Policy subcommittee, a position he has used to pursue investigations into matters like whether ACORN committed fraud.

The Issues

Fiercely conservative on economic matters, Jordan was known in the Ohio legislature for his anti-tax and anti-spending crusades. He championed an across-the-board income tax cut, pushed for revenue surpluses to be returned to taxpayers rather than used to grow government spending, and voted against Republican-crafted budgets because he believed they contained too much spending.

Federal Spending and Taxes

He has maintained this outlook in the U.S. House. "With the exception of the military, the federal government doesn't do anything very well," he argues, advocating for slashing spending. He has pushed legislation that would hold non-defense federal spending to the previous year's level.

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In fall 2008, he opposed the financial bailout, charging that the plan ran against free-market principles and that Congress shouldn't intervene so directly. "The solution we need is an American solution, as opposed to a big government solution," he said.

Rather than bailouts and increased spending, Jordan argues the economy should be stimulated by reducing taxes. He has advocated cutting the corporate and capital-gains taxes and has blamed the economic crisis partly on Congress not renewing the Bush tax cuts in a more timely fashion."With lower taxes, you can grow yourself out of problems," he says. "It works every time."

Ryan's opposition to federal spending led him to oppose Democrats' domestic reforms. He unsurprisingly voted against high-profile bills like the 2009 stimulus package and 2010 health-care reform, which he denounced as a federal takeover. But he also opposed legislation that garnered significant Republican support.

He voted against a bill regulating the credit-card industry, which all but 70 House members supported; against an increase to the minimum wage supported by 82 Republicans; against restoring the Highway Trust Fund, a bill that passed 387 to 37; and against the cash-for-clunkers program. "I vote no a lot because Congress keeps wanting to spend your money," he explained.

Social Issues

Jordan arrived in the state Senate in 2000 clamoring for a ban on gay marriage, years before San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) made this a high-profile issue. When the legislature finally passed such a measure in 2004, Jordan spoke up in its defense. "When you begin to define marriage in more than one way, you end up on a slippery slope," he said, adding that government should only recognize heterosexual marriages because they are "the best arrangement for raising children."

Jordan remained dedicated to fighting gay marriage after his election to the House. In 2009, he teamed up with Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.) to introduce the D.C. Defense of Marriage Act, which would have blocked Washington D.C.'s move towards recognizing same-sex unions. But the Democratic leadership did not act on the bill, and the District legalized gay marriage later that year. Jordan also opposed legislation banning employment discrimination motivated by sexual orientation and against legislation expanding the definition of hate crimes.

Jordan opposes all abortion, including in cases of rape, incest and when the woman's life is in danger. He championed a bill preventing state government from funding embryonic stem-cell research. Calling it an "unethical and immoral practice," he tried to impose even tougher restrictions than President George W. Bush had set at the federal level.

While in the Ohio legislature, Jordan played a role in other social battles. He participated in conservative efforts to require that schools teach the theory of "intelligent design" alongside evolution. And upon receiving complaints that sex-ed classes disseminated graphic language and "objectionable material", including information about AIDS, Jordan pushed legislation freezing sex-ed education and requiring legislative approval for new curriculum.

The Environment

Jordan strongly opposed Democratic efforts to establish a cap-and-trade system to curb greenhouse gas emissions, warning that it would increase energy costs and disproportionately affect carbon-dependent and manufacture-reliant Midwestern states.

He favors expanding offshore drilling, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."I didn't see one caribou, one polar bear. I didn't see Bambi," he said after returning from a trip to Alaska in 2008. "What I did see was the most barren, desolate place with 10.4 billion barrels of oil waiting to be brought to market."

The Network

As head of the conservative Republican Study Committee in the 112th Congress, Jordan will be working closely with the House GOP leadership. The RSC executive director is Paul Teller.

Over the years, Jordan has cultivated alliances with conservative politicians such as former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R), who was in office while Jordan served in the state legislature. The two often clashed with their own GOP party leaders.

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Additional Resources

Rutz, Heather, "Our voice in D.C.: Jordan opposes cap-and-trade, union card bill," March 17, 2009 and Kinton, Jami, "Rep. Jordan urges against cap and trade plan," Mansfield News Journal, April 18, 2009
Brown, T.C., "Legislation freezes safe-sex education funds," The Plain Dealer, June 10, 1999 Chancellor, Carl, "Legislators interfere in sex education," Akron Beacon Journal, December 4, 1998
Rutz, Heather, "Jordan sniffs ACORN," The Lima News, November 20, 2009
Leonard, Lee, "GOP's Hughes, Jordan defeat well armed foes," Columbus Dispatch, March 18, 2000; Miller, Tim, "Ohio House: Republicans use latitude for reform," Dayton Daily News, June 2, 1996 and "GOP may push for permanent cut in taxes," Dayton Daily News, April 30, 1999
Martz, Linda, "4th District incumbent Jordan challenged by Democratic steelworker," Mansfield News Journal, October 13, 2008 and Mills, Bart, "Local legislators, experts opposed $700B bailout," The Lima News, September 30, 2008
Wehrman, Jessica, "Urbana official 'a sterling conservative'," Dayton Daily News, June 10, 2007 and Riskind, Jonathan, "Ohio lawmakers trumpet efforts to reach across the aisle," The Columbus Dispatch, May 27, 2007
Emerling, Garyy, "Bill to define marriage for the District," The Washington Times, May 22, 2009 and Harris, Hamil, "U.S. House Members File Bill to Overturn Action by D.C. Council," Washington Post, May 22, 2009
Troy, Tom, "Lawmakers see tundra as ripe for oil drilling," Toledo Blade, July 22, 2008
Whittington, Lauren, "Oxley's Ohio surprise: State Senator seen as early frontrunner," Roll Call, November 2, 2005 and Torry, Jack, "Urbana's Sen. Jordan to run for U.S. House," The Columbus Dispatch, November 4, 2005
Sowinski, Greg, "Jordan: Dems' bill flawed: Congressman criticizes plan for health care reform," The Lima News, October 31, 2009 and Rutz, Heather, "Jordan: Obama's health plan will lead to single-payer," The Lima News, August 14, 2009
Theis, Sandy and Suddes, Thomas ,"Far-right GOP victories foreshadow growing state clout," The Plain Dealer, March 9, 2000; Leonard, Lee, "High-profile Senate race is high-cost," The Columbus Dispatch, March 4, 2000; and Leonard, Lee, "GOP's Hughes, Jordan defeat well armed foes," Columbus Dispatch, March 18, 2000
"Jordan elected to government he says doesn't work," Mansfield News Journal, December 26, 2007
Theis, Sandy, "Gay-rights debate unsettles the Senate," Plain Dealer, January 25, 2004
Hershey, William, "Blackwell looks to repeal state sales tax," Dayton Daily News, September 13, 2003 and Torry, Jack, "Urbana's Sen. Jordan to run for U.S.," The Columbus Dispatch, November 4, 2005
Joanne Huist Smith, Laura Bischoff, Mark Fisher and Jennine Zeleznik, "Origins argument gets new life," Dayton Daily News, February 18, 2002
Rutz, Heather, "Municipal leaders warn against spending limits: Group opposes Blackwell initiative known as Tax Expenditure Limitation, or TEL," The Lima News, February 28, 2006
Rutz, Heather, "Jordan speaks of progress in Iraq," The Lima News, March 26, 2008 and "Jordan backing tax cuts, rebates and McCain," The Lima News, February 21, 2008
Jordan Press Release, House web site
Torry, Jack, "Urbana's Sen. Jordan to run for U.S.," The Columbus Dispatch, November 4, 2005
Roll call vote
Theis, Sandy and Suddes, Thomas ,"Far-right GOP victories foreshadow growing state clout," The Plain Dealer, March 9, 2000
Provance, Jim, "Ohio Senate OKs stem cell curbs," Toledo Blade, November 16, 2005
Hershey, William, "New conservative Jordan reflects statehouse changes," Dayton Daily News, April 8, 2001
Martz, Linda, "Jordan poised to have more clout in D.C.," Mansfield News Journal, November 12, 2008 and Mills, Bart, "Jordan opposes Obama remedy," The Lima News, January 29, 2009
Martz, Linda, "4th District incumbent Jordan challenged by Democratic steelworker," Mansfield News Journal, October 13, 2008
Torry, Jack, "Urbana's Sen. Jordan to run for U.S. House," The Columbus Dispatch, November 4, 2005
Whittington, Lauren, "GOP Race for Oxley's Seat Surprisingly Close," Roll Call, May 1, 2006