Rob Portman

Age: 54 (Dec. 19, 1955)

Party: Republican

Resume: From 1993 to 2005, Portman served in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Ohio’s 2nd congressional district. From May 2005 to May 2006, he served as a U.S. Trade Representative, a federal cabinet position under the administration of President George W. Bush. From May 2006 to June 2007, he served as director of the Office of Management and Budget, also a federal cabinet position under the Bush administration.

Bio:

Rob Portman is a Republican candidate running for Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator George Voinovich. His democratic opponent is Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher.

An Oct. 6 Quinnipiac University poll showed Porter leading the race by 55 percent to 36 percent among likely voters.

Portman was born and raised in Cincinnati where he grew up working for his father’s small business, Portman Equipment Company. He resides in Cincinnati today with his wife, Jane, and three children.

Portman graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1979. He continued his education at the University of Michigan Law School where his earned a Juris Doctorate degree in 1984.

The law grad worked for two years as an international trade attorney in Washington D.C.

He returned to Cincinnati in 1986 and continued his law practices until 1989 when he started his public service career. He was an Associate White House Counsel for President George H.W. Bush and director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.

In 1991, he again returned to Cincinnati and elected U.S. Congressman in 1993.

Issues

Higher Education

• Received a 17 percent rating by the National Education Association, which indicates an anti public education voting record. NEA is a labor union represented by teachers and other educational personnel.

• Voted for the Higher Education Amendments Act of 1997 as congressman to end race discrimination in post-secondary admissions.

• Higher Education is not one of the 14 issues Portman advocates on his candidate for U.S. Senate Website.

Economic recovery

• Plans to heal the economy by reducing the federal deficit with a balanced budget.

• Wants to stop cap-and-trade legislation in order to protect jobs connected with Ohio’s energy industry.

• Advocates reducing taxes and spending with a smaller, yet responsive federal government. His record indicates an effort to repeal the estate tax and eliminate capital gains taxes for homeowners.

Health care

• Wants to repeal the Obama administration health care law, which he calls flawed.

• Advocates a more competitive market by allowing health care insurance to be sold across state lines.

• Thinks there needs to be incentives for healthy living with prevention and wellness programs as well as better disease management.

(www.robportman.com, www.house.gov, www.nea.org, www.quinnipiac.edu/x271.xml and Rob Portman’s Press Office)