Frank McCloskey
Frank McCloskey | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 8th district | |
In office May 1, 1985 – January 3, 1995 | |
Preceded by | Himself[a] |
Succeeded by | John Hostettler |
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1985 | |
Preceded by | H. Joel Deckard |
Succeeded by | Himself |
Mayor of Bloomington, Indiana | |
In office 1972–1983 | |
Preceded by | John H. Hooker Jr. |
Succeeded by | Tomilea Allison |
Personal details | |
Born | Francis Xavier McCloskey June 12, 1939 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US |
Died | November 2, 2003 Bloomington, Indiana, US | (aged 64)
Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery 38°52′45″N 77°04′08″W / 38.879074°N 77.069006°W |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse |
Roberta Ann Barker (m. 1962) |
Children | 2 |
Post Office and Civil Service, 1985–1995; Foreign Affairs, 1989–1995 | |
Military service | |
Branch/service | United States Air Force |
Years of service | 1957–1961 |
Rank | Sergeant |
Francis Xavier McCloskey (June 12, 1939 – November 2, 2003) was an American journalist, lawyer, and politician from Indiana who served in the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat from 1983 to 1995.
Early life and education
He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and later moved to Bloomington, Indiana after receiving an undergraduate (majoring in political science) and J.D. degree from Indiana University Maurer School of Law. He was the Democratic nominee for a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives in 1970. Frank McCloskey worked as a reporter for The Indianapolis Star, the Bloomington Herald-Telephone, and the City News Bureau of Chicago.
Mayor of Bloomington
McCloskey was elected mayor of
Mayor McCloskey was an alternate delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention.
Congressional tenure
1982 election and first term
Initially, Mayor McCloskey was an underdog in his race against two-term incumbent
Upon arriving in Washington, McCloskey sought a seat on the
1984 re-election and controversial recount
After McCloskey accumulated a liberal voting record by opposing President Reagan over 80% of the time during his first year in office, Republicans recruited 28-year-old, two-term conservative state representative Rick McIntyre to challenge McCloskey in 1984. McIntyre hailed from small Lawrence County in the northeastern part of the district, and spent much of the election boosting his profile in the populous Evansville area. McCloskey, however, spent much of his first term tending politically to Evansville, and retained the support of the still popular Vandeveer. Ultimately, McCloskey ran up large margins in Evansville and Vanderburgh County.
In this election cycle, President Reagan carried the district 61% to 38%. Benefiting from this strong Republican turnout, McIntyre trailed McCloskey by only 72 votes after the initial vote count. A tabulation error in two precincts of one county was found to have resulted in an overcounting of McCloskey votes, and Indiana's Secretary of State (a Republican) quickly certified McIntyre as the winner by 34 votes without checking other counties, even though a recount in another county showed McCloskey with an overall lead of 72 votes.[3] After a recount, McIntyre was up by 418 votes,[4] but more than 4,800 ballots were not recounted for technical reasons. The Democratic-controlled House refused to seat either McIntyre or McCloskey and conducted their own recount.[3] A task force, consisting of two Democrats and one Republican, hired auditors from the U.S. General Accounting Office to do the counting. The recount dragged on for nearly four months, with three Republican-sponsored floor votes to seat McIntyre failing. The task force, per House rules, instructed the auditors to ignore many of the "technicalities" that resulted in Indiana officials throwing out ballots. In the end, the House seated McCloskey on May 1, 1985 after declaring him the winner by just four votes (116,645 to 116,641).[5] The vote to seat McCloskey, 230–195, was largely along partisan lines and in response every Republican House member momentarily marched out of the chamber in symbolic protest.
Subsequent service
99th Congress
Once sworn in for a second term, McCloskey used his position on the Armed Services Committee to prohibit job contracting at the
Meanwhile, McIntyre sought a rematch in 1986. However, he still faced a geographical disadvantage, and emotions over the bitter recount had faded. McCloskey took advantage of his incumbency and touted his work for Crane, even bringing in Les Aspin to promise the district Crane would not be closed. McCloskey was also able to leverage his incumbency into positive publicity after investigating possible PCB contamination from a Union Carbide plant on the district's border. Seeking to be more than a candidate who was robbed of victory, McIntyre unsuccessfully tried to find an issue he could capitalize on, and ended up criticizing McCloskey's tenure as mayor of Bloomington and his criticisms of the Vietnam War in the 1970s. Despite having no evidence in support of his claim, McIntyre alleged McCloskey had once smoked opium. These false allegations backfired, and without having to fight Reagan's coattails, McCloskey won the rematch by a more comfortable margin, 106,662 (53%) to 93,586 (47%), carrying nine of the district's 16 counties, including another convincing victory in Evansville.
100th Congress
By his third term, in the
101st Congress
In the
Facing Evansville coal-mining executive Richard Mourdock in the 1990 election, McCloskey was reelected with 55% of the vote. Mourdock capitalized on an anti-incumbent trend and criticized McCloskey for his votes for a congressional pay raise and tax increases.
102nd Congress
In the
1992 saw McCloskey's first congressional election in which his hometown of Bloomington was completely within the boundaries of the 8th District. McCloskey faced a rematch with Mourdock. By this time, the anti-incumbent sentiment in the nation was even stronger, but McCloskey retained his seat with 53% of the vote. McCloskey's lower 1992 margin, coming at the same time that Bill Clinton became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the 8th District since 1964 and then-Governor Evan Bayh carried all of the district's counties in his re-election bid, was partly attributed to McCloskey's 65 overdrafts at the House bank. McCloskey's efforts to save jobs at the district's Crane Naval Surface Weapons Warfare Center helped secure his re-election.
During his tenure in Congress, McCloskey made many trips to
1994 election defeat
In 1994, McCloskey's Republican opponent was
Election history
Life after Congress
Following his 1994 defeat, McCloskey was elected chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party. In addition to his work on achieving peace in the Balkans, he was named director of Kosovo programs for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in 2002.
McCloskey Fellowship
Indiana University's Russian and East European Institute and the NDI announced an endowment at Indiana University in McCloskey's honor in 2005.[7] The McCloskey Fellowship brings one scholar every year from the Balkans to Indiana University and Washington, D.C., to conduct academic research, or is awarded to one Indiana University student whose work focuses on the Balkans or residents of the Balkan region.[8]
Death
McCloskey died in
Notes
- ^ Election contested and the House of Representatives refused to seat anyone.
References
- ^ "Past IACT Presidents 1962–2010". Indiana Association of Cities and Towns. November 5, 2008. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012.
- ^ David S. Broder; Lee Kennedy (May 3, 1984). "Fellow 'New Generation' Officeholders Give Hart Chilly Reception". The Washington Post.
- ^ a b Charlie Cook (June 11, 2005). "Close Races Spotlight An Ugly, Broken Mess". The Cook Political Report. Archived from the original on July 3, 2008.
- ^ "House Refuses to Seat Republican of Indiana". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 8, 1985. p. A32. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
- ^ Barone, Michael; Ujifusa, Grant (1987). The Almanac of American Politics 1988. p. 413.
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ignored (help) - ^ "Samantha Power Interview (A Problem From Hell)". Identity Theory. June 1, 2002. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
- ^ "McCloskeys' legacy to continue through research fund being established at IU". Retrieved September 9, 2016.
- ^ Information for Donors, Indiana University Russian and East European Institute Archived 2010-02-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Burial Detail: McClousky, Francis (Section 54, Grave 5432)". ANC Explorer. Arlington National Cemetery. (Official website).
- ^ "Public Law 108-151, 108th Congress" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
- ^ "Congressman McCloskey Bridge".
- ^ "Friends remember Roberta McCloskey". The Herald Times. Bloomington, Indiana. February 4, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2018 – via Indiana University News Room.
External links
- Frank McCloskey, Bloomingpedia
- "Francis Xavier McCloskey". at ArlingtonCemetery.net. November 13, 2023. (Unofficial website).
- tribute to Frank McCloskey Archived December 20, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, Croatian American Association
- United States Congress. "Frank McCloskey (id: M000342)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Appearances on C-SPAN
This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress