John Yarmuth

John Yarmuth
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 3rd district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Anne Northup
Personal details
Born	John Allan Yarmuth (1947-11-04) November 4, 1947 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Political party	Republican (Before 1985) Democratic (1985–present)
Spouse(s)	Catherine Yarmuth
Children	1 son
Alma mater	Yale University (BA)

John Allan Yarmuth (born November 4, 1947) is the U.S. Representative for Kentucky's 3rd congressional district (which is effectively the city of Louisville) and has been since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party and a former member of the Republican Party.

Early life, education and career

Yarmuth was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Edna E. (née Klein) and Stanley R. Yarmuth. He is descended from Jewish immigrants from Russia and Austria.^[1] He graduated from Atherton High School.^[2] He later graduated from Yale University, majoring in American Studies.^[2]

He worked for Republican U.S. Senator Marlow Cook from 1971 to 1975, then returned to Louisville and launched his publishing career by founding the Louisville Today magazine, which operated from 1976 to 1982. He later worked as a vice-president of University Relations at the University of Louisville.^[2]

Publisher and columnist

In 1990, Yarmuth founded the Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO), a weekly newspaper for which he wrote a generally progressive political column that was usually featured on the first page. In 2003, Yarmuth sold LEO to a company owned by Times Publishing Company of Pennsylvania, owner of the Erie Times-News. Yarmuth remained on board as a columnist and consultant until January 2006, when he put his column on hiatus to run for Congress.^[2]

U.S. House of Representatives

Tenure

Yarmuth took office on January 3, 2007. As of 2016, he is serving his fifth term as Congressman.

After his first year in Congress, Yarmuth donated his post-tax congressional salary of just over $120,000 to various charities in Louisville.^[3]

On February 8, 2008, Yarmuth endorsed Barack Obama in his bid for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States.^[4]

On September 29, 2008, Yarmuth voted against the TARP bailout plan, as negotiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, President George W. Bush, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.^[5] However, he did vote in favor of the second version of the bailout bill.^[6]

Yarmuth said he was so "nauseated" by a moment of silence for Michael Jackson on the House floor that he left the chamber. "I thought it was outrageous," he said. "In my two and a half years, we've not done this for anybody else. We've done it for former members and that's about it."^[7]

After defeating Northup for the second time, Yarmuth was rewarded by the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee with a spot on the influential Ways and Means Committee. On the committee, Yarmuth worked on issues on which he campaigned before the 2008 general election: Social Security, pension, Medicare, and Medicaid issues.

At a September 2009 town hall meeting, constituents were unhappy with Yarmuth's decision to support the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. "Yarmuth stayed calm in the face of boos and catcalls from some in the audience" according to an Associated Press report. "He warned that the current health care system is an unsustainable drain on businesses and the nation's economy."^[8]

In 2011, Yarmuth introduced a bill alongside Republican Congressman Walter Jones that would seek to overturn key parts of the controversial court case Citizens United v. FEC. The legislation would also give Congress the power to enact mandatory public financing for Congressional candidates and create a national holiday for voting purposes.^[9]

In 2011, Yarmuth voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 due to a controversial provision which allows the government and the military to indefinitely detain American citizens and others without trial.^[10][11]

In 2013, Yarmuth introduced the Fair Elections Now Act, which would establish a public financing system for Congressional campaigns.^[12][13]

In 2015, Yarmuth once again made an attempt at removing "dark money" from the political sphere by Proposing HR 2125, the Keeping our Campaigns Honest Act of 2015, however the bill realistically has no chance of passing in the 114th Congress in which it was proposed.^[14]

Committee assignments

• Committee on the Budget
• Committee on Energy and Commerce^[15]
• Member, Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
• Member, Subcommittee on Energy and Power
• Member, Subcommitte on Oversight and Investigations^[16]

Party leadership

• Regional Whip

Congressional Caucuses

The following is a list of John Yarmuth's Congressional Caucus Memberships, as compiled by the MASC.^[17]

• Co-Chair Congressional Ohio River Basin Caucus
• Co-Chair Congressional Bourbon Caucus
• Congressional Musician's Caucus
• Fragile X Caucus
• Home Health Caucus
• Congressional Horse Caucus
• Congressional Youth Challenge Caucus
• Congressional Caucus on the Mississippi River
• Congressional Aluminium Caucus
• Congressional Business Owner's Caucus
• Congressional Caucus on Bosnia
• Congressional Caucus on Tourette Syndrome
• Congressional Energy Savings Performance Caucus
• Congressional Deaf Caucus
• Congressional High Technology Caucus
• Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus
• Congressional Adult Literacy Caucus
• Populist Caucus
• Congressional Baby Caucus
• Congressional Arthritis Caucus
• Congressional Mobility Air Force Caucus
• Congressional Recycling Caucus
• Congressional Steel Caucus
• Congressional Lupus Caucus
• Green Schools Caucus
• Congressional Career and Technical Education Caucus
• Congressional Vision Caucus
• Congressional Zoo and Aquarium Caucus
• Congressional Boating Caucus
• Congressional Social Work Caucus
• Congressional Childhood Cancer Caucus
• Public Broadcasting Caucus
• Congressional Caucus for Competitiveness in Entertainment Technology
• Congressional Humanities Caucus
• Congressional Nursing Caucus
• Congressional Heart and Stroke Coalition
• House National Service Caucus
• National Guard and Reserve Components Caucus
• Community College Caucus
• Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus
• House Small Brewers Caucus
• Congressional Multiple Sclerosis Caucus
• Coalition for Autism Research and Education
• Congressional Cystic Fibrosis Caucus
• Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus
• Bicameral Congressional Caucus on Parkinson's Disease
• Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth
• Congressional Bike Caucus
• Congressional Animal Protection Caucus
• Congressional Arts Caucus
• Congressional Diabetes Caucus

Political campaigns

2006

Yarmuth filed candidacy papers on January 31, 2006, to represent Kentucky's 3rd congressional district. Having won the Democratic primary on May 16, defeating Andrew Horne, Burrell Charles Farnsley and James W. Moore, he defeated incumbent Anne Northup (R) in November of that year.

On August 7, 2006, The Courier-Journal reported that The Hill revealed a week before that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had earmarked $51.5 million for television advertising in 32 congressional districts across the nation, but none for Yarmuth's challenge in the Third Congressional District.^[18]

On October 20, a Courier-Journal article stated that a WHAS11/SurveyUSA poll revealed the race had tightened dramatically, with Yarmuth leading Northup 48 to 47 percent. Another poll a month earlier had Northup leading by 6 points.^[19] A WHAS11/SurveyUSA poll released on November 2 showed Yarmuth leading Northup 52 to 44 percent.^[20]

On October 26, Yarmuth told Courier-Journal reporter Kay Stewart that he would donate his congressional salary—which would be $168,500 in 2007—to local charity.^[21]

Because polls close early in Kentucky, many analysts saw this race as a key indicator and it immediately became one of the most watched House races in the nation.

Yarmuth defeated Northup in the general election. He garnered 122,139 votes (51%) to Northup's 116,157 votes (48%). Independent candidates garnered 2,896 votes (1%).

2008

Yarmuth ran unopposed in the primary, and faced Anne Northup in a rematch of the 2006 general election.^[22][23][24]

Yarmuth won the 2008 election with 59% of the vote.^[25]

2010

Yarmuth was challenged by Republican Todd Lally and Independent Michael D. Hansen. Yarmuth was re-elected successfully with 53% of the vote.^[26]

2012

Yarmuth was challenged by Republican Brooks Wicker and Independent candidate Robert L. Devore Jr. Yarmuth received 206,385 votes (63.96%), Brooks Wicker received 111,452 votes (23.32%), and Robert L. Devore Jr. received 4,819 votes (1.49%).

2014

Yarmuth was challenged by Republican Michael McFarlane and Independent Gregory Puccetti. Yarmuth won reelection with 63.5% of the votes cast.

2016

Yarmuth was challenged by Republican Harold Bratcher and Independent Everett Corley. Yarmuth won with 63% of the vote, receiving 212,388 votes. Harold Bratcher received 37% of the vote, totaling 122,085 ballots cast in his name. Everett Corley received no votes in the election.^[27]

Television

In 2003, Yarmuth and former WHAS-AM radio talk show host John Ziegler debated political issues on the weekly WAVE program Yarmuth & Ziegler, with Yarmuth taking the liberal side and Ziegler, the conservative side. On a successor program, Hot Button, which ran from September 2004 to December 2005, he faced off with conservative Jim Milliman.

Yarmuth appeared on the March 8, 2007, episode of The Colbert Report in the show's "Better Know a District" series. In a parody of Yarmuth's former Yarmuth & Ziegler debate series, host Stephen Colbert prodded Yarmuth into a point/counterpoint style debate. After agreeing to the "debate," Colbert forced Yarmuth to defend the shredding of kittens in wood chippers, which Yarmuth gamely proceeded to do. Colbert referred to Yarmuth as a real life Bruce Wayne, and presented him with a framed print of his congressional photo with a Batman mask photoshopped over his face.^[28]

Personal life

Yarmuth has served on many boards including the Bingham Child Guidance Center and Kentucky Country Day School. He is Kentucky's first Jewish congressman. Yarmuth and his wife, Cathy Yarmuth, have one son, Aaron, who is a graduate of Kentucky Country Day. Aaron is currently the owner of the Louisville Eccentric Observer.

References

External links

• Congressman John Yarmuth official U.S. House site
• John Yarmuth for Congress
• John Yarmuth at DMOZ
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress
• Campaign Contributors to Rep. John Yarmuth at watchdog.net