Harold Ford



Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. was a Democratic member of the U. S. House of Representatives from Tennessee from 1997 to 2007 representing the state's 9th Congressional district (map). He declined to run for reelection in 2006 so he could run for the Senate vacated by the retirement of Sen. Bill Frist. Ford lost that race to Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)

Background
Born May 11, 1970, Ford is the son of former Congressman Harold Ford, Sr..

Ford Jr. graduated from St. Albans School for Boys in Washington, D.C. and received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1996. He sat for and failed to pass the Tennessee Bar Exam in 1998, but he has publicly stated that he will try again.

In 1992 he was a staff aide to the United States Senate Committee on the Budget and in 1993 he was special assistant to the United States Department of Commerce.

When Harold, Sr. decided not to seek a 12th term in Congress in 1996, Harold, Jr. entered the Democratic primary. Harold, Sr. had long groomed Harold, Jr. to succeed him. Harold, Jr. finished his last semester at Michigan by arranging a class schedule without Monday or Friday classes. This allowed him to fly home to Memphis for an extended weekend each week to continue his campaign. He subsequently won the Democratic primary, which was tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic, majority-black 9th District and allowed him several months to prepare to succeed his father. He has been reelected four times with no significant opposition.

Congressional Career
In 2000, Ford was the keynote speaker for the Democratic National Convention supporting then Vice President Al Gore for the Democratic nomation for President.

Ford, a "Blue Dog" Democrat, has a moderate to conservatince voting record. Ford supported a ban on benefits for homosexual couples and has told Democrats they should be more supportive of George W. Bush in some respects but has also opposed Bush's energy proposals (including oil drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge), has demonstrated support for gay adoption, and indicates a willingness to implement a more lax illegal drug policy.

Ford ran unopposed in 2000 and with no major-party opposition in 2002.

After the 2002 elections resulted in Democrats losing Congressional seats, Ford announced his candidacy, which ultimately failed, for House Democratic Leader, challenging then-House Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi. "He offered himself as 'something new and different,' a break with 'the same old ways of the past.'"

Iraq War
Ford voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that started the Iraq War.

2006 Senate campaign
On April 6, 2005, during an interview on C-SPAN's call-in show Washington Journal, Ford confirmed that he would be running for the Senate. He filed the papers necessary to officially begin his Senate campaign on May 25, 2005.

As of October 2005, Ford had raised in excess of $3 million dollars for his Senate campaign and remained the Democratic frontrunner and a top contender to replace Bill Frist. 

Ford's election opponent was Republican Bob Corker. Corker defeated Ford 51%-48% to win the seat. 

2006 Congressional Elections
With Ford announcing that he would run for a Senate seat at the end of his term, Democrats nominated Steve Cohen and Republicans nominated Mark White to contest the November 2006 election for his Senate seat. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006)

American Israel Public Affairs Committee
MJ Rosenberg, a former American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) official and current commentator/journalist, writes about three black American Democrat politicians who have opted to oppose Barack Obama. Rosenberg outlines the history of these politicians, and states:
 * Then there is Harold Ford. Ford is not a creature of AIPAC but of right-wing Democrats in general. See this story on how he tried to depose Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi in 2009 for being too liberal. However, his ties to the AIPAC crowd were demonstrated after he lost his bid for a senate seat and chose, as his next career move, the chairmanship of the Democratic Leadership Council — the now defunct group whose raison d'etre can be summed up in the banner: pro-Likud, pro-big business. It's marquee figure was Joe Lieberman. And its marquee issue was supporting the Iraq war.

And MJ summarizes:
 * The bottom line is that [Cory] Booker, [Artur] Davis and [Harold] Ford are Democrats with an asterisk. And the asterisk is AIPAC. That is why it is those three who are attacking Obama while every member of the House Black Caucus are out there backing Obama with all they have.

Committees and Affiliations
On the Board of Governors for the Partnership for Public Service.

Committees in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

 * House Committee on Budget
 * House Committee on Financial Services
 * Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
 * Subcommittee on Capital Markets Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises

Coalitions and Caucuses

 * New Democrat Coalition
 * Congressional Black Caucus
 * Blue Dog Coalition

Resources

 * Official website
 * Campaign website
 * US Congress biography
 * Harold Ford Jr. For U.S. Senate 2006 Unofficial Grassroots Blog
 * 2004 campaign finance data
 * Open Secrets - 2006 congressional races database
 * Compare where Harold Ford Jr. stands at whereIstand.com

Articles

 * Jack E. White, "Harold Ford Jr Reaches for the Stars. Although the congressman couldn't unseat Nancy Pelosi for Democratic House leadership, his future as a black politician who can take on a wide range of issues is bright," TIME Magazine, December 10, 2002.
 * Bill Theobald, "Clinton, political bigs raise money for Ford. Their friendship no liability, he says," The Tennessean, June 16, 2006. re Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
 * Tom Humphrey, "Another Republican racist dirty campaign trick," The Knoxville News Sentinel (Capitol Hill Blue), October 6, 2006.
 * Kate Phillips, "Tennessee Mud: Of Porn and Substance," The Caucus Blog/New York Times, October 23, 2006. re Bob Corker
 * John Aravosis, "Vote for Corker, he's whiter," AMERICAblog, October 26, 2006.
 * "Rove Protégé Behind Racy Tennessee Ad. Controversial RNC Ad Against Harold Ford Jr. Produced By Rove Consultant," CBS News/Associated Press, October 26, 2006. re Scott Howell
 * John Amato, "Bob Schieffer calls Mehlman out on the Harold Ford ad," Crooks and Liars, October 30, 2006. re Ken Mehlman

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Daily kos - Chris D. Jackson
 * 2006 Tennessee Senate race news/discussion blog

Contact
DC Office: 325 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone: 202-225-3265 Fax: 202-225-5663 Web Email Website

District Office- East Memphis: 775 East Ridge Lake Boulevard Suite 155 Memphis, TN 38120 Phone: 901-766-8121 Fax: 901-766-8124

District Office- Memphis: The Federal Building 167 North Main Street, Suite 369 Memphis, TN 38103 Phone: 901-544-4131 Fax: 901-544-4329

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