DaytonDailyNews.com

site web

WASHINGTON — During an election year when Republicans nationally face a harsh climate, U.S. Rep. Mike Turner is hoping voters in Ohio's 3rd Congressional District support him for primarily local reasons.

"I don't run for or against a party," he said. "I run on my record of service."

That record, he said, includes expansion of jobs at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, work on national security and promoting tax policy that he said helps to bring and keep jobs.

It also includes Turner's successful efforts to keep a nursing home at the Dayton VA Medical Center and to secure money for low-income senior housing at the center, he said.

Turner, R-Centerville, raised $244,954 for his re-election between July 1 and Sept. 30 and had $501,418 on hand as of Sept. 30. He is on the air with TV ads, but said he's trying to run a "very grassroots-oriented campaign."

He's gone door to door and will debate his opponent, Democrat Richard Chema, on WHIO-TV, NewsCenter 7 on Saturday.

"This is a critical time for our country, and we need experienced, community-oriented leadership," Turner said.

Chema campaigns under the platform of supporting a reasonable exit from Iraq as soon as possible. Turner said it's important to stabilize Iraq and that creating a successful democracy there would be good for the region.

"No one wants us to stay in Iraq forever," he said. "Everyone is supportive of the United States doing the job it needs to protect the American people, stabilize Iraq, fight terrorism and bring our men and women in uniform home."

He cites his own recent trip returning from Afghanistan, when he landed at Heathrow Airport in London, which had been closed because U.K. authorities had thwarted a plot to take down airplanes en route to the United States.

That plot, he said, was a reminder that the war on terror continues — and has gone on since the 1990s, when U.S. embassies were bombed by Islamic fundamentalists.

He said his work on the House Armed Services Committee — he is the only Ohio Republican on the committee — helps give the community a voice in the war on terror and directly helps Wright-Pat, as he works to raise the profile of the base and to seek funding for it.

He has also been active in urban issues, and has created a niche as one of the few members of the House Republican conference who is a former urban mayor.

He chairs the Speaker's Working Group on Saving America's Cities and is chairman of a House subcommittee on Federalism and the Census.

"When you're talking about urban development, you're talking about redevelopment," he said, saying the issues touch on cleaning up environmental contamination, seeking funding to revitalize dilapidated inner cities and making previously abandoned areas ready for jobs.

He said while in office, he has secured $4.5 million for developing land for Dayton's Tech Town project, near the baseball stadium, to make it ready for jobs, and $6 million for the expansion of RiverScape, a project he said had helped attract business to downtown.

He said he has also garnered funding for the cleanup of the abandoned NCR site near the University of Dayton.

He bristles at Chema's suggestions that he has focused on "ribbon-cutting," rather than saving area jobs, saying he has worked to support policies that encourage capital investment as well as education and transitional training for those looking for new careers.

Contact this reporter at (202) 887-8328 or jwehrman@coxnews.com

Mike Turner

Age: 46

Hometown: Centerville

Education: Bachelor's, Ohio Northern University, 1982; jurist doctorate, Case Western Reserve University, 1985; master's in business administration, University of Dayton, 1992.

Career: Lawyer, private practice; Dayton mayor, 1994-2002; U.S. Representative, 2003-present.

Personal: Married to Lori Turner for 18 years; two daughters, Jessica and Carolyn.

www.miketurner.com