Political career Jim Bunning

1 political career

1.1 local , state positions
1.2 house of representatives
1.3 first senate term
1.4 2004 senate race
1.5 second senate term
1.6 aborted 2010 re-election campaign
1.7 committee assignments

political career
local , state positions

first elected office in 1977, bunning served 2 years on city council of fort thomas, kentucky before running , winning seat in kentucky senate republican. elected minority leader republican colleagues, rare feat freshman legislator.

bunning republican candidate governor of kentucky in 1983. , running mate eugene p. stuart lost in general election democrat martha layne collins.

house of representatives

in 1986, bunning won republican nomination in kentucky s 4th congressional district, based in kentucky s share of cincinnati metro area, after 10-term incumbent republican gene snyder retired. won in november , reelected 5 more times without serious opposition in considered republican district in kentucky. after republicans gained control of house in 1995, bunning served chairman of house ways , means subcommittee on social security until 1999.

first senate term

earlier photo of bunning

in 1998, senate minority whip wendell ford decided retire after 24 years in senate—at time, longest term in kentucky history (a record later surpassed senate republican leader mitch mcconnell). bunning won republican nomination seat, , faced fellow congressman scotty baesler, democrat lexington-based 6th district, in general election. bunning defeated baesler on half percentage point. race close; bunning won swamping baesler in 4th margin baesler couldn t make in rest of state (baesler barely won 6th).

bunning 1 of senate s conservative members, gaining high marks several conservative interest groups. ranked national journal second-most conservative united states senator in march 2007 conservative/liberal rankings, after sen. jim demint (r-sc).

among bills bunning sponsored bunning-bereuter-blumenauer flood insurance reform act of 2004.

2004 senate race

bunning heavily favored second term in 2004 after expected democratic opponent, governor paul patton, saw career implode in scandal on extramarital affair. democrats chose daniel mongiardo, relatively unknown physician , state senator hazard. bunning had estimated $4 million campaign war chest, while mongiardo had $600,000. however, due number of controversial incidents involving bunning, democrats began increasing financial support mongiardo. therein when became apparent bunning s bizarre behavior costing him votes, democrats purchased additional television airtime on mongiardo s behalf.

during reelection bid, controversy erupted when bunning described mongiardo looking 1 of saddam hussein s sons. public pressure compelled him apologize. bunning criticized use of teleprompter during televised debate mongiardo bunning participated via satellite link, refusing appear in person. bunning further criticized making unsubstantiated claim wife had been attacked mongiardo s supporters, , calling mongiardo limp wristed . bunning s mental health questioned during campaign.

in october 2004 bunning told reporters let me explain something: don t watch national news, , don t read paper. haven t done last 6 weeks. watch fox news information.

bunning won on 1 percentage point after western portion of state broke heavily him. monigardo retained narrow lead as 80 percent of vote counted. however, not overcome bunning s lead in western portion of state (which in central time zone) george w. bush carrying state.

second senate term

as expected in light of bunning s previous career baseball player, has been interested in congress s investigation of steroid use in baseball. bunning outspoken on issue of illegal immigration, taking position illegal immigrants should deported. bunning member of united states senate committee on banking, housing , urban affairs have opposed ben bernanke chief of federal reserve. said because had doubts bernanke different alan greenspan.

in april 2006, time magazine called him 1 of america s 5 worst senators. magazine dubbed him underperformer lackluster performance , saying shows little interest in policy unless involves baseball , , criticized hostility towards staff , fellow senators , bizarre behavior during 2004 campaign.

on december 6, 2006, bunning , rick santorum voted against confirmation of robert gates secretary of defense, bunning saying mr. gates has repeatedly criticized our efforts in iraq , afghanistan without providing viable solutions problems our troops face. need secretary of defense think forward solutions , not backward on history cannot change.

bunning reportedly blocked move restore public access records of past united states presidents had been removed under executive order 13233.

in january 2009, bunning missed more week of start of congress. bunning said phone fulfilling family commitment 6 months ago things, , m doing them. asked whether was, bunning replied: no, d rather not.

in february 2009, @ hardin county republican party s lincoln day dinner, while discussing conservative judges, bunning predicted supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg dead pancreatic cancer within 9 months. bunning later apologized if had offended ginsburg remarks , offered thoughts , prayers ginsburg.

bunning senator miss senate s historic christmas eve 2009 vote on health care reform bill; cited family commitments reason missing vote. bill passed without republican votes, 60–39.

on february 25, 2010, bunning objected proposal of unanimous consent extension of unemployment insurance, cobra, , other federal programs, citing extension not pay-as-you-go. proposed amendment sought find funds pay bill stimulus bill of 2009, , declared supported unemployed, bill such adds growing deficit , should paid immediately.

senator bob corker joined bunning, while other senators worked cease objections until 11:48 p.m. est. when senator jeff merkley urged him drop objections vote on 30-day extension of benefits, bunning responded tough shit. on march 2, bunning agreed end objection bill in exchange vote on amendment pay package. failed 53–43 on procedural vote. extension of unemployment benefits passed vote of 78–19.

aborted 2010 re-election campaign


bunning eventual successor, rand paul

in january 2009, when asked whether bunning best candidate run or whether there better gop candidates bunning s senate seat, national republican senatorial committee chairman john cornyn said: don t know. think s senator bunning. bunning replied: can run choose. gearing up, , forward challenge of taking on whoever comes out of democrat primary in may of 2010. kentucky state senate president david l. williams reportedly considering running against bunning in primary. bunning responded threatening sue national republican senatorial committee if recruited candidate run against him in primary. attacked nrsc chairman john cornyn:

as of end of september 2008, bunning had $175,000 in campaign account. comparison, other republican senators facing competitive 2010 races had @ least $850,000 @ point. in last quarter of 2008, senator s campaign committee citizens bunning had raised $27,000 26 separate contributions, ending year $150,000 in cash. in mid-april, kywordsmith.com reported of $263,000 bunning collected during first quarter of 2009, on 77% ($203,383) received out of state, while on 10% ($28,100) untouchable 13 months contributed exclusively use in general election. bunning had 2 fund raisers scheduled in first half of april.

in april 2009 poll, bunning s approval rating 28%, , trailed 4 democratic candidates in hypothetical contests. 54% of voters in state disapproved of bunning s performance. kentucky secretary of state trey grayson announced on april 30, 2009, form exploratory committee run bunning s seat. speculated precursor bunning s retirement. (bunning) told trey , 1 senior congressional official said of bunning. why else tell main rival prepare run? however, bunning said @ lincoln day dinner in kentucky on 9 may still planned run: battle going long, prepared fight values.

in press conference on may 19, bunning called senate minority leader mitch mcconnell control freak : if mitch mcconnell doesn t endorse me, best thing ever happened me in kentucky.

on july 27, 2009, bunning announced not run re-election in 2010, blaming fellow republicans doing in power dry fundraising. on april 14, 2010, in further show of disdain gop leadership , insiders, bunning announced support outsider candidate rand paul on establishment favorite trey grayson.

committee assignments

committee on banking, housing, , urban affairs

subcommittee on financial institutions
subcommittee on securities, insurance , investment (ranking member)


committee on budget
committee on energy , natural resources

subcommittee on energy
subcommittee on national parks
subcommittee on water , power


committee on finance

subcommittee on health care
subcommittee on energy, natural resources, , infrastructure (ranking member)
subcommittee on international trade, customs, , global competitiveness






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^ mary jacoby (october 12, 2004). weirdness in kentucky; increasingly strange behavior of republican sen. jim bunning has led speculation suffering kind of dementia – , tightened race once had in pocket . salon magazine. 
^ collins, dan (october 26, 2004). jim bunning pitches trouble . cbs news. retrieved august 29, 2010. 
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^ usatoday.com – bunning wins senate race after close, bitter race . usatoday30.usatoday.com. november 3, 2004. retrieved may 28, 2017. 
^ bunning, mccain reintroduce steroids bill . washingtonpost.com. november 1, 2005. retrieved may 28, 2017. 
^ bunning, jim (july 21, 2009). baseball great jim bunning: steroid users have no place in hall of fame: genuine baseball stars feel cheated enhanced stats. besides, kids watching . news. retrieved may 28, 2017. 
^ sen. bunning: amnesty backers smoking illegal . onenewsnow.com. retrieved may 28, 2017. 
^ greenspan critic bunning opposes bernanke – oct. 25, 2005 . money.cnn.com. october 25, 2005. retrieved may 28, 2017. 
^ calabresi, massimo; bacon, jr., perry (april 16, 2006). jim bunning: underperformer . time. archived original on january 7, 2007. 
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^ court rules delay in release of presidential papers illegal; fails address authority of former vice presidents hold disclosure of papers . national security archive. october 1, 2007. 
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^ bunning: missed health vote family commitments . jacksonville observer. december 26, 2009. retrieved march 5, 2010. 
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^ 89.3 wfpl | bunning drops objection senate bill . wfpl.org. march 2, 2010. archived original on march 8, 2010. retrieved august 29, 2010. 
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^ al cross (april 12, 2009). conway announces, senate race sharpens . louisville courier-journal. 
^ john stamper (february 24, 2009). bunning: have suit if republicans recruit opponent . bluegrasspolitics. 
^ james r. carroll (january 24, 2009). bunning s weak 08 fundraising raises more questions 2010 run; doubts continue growing despite vow run in 2010 . louisville courier-journal. 
^ [1] archived october 16, 2015, @ wayback machine.
^ ronnie ellis (march 31, 2009). bunning says fund raising picking after lousy start; has 2 upcoming kentucky fund raising events . new albany tribune , jeffersonville evening news. archived original on september 9, 2012. 
^ debnam, dean (april 8, 2009). bunning in big trouble . public policy polling, april 8, 2009. retrieved on april 8, 2009 [2] archived august 15, 2009, @ wayback machine.
^ josh kraushaar & manu raju (april 30, 2009). bunning poised retire . politico. 
^ [3] archived october 16, 2015, @ wayback machine.
^ politico (may 19, 2009). bunning calls mcconnell control freak . 
^ ben pershing , chris cillizza (july 28, 2009). bunning not seek third term; gop leaders urged senator retire . washington post. 
^ business wire (april 14, 2010). senator jim bunning endorses rand paul .