Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr.

Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr.
Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr.
43rd Attorney General of Ohio
	In office; January 10, 1983 – January 6, 1991
Governor	Dick Celeste
Preceded by	William J. Brown
Succeeded by	Lee Fisher
45th Secretary of State of Ohio
	In office; January 8, 1979 – January 12, 1983
Governor	James A. Rhodes
Preceded by	Ted W. Brown
Succeeded by	Sherrod Brown
Member of the Ohio Senate; from the 25th district
	In office; January 3, 1975-December 31, 1978
Preceded by	Paul Matia
Succeeded by	Paul Matia
Personal details
Born	Anthony Joseph Celebrezze, Jr.; September 8, 1941; Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Died	July 4, 2003 (aged 61); De Graff, Ohio, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Louisa
Children	5
Alma mater	United States Naval Academy; Cleveland State University College of Law (JD)
Occupation	Politician, attorney

Anthony Joseph "Tony" Celebrezze Jr. (September 8, 1941 – July 4, 2003) was an American politician of the Democratic party, who served as Ohio Attorney General, Ohio Secretary of State and an Ohio State Senator. He was the son of Anthony J. Celebrezze, and part of the Celebrezze political dynasty, which was prominent in Cleveland in particular and statewide in Ohio throughout the second half of the 20th century and early 2000s.

Early life and education[edit]

Anthony Joseph Celebrezze was born to Anthony J. Celebrezze and Anne M. Celebrezze in 1941. Tony was the oldest of three, along with sisters Jean Ann (Celebrezze) Porto, and Susan Marie (Celebrezze) Sullivan.

Anthony Joseph Celebrezze graduated from John Marshall High School in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1963, Tony graduated from the United States Naval Academy.^[1] Tony served in the United States Navy for five years and was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal. In 1974, Anthony Joseph Celebrezze was awarded a Juris Doctor degree from Cleveland State University.

Political career[edit]

Ohio state senator[edit]

Anthony Joseph Celebrezze was elected an Ohio state senator in 1974. While in the Ohio General Assembly, Tony was known for his honesty and fair dealing. In 1978, Anthony Joseph Celebrezze defeated incumbent Republican Ted W. Brown in the election for Ohio Secretary of State. Tony served as Ohio secretary of state from 1979 to 1983.

Attorney general[edit]

In 1982, Anthony Joseph Celebrezze ran for Ohio Attorney General, facing off against by Republican Charles R. Saxbe, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. Both were the sons of former Presidential Cabinet members with good name recognition. Tony would beat Saxbe by a margin of nearly two-to-one (2,036,243 to 1,203,797).^[2]

Anthony Joseph Celebrezze easily won re-election in 1986 by defeating Barry Levey, 1,821,587 to 1,222,102.^[3] While serving as attorney general, Anthony Joseph Celebrezze fought a legal battle against the United States Department of Energy over the nuclear and chemical pollution at the Fernald nuclear weapons plant, which for years had been kept secret under the disguise of the Fernald Feed Materials Production Center. The legal victory gave the Ohio state government the right to regulate the clean-up of the site.

Run for governor[edit]

In 1990, Celebrezze ran for governor to replace Richard F. Celeste, who was barred from running for a third consecutive term due to term limits. For lieutenant governor, Celebrezze chose Eugene Branstool, an Ohio state senator who was a mid-state farmer from Utica, Ohio. The pair easily won the Democratic primary over Michael Hugh Lord and Judy Wynn Parker (683,932 to 131,564).^[4]

For the general election, Celebrezze faced a formidable Republican foe, George Voinovich, the popular out-going Mayor of Cleveland. Voinovich's running mate was Mike DeWine, a U.S. Congressman from Cedarville, Ohio. Celebrezze lost in a landslide (1,938,103 to 1,539,416).^[5] Some analysts attribute his loss, in part, to Celebrezze's much-criticized switch from his long-held pro-life views to a pro-choice position. However, the combination of Voinovich and DeWine was balanced better geographically, whereby Voinovich took the northeast Ohio votes from Celebrezze's natural base and DeWine adding the votes from down-state urban areas in the southeast such as Greater Dayton and Greater Cincinnati.

After politics[edit]

Celebrezze was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame in 1998.^[6] In April 2001, Celebrezze joined Kegler Brown Hill & Ritter, a law firm based in Columbus, Ohio.^[7]

Personal life[edit]

Celebrezze and his wife, the former Louisa Godwin, had five children.^{[citation needed]}

Celebrezze died on July 4, 2003, of a heart attack after finishing third in a Legend Car auto race at Shadybowl Speedway in De Graff, Ohio.^[8]

Celebrezze's cousins were former Ohio Chief Justice Frank Celebrezze and former Ohio Supreme Court Judge James Celebrezze. Celebrezze was the father of Anthony J. Celebrezze III and the cousin of Ohio appeals court judge Frank D. Celebrezze III. His uncle was Frank D. Celebrezze Sr.^{[citation needed]}

References[edit]

^ "Congressional Record - 108th Congress (2003-2004) - THOMAS (Library of Congress)". thomas.loc.gov. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
^ Ohio Secretary of State Election Results Archived 2011-06-14 at the Wayback Machine General Election Overview: November 2, 1982 (accessed February 14, 2010)
^ Ohio Secretary of State Election Results Archived 2010-02-03 at the Wayback Machine General Election Overview: November 4, 1986 (accessed February 15, 2010)
^ Ohio Secretary of State Election Results Archived 2010-02-03 at the Wayback Machine Democratic Primary: May 8, 1990 (accessed February 15, 2010)
^ Ohio Secretary of State Election Results Archived 2010-02-03 at the Wayback Machine General Election: November 6, 1990 (accessed February 15, 2010)
^ "Ohio Veteran's Hall of Fame, Class of 1998". Ohio Department of Veterans Services. Archived from the original on 2012-01-30. Retrieved 2012-01-24.
^ Celebrezze joining Kegler Brown Business First of Columbus, April 10, 2001 (Accessed January 5, 2010)
^ Congressional Record

External links[edit]

Appearances on C-SPAN

Legal offices
Preceded by Ted W. Brown	Ohio Secretary of State 1979 – 1983	Succeeded by Sherrod Brown
Preceded by William J. Brown	Attorney General of Ohio 1983 – 1991	Succeeded by Lee Fisher
Party political offices
Preceded by Tony P. Hall	Democratic nominee for Ohio Secretary of State 1978	Succeeded by Sherrod Brown
Preceded by William J. Brown	Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Ohio 1982, 1986	Succeeded by Lee Fisher
Preceded by Dick Celeste	Democratic Party nominee for Governor of Ohio 1990	Succeeded by Rob Burch

[1] "Congressional Record - 108th Congress (2003-2004) - THOMAS (Library of Congress)". thomas.loc.gov. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2022.

[2] Ohio Secretary of State Election Results Archived 2011-06-14 at the Wayback Machine General Election Overview: November 2, 1982 (accessed February 14, 2010)

[3] Ohio Secretary of State Election Results Archived 2010-02-03 at the Wayback Machine General Election Overview: November 4, 1986 (accessed February 15, 2010)

[4] Ohio Secretary of State Election Results Archived 2010-02-03 at the Wayback Machine Democratic Primary: May 8, 1990 (accessed February 15, 2010)

[5] Ohio Secretary of State Election Results Archived 2010-02-03 at the Wayback Machine General Election: November 6, 1990 (accessed February 15, 2010)

[halloffame-6] "Ohio Veteran's Hall of Fame, Class of 1998". Ohio Department of Veterans Services. Archived from the original on 2012-01-30. Retrieved 2012-01-24.

[7] Celebrezze joining Kegler Brown Business First of Columbus, April 10, 2001 (Accessed January 5, 2010)

[8] Congressional Record

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