Congressman Paul Gillmor Dies

James Joyner · Wednesday, September 5, 2007 · 2 comments

Congressman Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio) has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 68.

According to an inter-conference email obtained by The Hill, Gillmor did not show up to the office this morning causing his staff to become concerned. When they went to his apartment to check on him, they found that the lawmaker had passed away. Capitol Police is currently investigating, but sources believe that the 10-term lawmaker may have had a heart attack.

In November, Gillmor won his district with 57 percent of the vote, holding on to his seat in a year that saw Democrats take over a GOP Senate seat and the governor’s mansion in Ohio.

A special election will be necessary to find someone filling out the rest of the term. While Republicans are favored to retain the seat, such an election will likely be costly and an added burden to the GOP.

Sad news.

My wife, whose firm did Gillmor’s polling, IM’d me about it. Until I clicked through, I thought she was referring to former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore.

Even though I follow politics very closely, I didn’t know much about Rep. Gillmore. Looking at his official bio, though, he had an impressive career:

Mr. Gillmor was unanimously elected in 2006 by representatives of the 26 NATO countries to serve as Vice President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

Mr. Gillmor serves as a Deputy Minority Whip for the current Congress, and is beginning his eighth term as a member of the Republican Whip team. Previously, he was elected a regional representative for four states to the House Republican Policy Committee. He served as a member of a bipartisan reform task force on ethics and congressional mailing practices. In 1994, Mr. Gillmor authored an article for the Harvard Journal on Legislation on “Reconstruction of Federalism: A Constitutional Amendment to Prohibit Unfunded Mandates.”

Prior to his election to Congress, Mr. Gillmor served in the Ohio Senate for twenty-two years. As a State Senator, he was unanimously elected Republican leader five times, and he served as President of the Senate for three General Assemblies.

Rest in peace.