Tom Brinkman

He is known for his opposition to higher taxes and public spending, although he supports taxing women's hygiene products (such as tampons and sanitary pads) and has been nicknamed "Dr. No," as in "no taxes for men and no rights for women." In 2014, Brinkman defeated incumbent Peter Stautberg in the Republican primary election to retake his former seat in the Ohio House of Representatives. He went on to win the general election with 67.78% of the vote.

In the general election on November 2 he faced Democrat Glenn Miller of Anderson Township, a former history teacher who worked in job training. "I think the biggest issue of this race is Tom Brinkman—how he votes and how he's against everything," Miller said. The Enquirer, again citing his stubbornness, endorsed Miller [6]. Despite the criticism, Brinkman once again won the Republican district by a comfortable margin: 35,229 (60.04%) for Brinkman to 23,451 (39.96%) for Miller.

I am sick and tired of watching politicians promise to cut taxes in October—then raise them in March.

In 2014, Brinkman decided to run again for his former seat in the Ohio House of Representatives. However, incumbent Peter Stautberg did not want to give up his seat, so Brinkman opted to challenge him in the primary. He would defeat Stautberg to take the seat. He won the general election easily to take the seat.

In 2008, Brinkman declared his candidacy for Ohio's 2nd Congressional District, challenging incumbent Schmidt. He lost in a landslide defeat to Congresswoman Schmidt.

In 2007, Representative Brinkman was named the chairman of the House Commerce and Labor Committee.

Brinkman had considered a challenge to Schmidt in the May 2006 primary but chose instead to run for re-election to the Ohio House.

On April 28, 2005, he introduced a bill, House Bill 228, that would ban all abortions. Brinkman acknowledged that the bill was unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade, but wanted to use it as a test case to overturn the Roe decision. "We’re just positioning the state for the future," he told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He re-introduced the ban on July 2007, despite the additional burden of Gov. Strickland's veto threat. [16] Six months before, he passed legislation for Ohio to conduct a study of how the death penalty has been administered in the state. "I'd like to abolish it or have a moratorium, but you've got to start somewhere." [17]

Brinkman ran for Congress in 2005 to replace Portman, announcing his candidacy outside the post office in Anderson Township on April 14 [18]. Brinkman told the press "When I first went to Columbus, I promised my constituents that I would fight for lower taxes, limited government, and to end abortion. I will do the same in Washington." An early poll found Pat DeWine, a member of the Hamilton County Commission and the son of U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, with a significant lead: 42 percent for DeWine, 6 percent for Brinkman.

Brinkman also complained about DeWine taking advantage of his father's name in raising money, but publicly distancing himself from his father's positions, such as Senator DeWine's role in the "Gang of 14" judicial filibuster compromise in May 2005 with six other mostly center-leaning Republicans and seven mostly center-leaning Democrats. "He seems to have no problems riding his father's coattails when it comes to raising money and getting name recognition; he's willing to take all the good from it and none of the bad." [22]

Brinkman was endorsed by the Ohio Taxpayers Association, the Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund, and was the National Right to Work Committee's 2005 state legislator of the year. The Anderson Township Republican Club ranked him "highly qualified". The Cincinnati Enquirer endorsed Jean Schmidt, praising her record in the Ohio House, writing of her substantial record. Schmidt, said the Enquirer, the measures "successfully sponsored were remarkable in number and quality for a neophyte lawmaker". The paper contrasted her to Brinkman, who

In 2004, he faced a challenger in the primary, attorney Greg Delev of Anderson Township. Brinkman told the Enquirer, "I ran for office when the party wanted to dictate who my state representative was going to be. I couldn't stand for that, so I ran, and I'm proud I did. It's been a frustrating three years as I've watched Governor Taft drive the state off a cliff. But I've been fighting back." Delev said he agreed with Brinkman on most of the issues, but that Brinkman's actions in Columbus had made the district "the laughingstock of the state." The Cincinnati Enquirer said both candidates were "rock-ribbed conservatives who agree on most fiscal and social issues," but endorsed Delev. "The issue here is Brinkman's lack of effectiveness," said the newspaper, echoing the Columbus Monthly article:

Brinkman in 2004 criticized state spending for Cincinnati's bid to win the 2012 Olympic Games and against legislation in 2004 to give hospitals more money for breast cancer examinations [12]. Later that year, he spearheaded a campaign to repeal the City of Cincinnati property tax. While it did make it to the November ballot, it was rejected by the voters [13] [14]. He was also a supporter of Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution to limit state spending [15]. In 2005, he was one of only eight Republicans in the Ohio House to vote against the state budget, which raised taxes and increased spending. Previously, he had opposed Governor Taft's proposed personal income tax cut because it would mean higher local property taxes. He also called for funding for public libraries to be maintained.

When University of Cincinnati law students in 2003 persuaded the General Assembly to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, which a post-Civil War-era legislature had rejected, only one member voted against ratification: Brinkman. Brinkman told The Enquirer his vote was because of how the amendment has been misused:

Brinkman prided himself on his perfect attendance and for coming home to Cincinnati every night from Columbus, but when Columbus Monthly in late 2003 did a survey of legislators, lobbyists, and others working in the State House asking them to rate the members of the Ohio General Assembly, Brinkman was rated the single worst legislator in the 132-member General Assembly. The magazine said Brinkman was "an uncompromisingly principled man. But he's a terrible, terrible legislator." Those surveyed ranked him as least knowledgeable, least hardworking, least likeable, least compassionate, and least savvy. Brinkman, for his part, points to his principled stance on the issues as the reason lobbyists don't like him.

Brinkman also worked to limit state spending just as he had opposed local projects. In 2003, he opposed Taft's "Third Frontier" project and the bond issue on the November ballot as Issue One which would have permitted the state to borrow money to subsidize business's research and development. "Who would have thought a Republican governor would run on this?" Brinkman said (Issue One was soundly defeated by voters). When Taft proposed in 2004 the question once more be submitted to the voters, Brinkman renewed his criticism. "Corporate welfare is corporate welfare. Just because you buy off the manufacturers with more money for them, and you buy off the farmers, doesn't change what it is." [11] He said he would join Democrats in voting against its placement on the November 2005 ballot.

Brinkman ran for reelection in 2002 to what redistricting had made the 34th District, which included the Mount Washington, Hyde Park, and Mount Lookout sections of Cincinnati, part of Columbia Township, all of Anderson Township, and the municipalities of Fairfax, Newtown and Terrace Park [3]. He faced no opposition in the May 7 primary and was opposed in the November 5 general election by Democrat David Schaff, a twenty-four-year-old assistant to Hamilton County commissioner Todd Portune. Schaff said his opponent was "someone who's spent more time saying what he's against than working for what he's for." Schaff was endorsed by The Cincinnati Post, which wrote

Brinkman defeated the candidate endorsed by the Republican party in the GOP primary in 2000 for the 37th District seat in the Ohio House, which was Anderson Township, the Hyde Park and Mount Lookout sections of Cincinnati, and the city of Norwood [1]. A Brinkman supporter was upset by the party's endorsement process: "All we wanted was a free, open process of endorsement, and we didn't get that," said Christopher Finney [2]. In the primary, Steve Adams, the endorsed candidate, received 9,344 votes and Brinkman 11,127. In the November general election, he faced Democrat Les Mann, a security guard at General Electric's aircraft engine plant in Evendale who previously had run for Congress against Rob Portman, and Natural Law candidate Jim Donaldson. The vote was 35,245 for Brinkman (66.7%), 2,029 for Donaldson (3.8%), and 15,531 for Mann (29.4%).

In 1999, he founded the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), which actively opposes tax levies in southwestern Ohio. Brinkman actively worked against many tax levies and bond issues. In his Congressional campaign he declared:

A resident of the Mount Lookout section of Cincinnati, Brinkman graduated from St. Xavier High School and received a B.A. (in history and political science) from George Washington University in 1979. In 1976, he worked for the Ronald Reagan campaign to win the Republican nomination for President, and for the Gerald Ford campaign following Ford's nomination at the Republican National Convention in Kansas City. While a student at GWU, he worked in the office of Senator Bob Dole of Kansas from 1977 to 1979. In 1980 he supported Congressman John B. Anderson's presidential bid, but switched his support to Reagan following the Republican National Convention. From his graduation to 1999, he was Midwest Sales Manager for the Metroweb printing company in Erlanger, Kentucky. From 2001, he has worked in the sales department of the Curry Printing Company of Evendale, Ohio.

Thomas E. "Tom" Brinkman, Jr. (born December 6, 1957) is a Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives from Cincinnati.