American politician

Brad Robert Wenstrup (born June 17, 1958) is an American politician, U.S. Army Reserve officer, and doctor of podiatric medicine, who has been the U.S. representative for Ohio's 2nd congressional district since 2013. A Republican, he upset in*bent U.S. Representative Jean Schmidt to win the 2012 Republican primary election.

Wenstrup is a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and an Iraq War veteran. After the shooting of Congressman Steve Scalise on June 14, 2017, Wenstrup attended to Scalise until he was transported to MedStar Washington Hospital Center. For his actions during the shooting, he was awarded the Soldier's Medal.

Contents

• 1 Early life, education, and medical career
• 2 Career
  • 2.1 Military service
  • 2.2 2009 Cincinnati mayoral election
• 3 U.S. House of Representatives
  • 3.1 Elections
  • 3.2 Tenure
  • 3.3 Texas v. Pennsylvania
  • 3.4 Committee *ignments
  • 3.5 Caucus memberships
• 4 Personal life
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Early life, education, and medical career

Wenstrup was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Joan (née Carletti) and Frank John "Jack" Wenstrup. His father was of German, Irish, and English descent, his mother of Italian ancestry. He has a sister, Amy Castellini.

In 1976, Wenstrup graduated from St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati. In 1980, he graduated Omicron Delta Kappa and * laude with a B.A. in psychology from the University of Cincinnati, where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He then attended the Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, where he earned an B.S. in biology and a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine degree, graduating in 1985.

Career

Wenstrup practiced podiatric medicine in Cincinnati for more than 24 years before being elected to Congress.

Military service

Wenstrup joined the United States Army Reserve in 1998, attaining the rank of colonel in March 2017. In 2005 and 2006, he served a tour in Iraq with the 344th Combat Support Hospital. He called his deployment "the worst thing that ever happened to me and the best thing I ever got to do." Wenstrup was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Action Badge.

During Wenstrup's tour of duty in Iraq, his sister asked what she could send him. He told her, "I wear the same clothes everyday, we're fed, and most days I'm not leaving the base. But the people here have nothing. They were under an oppressed regime and have had nothing for so long." His sister helped organize donations of toys, school supplies, and hygiene supplies donated by local companies, and Wenstrup worked with the base chaplain to distribute the donations to the locals.

2009 Cincinnati mayoral election

Main article: 2009 Cincinnati mayoral election

Wenstrup ran for mayor of Cincinnati against in*bent Democrat Mark Mallory in 2009. Mallory defeated Wenstrup, 54% to 46%.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2012See also: 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio §:District 2

Wenstrup ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the newly redrawn Ohio's 2nd congressional district, held by in*bent Republican U.S. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt. He was endorsed by the Anderson Tea Party and the Ohio Liberty Council, a coalition of Ohio Tea Party groups. In a surprise, he defeated Schmidt in the March Republican primary, 49% to 43%. She carried six counties (all in the district's eastern part), while Wenstrup won the two most populous counties (both in the western part): Hamilton County and Clermont County.

In the general election, Wenstrup defeated Democratic nominee William R. Smith, 59%–41%.

2014See also: 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio §:District 2

Wenstrup was reelected, defeating Democratic nominee Marek Tyszkiewicz 66%–34%.

2016See also: 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio §:District 2

Wenstrup was reelected to a third term, defeating Democratic candidates William Smith and Janet Everhard 65%–32.82%–2.17%.

2018See also: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio §:District 2

Wenstrup defeated Democratic candidate Jill Schiller, 58% to 41%, to win election to a fourth term.

2020See also: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio

Wenstrup defeated Democratic candidate Jaime Castle, 61% to 39%, to win a fifth term.

Tenure

Wenstrup began his first term on January 3, 2013. During his first year in office he held an open town hall meeting in each of his congressional district's eight counties.

In 2013 Wenstrup's office conducted a customer service survey. According to Roll Call, very few congressional offices have conducted "genuine" surveys of cons*uents, instead surveying with "loaded" questions designed to achieve certain results. According to the survey, 75% of respondents were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their experience with Wenstrup's office.

Wenstrup was an original co-sponsor of H.R. 3949, the VA Prescription Data Accountability Act 2017, which became law during the 115th Congress, in 2017. The bill helps protect veterans receiving prescription medications and prevents misuse of such medications.

Texas v. Pennsylvania

In December 2020, Wenstrup was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated in*bent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Cons*ution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.

Committee *ignments

• Committee on Ways & Means
  • Subcommittee on Oversight
  • Subcommittee on Worker & Family Support
• United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
  • Subcommittee on Defense Intelligence and Warfighter Support
  • Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation

Caucus memberships

• Republican Study Committee
• Air Cargo Caucus

Personal life

Wenstrup is married to Monica Wenstrup (Klein), who works as a financial consultant. They have two children. They adopted a daughter in 2019.

References

External links

• Congressman Brad Wenstrup official U.S. House website
• Brad Wenstrup for Congress
• Brad Wenstrup at Curlie
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress

Minority

• 117th United States Congress
• List of acts of the 117th United States Congress