- Ron Packard
Infobox_Congressman
name =Ron Packard
date of birth= birth date and age|1931|1|19
place of birth=Meridian, Idaho
death_date =
death_place =
state =California
district = 43rd and 48th
term_start =January 3 ,1983
term_end =January 3 ,2001
preceded =Clair Burgener
succeeded =Darrell Issa
party = Republican
spouse = Jean Packard
religion =The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Ronald C. Packard, D.M.D. (born
January 19 ,1931 ) is a retired Republicanpolitician fromCalifornia who served in theU.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001.Biography
Packard was born in
Meridian, Idaho , where he grew up. He attended Meridian High School,Brigham Young University ,Portland State University , andUniversity of Oregon Dental School, where he received a D.M.D. in 1957. He was in the Navy Dental Corps during 1957–1959, and worked as a dentist after leaving the Navy.Packard first entered politics as a trustee of the Carlsbad Unified School District in
California , and served during 1962–1974. He was elected to the Carlsbad city council in 1976, then electedmayor of Carlsbad in 1978. While mayor, he was active in community and regional affairs, serving on the transportation policy committee of the League of California Cities, as a Director of North County Transit District, and as President of the Council of Mayors for San Diego County.The 1982 election
In 1982, Packard lost the Republican primary for
United States House of Representatives in a crowded field of candidates toJohnnie Crean by 92 votes. [ [http://www.cqpolitics.com/2006/08/trivia080906.html CQ Politics Trivia] ] Crean's character came into issue, with his negative ads and false claim of endorsement byRonald Reagan , so, after some reluctance, Packard launched a campaign as awrite-in candidate . Packard ran a poll which found that voters would vote for him, especially if they knew how to write him in. Packard campaigned with a gigantic pencil as a prop while giving out golf pencils to district residents. An organized effort among fellow Mormons helped the campaign. Packard won the election by 11,000 votes to become the first independent write-in candidate to defeat candidates of both the Democratic and Republican parties. NPR'sKen Rudin described the race this way:cquote|Eighteen Republicans were running in the primary for the seat being vacated by Rep.Clair Burgener (R). The winner was political novice Johnny Crean, whose family wealth bankrolled his saturation of the airwaves in the district, situated just north of San Diego. Crean spent well over $750,000 in the primary, then a substantial amount, mostly attacking his fellow Republicans, while ducking candidate forums and personal appearances. Crean defeated Carlsbad Mayor Ron Packard in the primary by 92 votes out of more than 83,000 cast. Furious, Packard announced a write-in effort. Fearful that the GOP split in this overwhelming GOP district could end up electing a Democrat, there was great pressure on Packard to end his bid. But he refused, and won the seat with 37 percent of the vote. The Democrat finished second with 32 percent; Crean received 31 percent. [cite news | title=Political Junkie | url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5698889 | author=Ken Rudin | publisher=NPR ]Packard was only the fourth person to be elected to Congress as a write-in candidate. [ [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060410-9999-1m10campaign.html "Hopefuls sling mud in run-up to election", San Diego "Union-Tribune", 2006-04-10 by Dani Dodge] ] Upon being sworn in, Packard joined the Republican caucus. He was reelected as a Republican eight times with no substantive opposition in the heavily Republican district.
Packard's congressional career included membership on the House Appropriations Committee. Packard served a total of nine terms and then retired from the House at the end of his term in 2001 to spend time with his family. In Congress he was known as a deficit hawk, a critic of legislative "pork", and opponent of illegal immigration. He was succeeded by Republican
Darrell Issa .A U.S. Post Office building in
Oceanside, California was named for him in 2002.Packard and his wife Jean live in Carlsbad. They had seven children. Packard works part-time as a
lobbyist inWashington, D.C. .Quotes
ee also
* Ronald C. Packard Papers,
California State University, San Marcos References
External links
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.