| A lifelong Ohioan, Dave has dedicated his life to family and community. Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1957, Dave's father, a WWII veteran, was a salesman and mother a proud housewife. Dave had three siblings and grew up playing all sports. Dave graduated from West Geauga High School and went on to receive his BA in Accounting, and Juris Doctorate, from The University of Dayton. Upon graduation, he moved back to Cuyahoga County and worked as a public defender.
While running for County Prosecutor in 1988, Dave met a fellow West Geauga High School grad, Kelly, whom he married in 1990. Throughout his service as the Geauga County Prosecuting Attorney, Dave built a reputation as being a protector of both Geauga County families and taxpayers, making it a priority to provide the highest quality legal work in the most cost-efficient manner possible. In 2005, the Ohio State Women's Bar Association presented Dave with the "Family Friendly Workplace Award" for providing his employees a family-oriented office environment. In 2008, Forbes magazine named Geauga County the fourth best county in the nation to raise a family, citing the low crime rate and solid housing stock. Throughout his career, Dave has assisted in numerous counties throughout Ohio as a special prosecutor, and some of his case and trial work has been featured on national shows such as CBS's 48 Hours.
In November 2012, Dave was elected to represent the 14th District of Ohio for the 113th Congress. This Congress, the 117th, is his fifth term in office.
As a former prosecutor, the safety and wellbeing of Ohio's communities still remain one of Dave's top priorities. He co-founded the Bipartisan Task Force to End Sexual Violence in the 115th Congress and is the Vice Chair of the Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus. With Ohio being one of the states hit hardest by the opioid epidemic, Dave has fought to ensure that the federal funding Congress provides to combat the crisis effectively supports the lifesaving work local communities carry out on the front lines of this epidemic.
Dave also serves on the influential House Appropriations Committee and is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies where he is a fierce advocate of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Having established himself as a leader of Congress' bipartisan effort to preserve and protect the Great Lakes, Dave also serves as the Co-Chair of the House Great Lakes Task Force. In 2019, he received the inaugural Great Lakes Changemaker Award from the Council of the Great Lakes Region.
In keeping with a tradition he established while serving as Geauga County Prosecutor, Dave has returned roughly $800,000 from his Congressional budget to the U.S. Treasury since 2013.
Dave resides in Bainbridge Township, Ohio, with his wife Kelly. He has three children- Trenton, Keighle, and Bridey. |