Cass Ballenger
Encyclopedia
Thomas Cass Ballenger is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician. A Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, he represented North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

's 10th Congressional district
North Carolina's 10th congressional district
The 10th Congressional District of North Carolina is a Congressional district in central and western North Carolina. It currently includes all of Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Lincoln and Mitchell counties, along with parts of Gaston, Iredell and Rutherford counties.The district is...

, centered in North Carolina's foothills, in the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from 1986 to 2005.

Biography

Ballenger was born in Hickory, North Carolina
Hickory, North Carolina
Hickory is a city in Catawba County, North Carolina. Hickory has the 162nd largest urban area in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 341,851, making it the 4th largest metropolitan area in North Carolina. The city's population was 37,222...

. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

 and later earned his B.A. from Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...

. He served in the United States Naval Air Corps
United States Naval Air Corps
The United States Naval Air Corps was a term denoting the portion of the United States Navy made up of United States Naval Aviators. The term was especially in use before and during World War II....

 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

A plastics executive in his hometown of Hickory
Hickory, North Carolina
Hickory is a city in Catawba County, North Carolina. Hickory has the 162nd largest urban area in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 341,851, making it the 4th largest metropolitan area in North Carolina. The city's population was 37,222...

, Ballenger had previously served in the North Carolina State House of Representatives from 1974 until 1976, and the North Carolina State Senate from 1976 until 1986. In the November 1986 elections, Ballenger was simultaneously elected to serve the remainder of 23-year incumbent Jim Broyhill's term (Broyhill had been appointed to the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

) and to his own first term. He was reelected nine more times, all by landslide
Landslide victory
In politics, a landslide victory is the victory of a candidate or political party by an overwhelming margin in an election...

 margins in what, according to some, has become the most Republican district in North Carolina. Not surprisingly, his voting record was very conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

.

As a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Ballenger chaired the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. As chairman, Ballenger drafted legislation that was eventually enacted that reformed the Occupational Health and Safety Administration [OSHA], making OSHA less adversarial toward American businesses. Like the back country constituents he served, Ballenger resisted the notion of a large federal government and sought to minimize government regulation.

From 1982 to 2002, Ballenger displayed a black lawn jockey
Lawn jockey
A lawn jockey is a small statue of a man in jockey clothes, intended to be placed in yards. Most today are white jockeys, but historically black jockeys were commonplace...

 in front of his Hickory home. Some African Americans in Hickory criticized Ballenger for the lawn jockey
Lawn jockey
A lawn jockey is a small statue of a man in jockey clothes, intended to be placed in yards. Most today are white jockeys, but historically black jockeys were commonplace...

, which they understood to be a symbol of racism. In 1994, a Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 opponent featured the lawn jockey on a campaign brochure.

Ballenger, along with his wife, established the Ballenger Foundation in 1990 to raise funds for schools and hospitals in Central and South America. He has been active in that region for over thirty five years, receiving humanitarian awards from various organizations, including the Fabretto Children's Foundation, for his work.

In 2004, alongside several other Republican members of Congress, including Mark Souder
Mark Souder
Mark Edward Souder is an American Republican politician who was a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1995 to 2010.During the 1980s and early 1990s, he worked as a congressional aide to Dan Coats and committee staff director. He was elected to his congressional seat in 1994...

 and Katherine Harris
Katherine Harris
Katherine Harris is an American Republican politician, former Secretary of State of Florida, and former member of the United States House of Representatives. Harris won the 2002 election to represent Florida's 13th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. She held that post...

, Ballenger submitted an amicus curiae
Amicus curiae
An amicus curiae is someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information to assist a court in deciding a matter before it...

 brief in the Supreme Court case Gonzales v. Raich
Gonzales v. Raich
Gonzales v. Raich , 545 U.S. 1 , was a decision by the United States Supreme Court ruling that under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, the United States Congress may criminalize the production and use of home-grown cannabis even where states approve its use for medicinal...

, defending the federal government's power to raid, arrest, prosecute and imprison patients who use medical marijuana even in states that have declared such use legally permitted.

When asked about Trent Lott's
Trent Lott
Chester Trent Lott, Sr. , is a former United States Senator from Mississippi and has served in numerous leadership positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate....

 controversial comments on December 5, 2002 about Strom Thurmond's
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...

, Ballenger made disparaging comments about outgoing Rep. Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia Ann McKinney is a former US Congresswoman and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...

.



If I had to listen to her, I probably would have developed a little bit of a segregationist feeling. But I think everybody can look at my life and what I've done and say that's not true. I mean, she was such a bitch.

—Cass Ballenger, The Charlotte Observer
The Charlotte Observer
The Charlotte Observer, serving Charlotte, North Carolina and its metro area, is the largest newspaper, in terms of circulation, in North Carolina and South Carolina...

, December 20, 2002



He later apologized, denying that the statement reflected any racist feelings. Rather, he said that he was trying to make a pont that "almost anybody can develop an animosity to individuals," and that he singled out McKinney
Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia Ann McKinney is a former US Congresswoman and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...

 because he felt she was "less than patriotic." Later, one of his aides was seen painting over the black lawn jockey
Lawn jockey
A lawn jockey is a small statue of a man in jockey clothes, intended to be placed in yards. Most today are white jockeys, but historically black jockeys were commonplace...

 in Ballenger's yard.

Ballenger retired in 2004 and was succeeded by one-term Republican state representative Patrick T. McHenry
Patrick T. McHenry
Patrick Timothy McHenry is the U.S. Representative for . He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for a single term...

. In 2008 presidential election, he endorsed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...

 for the Republican nomination and endorsed incumbent Patrick T. McHenry
Patrick T. McHenry
Patrick Timothy McHenry is the U.S. Representative for . He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for a single term...

 in the NC Primaries.

Ancestry

He is the great-great-grandson of nineteenth century politician Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, a U.S. Senator representing Michigan, and co-founder as well as first Masonic Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan...

, and was probably named after him. Cass was a Territorial Governor of Michigan, U.S. Senator from Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, U.S. Secretary of War, U.S. Secretary of State and was the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

's nominee for President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 in 1848.

External links

Retrieved on 2009-5-16
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