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Meet
Ben Konop (Continued)
Career
Following graduation from law school in 2000, I decided to move to
Washington D.C. and practice law at a large international law firm,
Fulbright & Jaworski,
LLP. I became a member of the Ohio and Washington, D.C. Bar Associations
and, in addition to representing Fortune 500 clients in litigation,
became active in several volunteer legal projects in our nation’s
capital. At my law firm I helped start a mentoring program which matched
lawyers up with at risk junior high students. I also made weekly visits
to the Thurgood Marshal Academy in Anacostia to tutor students in reading
and arithmetic.
Although I found the practice of law rewarding, my heart was in public
service. When Congresswoman
Kaptur asked me to consider returning to Ohio to run for U.S. Congress,
I mulled it over for about three days and decided to take the plunge.
I moved back to Ohio and vigorously campaigned throughout the district
against Mike Oxley, an entrenched and well-funded incumbent. One of the
highlights of our grassroots campaign was a walking tour of the district
in which I walked over 150 miles in 10 days, from Urbana to Mansfield.
Later in the campaign, I bowled a game at every bowling alley in the
district (thirty-two, I believe), and met a lot of wonderful constituents
along the way.
During
the campaign I was honored to receive support from venerable labor organizations
like the UAW, Teamsters, IBEW, Steelworkers, Sheet Metal Workers, Laborers,
and the Ohio AFL-CIO.
Our campaign attracted a wide variety of national support as well from
groups ranging from the NRA to MoveOn.org. I also
received the endorsement of The
Toledo Blade as well as the net roots
endorsement of dailykos.com.
On election
night we came up a bit short, but still managed to gain the highest percentage
of votes against my opponent in over 20 years. We received
a higher percentage of votes than any other congressional challenger,
Democrat or Republican, in all of Ohio. We did all this despite being
outspent by our opponent ten to one. Following our hard fought campaign,
Congressman Oxley decided to retire and not seek reelection in 2006.
I currently teach at the University of Toledo College of Law in the areas of Legislation, Corporation Law, Election Law, and Natural Resources Law. I have also taught at Ohio Northern University School of Law in the areas of Legislation and Corporate Finance and at Bluffton University in Political Science.
Community Involvement
I
sit on the Board of Directors of several great organizations in Lucas County
including Connecting
Point of Toledo, Big
Brothers/Big Sisters of NW Ohio,
and the Catholic
Club of Toledo. They all aim to help disadvantaged youth throughout
our community, and I am honored to lend a hand to their missions. In addition,
I have served as the President of the Lucas
County Citizens Levy Review Committee which assists the Commissioners
in analyzing whether a levy should be placed on the ballot.
I have also been actively litigating several Pro Bono public interest lawsuits
here in Lucas County. In August, I filed an anti-outsourcing lawsuit on behalf
of several laid off workers of the former Convergys facility in Toledo. The
suit seeks repayment, based on a breach of contract, of a state grant that
Convergys received to train workers at the facility. I also represent a small
business in Lucas County in a suit against The Lucas County Republican Party.
The action seeks to force the Republican Party to repay loans it received from
Tom Noe back to the Worker’s Compensation Fund.
On a personal note, I attend Toledo’s Etz Chayim Synagogue and live in
the Downtown Toledo Warehouse District. In my free time, I enjoy reading about
history and politics. I remain a staunch Detroit Tigers fan even after twelve
consecutive losing seasons (there is always next year!). And I’m a music
lover whose favorites include Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Billy Holiday, Tim
O'Brien, Hank Williams Sr., Otis Redding, and The
White Stripes.
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