David Joyce (politician)

In July 2012, U.S. Congressman Steve LaTourette of Ohio's 14th congressional district announced that he would be retiring in 2012, rather than seek re-election. Because LaTourette announced his retirement after the primary, local Republican party leaders chose Joyce as the replacement nominee.[4][5]

Joyce ran in the November general election against Democratic Party candidate Dale Virgil Blanchard, Libertarian David Macko and Green Party candidate Elaine Mastromatteo. Joyce won the election with 54% of the vote.[6]

In February 2013, Roll Call reported that Steve Israel, head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, had identified the 14th congressional district as one of the party's top four targets in 2014. The House Majority PAC made Joyce one of its top targets to oust in the 2014 elections.[7]

In 2014, according to one news source, Joyce "survived a grueling primary against a Tea Party-backed candidate," before facing "an equally tough challenge from Michael Wager."[8] Joyce won 63.3% of the vote, with Wager receiving 33% and independent David Macko winning 3.7%.[9]

Joyce defeated Wager again, 62.6% to 37.4%.[10]

In April 2017, Betsy Rader, a Democrat, announced that she would be running against Joyce in 2018. Rader is a lawyer who represents victims of employment discrimination. Rader said that she supported "much" of the Affordable Care Act, but said she needed to study health care more as an issue. Rader criticized Joyce for opposing an increase in the minimum wage and for wanting to withdraw federal funding for Planned Parenthood.[11]

In October 2017, Darrell Scott, a pastor involved in President Donald Trump's political operation, and who served as CEO of the semi-official "National Diversity Coalition for Trump" organized by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen, said he would consider a primary challenge to Joyce.[12]

Asked about his legislative priorities in March 2016, Joyce cited terrorist threats, job growth, government spending, the national debt, environmental protection of the Great Lakes, and health care.[13]

The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy ranked Joyce as the 29th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress and the most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio.[14]

In July 2017, Joyce said that political discourse in the U.S. had reached a "vitriolic" level. "I do know there's a level of frustration out there," he said. "But we need to work together. [President Donald Trump] has gotten into this tug-of-war with the national media. Now we're six months into his presidency ... and infrastructure improvements, tax changes and healthcare law are not getting covered. They are dealing with the Tweet du Jour ... and [Trump's tweets] certainly don't help."[15]

Joyce is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership,[16] United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus,[17] Veterinary Medicine Caucus,[18] Climate Solutions Caucus,[19] and co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus.[20]

According to FiveThirtyEight, Joyce has a 'Trump Score' of 91.8%. [21]

• Committee on Appropriations[22]
  • Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies (Ranking Member)[23]
  • Financial Services and General Government[24]

• Republican Study Committee[25]
• Tuesday Group [26]

In July 2017, Joyce expressed the view that the only viable route to a consensus on health care was to take a bipartisan approach. While admitting that Obamacare was "going to fail" he said that the drafting of the GOP's then-current Senate health-care bill was "even worse than how the Affordable Care Act evolved" and that the GOP's House health-care bill "was too partisan" and that there "is nothing in this Senate bill, that is going to bring down the cost of healthcare."[27]

In an August 2013 speech, Joyce said that part of the problem with the jobs issue was that there are "3 million jobs every month in this country that go unfilled." He noted that the Cleveland Plain Dealer had fact-checked this number and had "actually came up with a higher number than 3 million." The trouble, he explained, is that employers "can't find people to come to work sober, daily, drug-free and want to learn the necessary skills going forward to be able to do those jobs."[28]

In March 2016, Joyce emphasized his support for the military and intelligence communities. He noted his votes for the strengthening of the Visa Waiver Program in order to "ensure terrorists with Western passports don't enter our country," for restrictions on transferring Guantanamo detainees, and for enhancements in cybersecurity infrastructure. He said, in summary, that he was "committed to giving our soldiers and our intelligence community all of the resources they need to do the job."[29]

Also in March 2016, Joyce said that he had co-sponsored "several bills that ensured refugees underwent stricter scrutiny in order to prevent a Paris-style attack from happening in the United States."[30]

In 2014, Joyce introduced the Safe Streets Act with Congresswoman Doris Matsui. The bill would nationalize transportation "design elements" so that streets would be designed with the safety of drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists in mind.[31]

Joyce has supported a number of congressional efforts to reform cannabis laws. He reintroduced the Rohrabacher–Farr amendment in 2018 to prohibit the Justice Department from spending funds to interfere with the implementation of state medical cannabis laws.[32] He also introduced the STATES Act in 2018 (and again in 2019) to protect states from federal interference regarding both medical and recreational use.[33][34] Also in 2018, Joyce signed on to cosponsor the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act.[35] In January 2019, Joyce was named a co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus.[36][37]

Joyce voted "no" on the first impeachment of Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress on December 18, 2019. He also voted no on the second impeachment of Donald Trump for incitement of insurrection on January 13, 2021.