OH-18 Update: Phillips for Congress Campaign Responds to Post and Inquiry on Residency

Following up on this post, I let the Paul Phillips for Congress campaign know in an e-mail that I was concerned about the candidate’s status and intentions relating to residency in the 18th District, and received the following e-mail response from Campaign Manager Lonnie Dietz.

I said that if I received a response, I would publish it verbatim, so here goes.

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Tom,

Thank you for contacting us about Paul’s residency in Ohio’s 18th Congressional District. We strongly agree that it is important to live in the district and have well established roots with those you hope to represent in Congress. As you may know, Paul is a 4th generation native to Chillicothe. He graduated from Chillicothe High School in 1981, his grandfather was the Mayor of Chillicothe and his father was a State Representative for the area. After graduating from Ohio State in 1985, Paul entered USAF Pilot Training and embarked on a highly successful 20 year career in the Air Force as a B-1 bomber pilot. Through his military service, Paul lived all over the country and world, but the more he saw, the more he was convinced to return home at the completion of his military career to raise his family here in Chillicothe.

In preparation to join his father’s Chillicothe law practice, he began evening law school in 2001 while he completing his military career from which he retired in 2006. He and his wife began house hunting in Chillicothe in 2004 and made offers on several houses. As one of our country’s top bomber pilots, shortly before retirement, he was highly sought after by Booz Allen Hamilton as a defense consultant to assist the Air Force in developing the Next Generation Long Range Strike Aircraft at Wright Paterson AFB. Paul accepted this job to help the Air Force continue its airpower world dominance as he prepared for and took the Ohio Bar Exam and continued house hunting in Chillicothe.

He and his wife took up temporary residence in Beavercreek during this transition. In May of 2006, Paul passed the bar exam and his wife was pregnant with their first child. Their timeline for settling in Chillicothe was eased as they focused on the pregnancy and preparation for their baby. In January 2007 their first child, Lauren was born. In February, his father was admitted into a permanent care facility in Chillicothe which also required a great deal of Paul’s focus. During this demanding time, Paul has been spending practically all of his time in Chillicothe assisting his mother, working in his new practice, and deciding on a permanent home for his family.

After several offers, they HAVE purchased a home under construction, which is scheduled for completion in August. You can rest assured that Paul has been a constant fixture in Chillicothe since the completion of his military service and was even recruited to run for Congress by the local party. His business is a member of the Chillicothe Chamber of Commerce. He is also registered with the local court as a full time attorney and no longer works for Booz Allen Hamilton, although his interest in helping the Air Force has not diminished. Chillicothe is Paul’s home and he intends to live here for the rest of his life regardless of what happens on Election Day. I hope this answers your questions, please feel free to call me if you want to talk in more detail.

I have also attached a copy of Paul’s bio that will help give you a timeline of the events in Paul’s life.

Thanks again for contacting us and your diligence to get an answer this important issue.

Lonnie Dietz
Campaign Manager
Paul Phillips for Congress

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I have taken the liberty of converting the bio Mr. Dietz mentioned to HTML, and it is posted here.

It would appear that there is little to be concerned about with Paul Phillips’s plans to legitimately represent the 18th District by moving and continuing to live there, and the candidate deserves kudos for that. I appreciate the campaign’s prompt response, and believe it bodes well both for the quality of campaign and, if things work out, the quality of representation the people of the 18th District would receive.