John Yarmuth

Tenure

Yarmuth took office on January 3, 2007. As of 2017, he is serving his sixth term as Congressman.

After his first year in Congress, Yarmuth donated his post-tax congressional salary of just over $120,000 to various charities in Louisville.^[4]

On February 8, 2008, Yarmuth endorsed Barack Obama in his bid for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States.^[5]

On September 29, 2008, Yarmuth voted against the TARP bailout plan, as negotiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, President George W. Bush, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.^[6] However, he did vote in favor of the second version of the bailout bill.^[7]

Yarmuth said he was so "nauseated" by a moment of silence for Michael Jackson on the House floor that he left the chamber. "I thought it was outrageous," he said. "In my two and a half years, we've not done this for anybody else. We've done it for former members and that's about it."^[8]

After defeating Northup for the second time, Yarmuth was rewarded by the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee with a spot on the influential Ways and Means Committee. On the committee, Yarmuth worked on issues on which he campaigned before the 2008 general election: Social Security, pension, Medicare, and Medicaid issues.

At a September 2009 town hall meeting, constituents were unhappy with Yarmuth's decision to support the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. "Yarmuth stayed calm in the face of boos and catcalls from some in the audience" according to an Associated Press report. "He warned that the current health care system is an unsustainable drain on businesses and the nation's economy."^[9]

In 2011, Yarmuth introduced a bill alongside Republican Congressman Walter Jones that would seek to overturn key parts of the controversial court case Citizens United v. FEC. The legislation would also give Congress the power to enact mandatory public financing for Congressional candidates and create a national holiday for voting purposes.^[10]

In 2011, Yarmuth voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 due to a controversial provision which allows the government and the military to indefinitely detain American citizens and others without trial.^[11][12]

In 2013, Yarmuth introduced the Fair Elections Now Act, which would establish a public financing system for Congressional campaigns.^[13][14]

In 2015, Yarmuth once again made an attempt at removing "dark money" from the political sphere by Proposing HR 2125, the Keeping our Campaigns Honest Act of 2015, however the bill realistically had no chance of passing in the 114th Congress in which it was proposed.^[15]

Yarmuth signed onto a "Medicare for All" bill in the House, along with 120 other Democrats in 2018, supporting single-payer healthcare.^[16]

Committee assignments

• Ranking Member, Committee on the Budget^[17][18]

Party leadership

• Regional Whip

Congressional Caucuses

The following is a list of John Yarmuth's Congressional Caucus memberships:^[19]

2006

Yarmuth filed candidacy papers on January 31, 2006, to represent Kentucky's 3rd congressional district. Having won the Democratic primary on May 16, defeating Andrew Horne, Burrell Charles Farnsley and James W. Moore, he defeated incumbent Anne Northup (R) in November of that year.

On August 7, 2006, The Courier-Journal reported that The Hill revealed a week before that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had earmarked $51.5 million for television advertising in 32 congressional districts across the nation, but none for Yarmuth's challenge in the Third Congressional District.^[22]

On October 20, a Courier-Journal article stated that a WHAS11/SurveyUSA poll revealed the race had tightened dramatically, with Yarmuth leading Northup 48 to 47 percent. Another poll a month earlier had Northup leading by 6 points.^[23] A WHAS11/SurveyUSA poll released on November 2 showed Yarmuth leading Northup 52 to 44 percent.^[24]

On October 26, Yarmuth told Courier-Journal reporter Kay Stewart that he would donate his congressional salary—which would be $168,500 in 2007—to local charity.^[25]

Because polls close early in Kentucky, many analysts saw this race as a key indicator and it immediately became one of the most watched House races in the nation.

Yarmuth defeated Northup in the general election. He garnered 122,139 votes (51%) to Northup's 116,157 votes (48%). Independent candidates garnered 2,896 votes (1%).

2008

Yarmuth ran unopposed in the primary, and faced Anne Northup in a rematch of the 2006 general election.^[26][27][28]

Yarmuth won the 2008 election with 59% of the vote.^[29]

2010

Yarmuth was challenged by Republican Todd Lally and Independent Michael D. Hansen. Yarmuth was re-elected successfully with 53% of the vote.^[30]

2012

Yarmuth was challenged by Republican Brooks Wicker and Independent candidate Robert L. Devore Jr. Yarmuth received 206,385 votes (63.96%), Brooks Wicker received 111,452 votes (23.32%), and Robert L. Devore Jr. received 4,819 votes (1.49%).

2014

In the 2014 General Election, Yarmuth was challenged by Republican Dr. Michael McFarlane and Independent Gregory Puccetti. On October 6, 2014, Kentucky Educational Television hosted a debate which was broadcast live on Louisville's KET, and was moderated by KET host Bill Goodman.^[31] Yarmuth went on to win reelection with 63.5% of the votes cast.

2016

Yarmuth was challenged by Republican Harold Bratcher and Independent Everett Corley. Yarmuth won with 63% of the vote, receiving 212,388 votes. Harold Bratcher received 37% of the vote, totaling 122,085 ballots cast in his name. Everett Corley received no votes in the election.^[32]

2018

On April 17, 2017, Yarmuth announced that he would run for a seventh term in the 2018 election.^[33]