Douglas Earl Applegate (March 27, 1928 – August 7, 2021) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from Ohio's 18th congressional district from 1977 to 1995, as a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to his tenure in the United States House of Representatives he served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1961 to 1968, and in the Ohio Senate from 1969 to 1974.
Applegate was born in Steubenville, Ohio, the son of mayor and state representative Earl Applegate, and was educated at Steubenville High School. He was elected to the state house in the 1960 election alongside Michael Blischak in a multi-member district and later became the sole representative from the district after defeating Blischak in 1962. He served in the state house until his election to the state senate in the 1968 election. During his tenure in the state senate he defeated incumbent Republican senators John Longsworth and Kenneth F. Berry.
Applegate had planned on running to succeed Wayne Hays in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1978 election, but was selected to replace Hays as the Democratic nominee in the 1976 election after Hays resignation. He served until his retirement in the 1994 election during which he served on the Transportation, Public Works, and Veterans' Affairs committees. His ideological belief and ratings were mixed and ranged from liberal to conservative with the Americans for Democratic Action giving him scores between 5% and 80% while the American Conservative Union gave him scores ranging from 12.50% to 64.86%.
Applegate ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1988 primary as a favorite son. He only sought the six delegates from his districts, of which he won one, and voted for Michael Dukakis at the Democratic National Convention. He attempted to have Senator John Glenn, whom he had supported in the 1984 primary, be given the vice-presidential nomination, but was unsuccessful. Applegate died in 2021.
Early life and education
Douglas Earl Applegate was born in Steubenville, Ohio, on March 27, 1928, to Earl Applegate, who served as mayor of Steubenville and in the Ohio House of Representatives. He graduated from Steubenville High School in 1947, and became a licensed real estate broker in 1956. Applegate had two children with his wife Betty. He was a Presbyterian.
Career Ohio legislature Elections
Applegate and Michael Blischak were given the Democratic nomination to run for seats in the Ohio House of Representatives in the 1960 election and defeated Republican nominees Ed Griffith and William G. Powell. On January 19, 1962, Applegate announced that he would run for reelection and as the multi-member district was eliminated he ran in the Democratic primary against Blischak. He defeated Blischak in the primary and won reelection against Republican nominee Edward V. Miller in the general election. He won reelection in 1964 and 1966.
Applegate announced on January 29, 1968, that he would seek the Democratic nomination for a seat in the Ohio Senate from the 30th district. He defeated former Senator Danny D. Johnson, former Representative Joseph Loha, and former Representative Stuart Henderson in the Democratic primary. He defeated incumbent Republican Senator John Longsworth in the general election, being the only person in Ohio to defeat an incumbent state senator in the 1968 election, after spending $2,585.53 during the campaign.
Following the 1972 reapportionment of districts Applegate's 30th district was redrawn to include Republican Senator Kenneth F. Berry, who was originally from the 19th district. Berry won renomination in the Republican primary against William A. Wallace while Applegate faced no opposition. Applegate defeated Berry in the general election.
Tenure
In 1963, Applegate was selected to serve on the twelve-member House Democratic Policy committee. During his tenure in the state house he served on the Elections and Federal Relations, Health, and Reference committees. During his tenure in the state senate he served on the Commerce, Finance, Finance and Elections, Labor, and Ways and Means committees. The Energy and Environment committee was created in 1974, and Applegate was selected to chair the committee.
Minority Leader Anthony O. Calabrese appointed Applegate to a five-member Democratic advisory committee to determine which Democratic senators would be placed onto committees for the 110th General Assembly. During his tenure he served on the Ohio Controlling Board, Ohio Constitutional Revision Commission, Legislative Service Commission, and the Agriculture and Conservation committees. In 1970, he was selected by Calabrese to serve as Assistant Minority Leader.
Applegate served as an at-large delegate from the Ohio's 18th congressional district to the 1964 Democratic National Convention and served as a member of the sixteen-member delegation, nine from the Ohio Senate and seven from the Ohio House of Representatives, to the second inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson. He served as the campaign manager of Michael E. Entinger's primary campaign for the Democratic nomination for Ohio State Treasurer in 1966.
Applegate supported Representative Wayne Hays during the 1970 gubernatorial election and wanted to be the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. Applegate was one of the candidates included in a straw poll conducted by the Democratic Party in Clark County which was won by Robert E. Cecile. Anthony O. Calabrese Jr. won the lieutenant gubernatorial nomination, but lost in the general election to Republican nominee John William Brown.
In 1965, Applegate was named as one of America's outstanding young men by the U.S Junior Chamber of Commerce and was also nominated for the Ohio League of Young Democrat Clubs for their John F. Kennedy award.
U.S. House of Representatives Elections
Applegate announced in 1975, that he would run for a seat in the United States House of Representatives from the 18th congressional district in the 1978 election after Representative Hays announced that he would run for governor in the 1978 election. Hays withdrew from the 1976 election following a sex scandal and later resigned from the house. Fourteen of the eighteen Democratic leaders in the 18th congressional district voted in favor of Applegate, who was running against Alan Sherry and Joseph Loha, to replace Hays on the first ballot and then voted unanimously on the second ballot to give the nomination to Applegate on August 16. Applegate initially sought reelection to the state senate in the 1976 election, but Kinsey Milleson was later selected to replace him following Applegate's replacement of Hays.
Representative John Wargo accused Applegate of having been selected by Hays to succeed himself, but Applegate stated that Wargo was overreacting and that he had no political debts to Hays. He selected former Representative Robert T. Secrest to serve as his honorary campaign chair. Applegate defeated Republican nominee Ralph R. McCoy and independent candidate William Crabbe, who was the mayor of Steubenville, in the 1976 election.
Applegate announced that he would seek reelection on January 13, 1978, and won against Republican nominee Bill Ress. Hays, who had been elected to the state house, considered running against Applegate in the 1980 Democratic primary, but chose not to citing his health and pleas from Applegate's supporters. He defeated Republican nominee Gary L. Hammersley in the 1980 election.
Applegate won reelection in the 1982 election against Joseph Holmes' write-in candidacy. He defeated Republican nominee Kenneth Burt Jr. in the 1984 election. Applegate defeated Michael Palmer, a follower of Lyndon LaRouche, in the 1986 Democratic primary and faced no opposition in the general election. He defeated Republican nominee William C. Abraham in the 1988 election. He filed for reelection on February 14, 1990, and defeated Republican nominee John Hales in the 1990 election. He defeated Ress in the 1992 election.
Applegate announced that he would not seek reelection on January 3, 1994. His decision made him the twenty-fourth incumbent in the House of Representatives to announce that they would not seek reelection in the 1994 elections. He formed a political action committee to use the remaining $150,186 in his campaign funds. He served as the honorary chair of Jim Hart's, who was his chief of staff, campaign to succeed him in the house. His district was targeted by the National Republican Congressional Committee and Republican nominee Bob Ney defeated Democratic nominee Greg DiDonato in the election.
Campaign finance19761980198219841986198819901992Applegate raised$20,073$62,970$64,369$90,282$104,752$120,435$125,772$117,262Applegate expenditureN/A$44,493$50,572$59,423$83,591$86,061$94,754$102,335Opponents raisedMcCoy:$12,218 Crabbe:$8,796Hammersley:$26,697N/ABurt:$1,995N/AAbraham:$7,233N/ARess:$27,288Opponents expenditureN/AHammersley:$26,755N/ABurt:$1,894N/AAbraham:$7,095N/ARess:$26,810Reference
Tenure
During Applegate's tenure in the house he served on the Transportation, Public Works and Veterans' Affairs committees. He sought a position on the Veterans' Affairs committee at the urging of Robert T. Secrest, who served as his campaign manager and on the committee during his tenure in the house. When he was appointed to the Veterans' Affairs committee in 1977, he replaced James V. Stanton, who had left to unsuccessfully run for the Democratic senatorial nomination. He served as the chair of the Transportation Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
Applegate and Representatives Charles Vanik, Don Pease, Mary Rose Oakar, and Tom Luken lobbied for Thomas L. Ashley to be given the position of chair of the Budget committee for the 95th United States Congress. In 1978, the Lorain Journal and Mansfield News Journal ranked Applegate as one of the five least effective members of Ohio's house delegation alongside Charles J. Carney, Samuel L. Devine, Tennyson Guyer, and Del Latta. He served as the chair of the Ohio Democratic congressional delegation during the 96th United States Congress until he asked for Louis Stokes to take over for him.
Applegate chose to stay neutral during the 1980 Democratic presidential primary between President Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy and hoped to attend the Democratic National Convention as an uncommitted delegate. He proposed a plank to the Democratic platform calling for the increased use of coal to reduce the United States' dependence on oil from other countries. He supported Senator John Glenn during the 1984 Democratic presidential primary.
Presidential campaign
Applegate proposed a favorite son coalition with Representative James Traficant to bring a focus on regional issues during the 1988 Democratic presidential primary stating that "our districts are contiguous and our problems are parallel". Both men would run to gain the delegates from their congressional districts. Ohio Secretary of State Sherrod Brown stated that candidates would be allowed to appear on the presidential and other ballot lines. He ruled that despite laws preventing a candidate's name from appearing on the ballot twice the presidential ballot line did not count as the voters were voting for delegates and not the candidate themselves.
Applegate announced on November 23, 1987, that he would run for president although he stated that "I don't have any great illusions of being sworn in as president of the United States" and would instead focus on winning the six delegates from his district. Norma Agostini, the chair of the Harrison County Democratic Party, supported Applegate's campaign. During his campaign Applegate raised $18,297 and spent $18,290.