View source for Tim Hagan

{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
|name         = Tim Hagan
|image        = Tim Hagan in 2009.jpg
|caption      = Hagan in 2009
|office       = Member of the [[Cuyahoga County, Ohio|Cuyahoga County]] Board of Commissioners
|term_start   = 2004
|term_end     = 2011
|predecessor  = [[Tim McCormack]]
|successor    = Position abolished
|term_start1  = 1982
|term_end1    = 1998
|predecessor1 = [[Ed Feighan]]
|successor1   = [[Jimmy Dimora]]
|birth_date   = {{birth date and age|1946|3|18}}
|birth_place  = [[Youngstown, Ohio]], U.S.
|death_date   = 
|death_place  = 
|party        = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|spouse       = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Jeanne Carney|1973|1995|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Kate Mulgrew]]|1999|2014|end=div}}}}
|children     = 2
|education    = [[Youngstown State University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Cleveland State University]] ([[Master of Urban Planning|MUP]])
}}

'''Timothy Hagan''' (born March 18, 1946) is an American politician who served as [[Cuyahoga County]] Commissioner and other local offices from the 1980s through 2000s, and was his party's nominee for the governorship of Ohio in 2002.

==Early life==
Hagan was born and grew up in [[Youngstown, Ohio]], as one of fourteen siblings (including a twin brother, James).<ref name="retire">{{cite news |last=Johnston |first=Laura |title=Longtime Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim Hagan heads toward second retirement |url=http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/02/tim_hagan_heads_toward_retirem.html |newspaper=Cleveland Plain Dealer |date=February 14, 2010 |access-date=December 8, 2010}}</ref> Hagan's father, [[Robert E. Hagan|Robert Hagan]], was a Trumbull County Commissioner and, later, a State Representative. After graduating from [[Ursuline High School, Youngstown|Ursuline High School]], Hagan attended [[Youngstown State University]] (then known as Youngstown State College). He was drafted for military service during the Vietnam War and served in [[Germany]] in the late 1960s. After leaving the military, he worked as a baker and steelworker in [[Youngstown, Ohio|Youngstown]] before going on to earn a degree in urban studies from the [[Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs]] at [[Cleveland State University]] in 1975.<ref name="retire"/> He then worked as a [[social worker]] in Youngstown.

==Political career==
In 1978, Hagan became chairman of the [[Cuyahoga County, Ohio|Cuyahoga County]] Democratic Party, beating [[Garfield Heights, Ohio|Garfield Heights]] ward leader Henry S. Trubiano. In that position, he became one of the first Democrats to endorse [[Edward M. Kennedy]] in the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 presidential election]] over the sitting Democratic President [[Jimmy Carter]]. Prior to his endorsement, Hagan had been a guest of Kennedy at his home in [[Hyannisport]].

Hagan was appointed Cuyahoga County's county recorder, but he failed to keep the seat in an election. He then ran for a seat on the Cuyahoga County board of commissioners, losing to Republican Virgil Brown. He ran again in 1981, this time successfully. Hagan served on the county commission for 16 years (1982–1998).

[[1989 Cleveland mayoral election|In 1989]], Hagan made an unsuccessful attempt for the office of [[Mayor of Cleveland|mayor]] of [[Cleveland]], losing the Democratic primary to Ohio State Senator [[Michael R. White (politician)|Michael R. White]], who went on to defeat Cleveland City Council President [[George L. Forbes]] in the general election. In 1992, with White's endorsement, Hagan made an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]], losing in the Democratic primary to incumbent U.S. Rep. [[Mary Rose Oakar]].

Hagan described himself as an avowed [[Liberalism|liberal]], ingrained by his father's politics, and expressed regret at the [[conservatism|conservative]] trend in the Democratic Party in the 1990s. He was known to quote [[Albert Camus]] in his speeches, a habit that did not earn him the affection of [[blue-collar]] voters. However, he allowed for compromises with his innate liberalism, agreeing to go along with government funding for the [[Cleveland]] Gateway project, which included the construction of [[Jacobs Field]] and [[Gund Arena]].

Hagan has received praise from both sides of the political aisle. Republican [[Jim Petro]], the [[Ohio State Auditor|state auditor]] and former fellow county commissioner, called him "the most honorable politician I've ever known". He even earned the friendship of former rival Forbes, who, during the 1989 election, had described Hagan as a "[[pimp]]".

Hagan ran into political trouble when it was revealed that Cuyahoga County Treasurer [[Frank Gaul|Francis E. Gaul]] (famous for saying that "Most people in Cleveland think Camus is the whale at [[SeaWorld]]," in reference to Hagan) had made risky investments using county funds, having assured the Board of Commissioners that the Secured Assets Fund Earnings fund was free of risk.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=12505 |title=Biography: Gaul, Francis E. |publisher=OurCampaigns.com |access-date=September 4, 2012}}</ref> Hagan was called as a witness for the [[Defense (legal)|defense]] in Gaul's trial, saying that he had "implicitly" trusted Gaul's reassurances that the investments were safe.

It was 1994, however, and the booming economy mitigated the county treasury's losses and Hagan managed to win re-election to the board of commissioners.

In 1996, Hagan announced that he would retire from electoral politics after his term expired at the end of 1998, stating: "I'm in the twilight of a mediocre career. But I'm looking forward to going to the grocery store without someone asking me for a job."<ref name="retire"/>

In [[2002 Ohio gubernatorial election|2002]], he ran for the office of [[Governor of Ohio]] and lost to the incumbent [[United States Republican Party|Republican]], [[Bob Taft|Robert A. Taft III]]. Hagan's campaign against Taft using a [[duck]] quacking "Taftquack" raised trademark issues with the [[Aflac|American Family Life Insurance Company's]] trademarked "AFLAC" quacking duck. The federal court in the Northern District of Ohio found that Hagan's commercial neither infringed nor diluted the AFLAC mark. 266 F. Supp. 2d 682.

In February 2004, Hagan announced his intention to run again for a seat on the Cuyahoga County commission against fellow Democrat and former colleague, [[Tim McCormack]]. Hagan easily defeated McCormack in the Democratic primary election and faced no Republican opposition in the November 2004 general election. In November 2008, he was re-elected to the Cuyahoga County commission without opposition.

In November 2009, the voters of [[Cuyahoga County]] voted to change its governmental structure. Hagan retired as Cuyahoga County Commissioner in 2011, when the county switched to an Executive-Council form of government.<ref>{{cite web |last=Beres |first=Tom |title=Between the Lines: Commissioner Tim Hagan's farewell |url=http://www.wkyc.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=163025 |url-status=dead |publisher=wkyc.com |date=December 12, 2010 |access-date=September 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130210002841/http://www.wkyc.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=163025 |archive-date=February 10, 2013}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:KateTimDance.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Mulgrew and Hagan]]
In 1973, Hagan married Jeanne Marie Carney. Carney's father, John Carney, a successful property developer and later judge, helped Hagan to get his start in Democratic politics in his brother James Carney's 1971 campaign for [[mayor of Cleveland]].<ref name="retire"/> They had two daughters, Eleanor and Marie.<ref name=Cleveland /> They divorced in 1995. In 1999, Hagan married actress [[Kate Mulgrew]].<ref name=Cleveland>{{cite web |url=http://www.totallykate.com/articles/clevm200.html |title=Two to Tango |work=Cleveland Magazine |publisher=totallykate.com |first=Shari M. |last=Sweeney |date=February 2000 |accessdate=June 27, 2012}}</ref> As of 2014, they had divorced.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://soundcloud.com/totallykate-website/kate-mulgrew-interview-april-15-2015 |title=Kate Mulgrew Interview April 15, 2015 |work=Totally Kate Official Website |via=Totally Kate |date=April 2015 |access-date=April 15, 2015}}</ref>

Hagan has a close relationship with members of the [[Kennedy political family|Kennedy family]]—he is a godfather to Katherine Kennedy Townsend, one of [[Robert F. Kennedy]]'s grandchildren, and was a pallbearer at the funeral of [[Stephen Edward Smith|Stephen E. Smith]], the late husband of [[Jean Kennedy Smith]].<ref name=Cleveland />

Hagan's father, [[Robert E. Hagan]], served as a county commissioner on the board of commissioners of [[Trumbull County, Ohio]], and in the [[Ohio General Assembly]]. Hagan's brother [[Bob Hagan|Robert F. Hagan]] was a member of the [[Ohio House of Representatives]].

==See also==
{{portal|Biography}}
* [[Ohio gubernatorial elections]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Lee Fisher]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[List of Governors of Ohio|Governor of Ohio]]|years=[[2002 Ohio gubernatorial election|2002]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ted Strickland]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagan, Tim}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Germany]]
[[Category:Cleveland State University alumni]]
[[Category:County commissioners in Ohio]]
[[Category:Hagan family]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Ohio Democrats]]
[[Category:Politicians from Youngstown, Ohio]]
[[Category:Youngstown State University alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Ohio politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Ohio politicians]]