Dan Burton

Danny Lee Burton (born June 21, 1938) is an American politician who was the U.S. Representative for IN's 5th congressional district, and previously the IN's 6th congressional district, serving from 1983 until 2013.

He is a member of the Republican Party and was part of the Tea Party Caucus.

Burton was born in Indianapolis, the son of Bonnie L. (née Hardesty) and Charles W. Burton.

His father, a former policeman, was abusive to his mother, and never held a job for very long.

The family moved constantly, living in trailer parks, cabins, and motels.

In June 1950, some years after the couple divorced, his mother went to the police and got a restraining order against his father.

He responded by kidnapping Burton's mother.

Burton and his younger brother and sister were briefly sent to the Marion County Children's Guardian Home.

After his mother escaped, Burton's father went to jail for two years.

Burton's mother remarried, and Burton and his younger brother and sister had happier teenage years.

Burton worked as a caddy at a local country club in order to make ends meet, where he learned the golf skills that led to his winning a statewide golf championship in high school.

He served in the United States Army from 1956 to 1957, before leaving active duty to return to college but remained in the Army Reserves from 1957 to 1962.

He graduated from Shortridge High School in 1957, and attended Indiana University (1958–59) and the Cincinnati Bible Seminary (now known as Cincinnati Christian University) (1959–60).

Burton was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives from 1967 to 1968 and again from 1977 to 1980 and the Indiana State Senate from 1969 to 1970 and again from 1981 to 1982.

After school, Burton became a real estate broker and he founded the Dan Burton Insurance Agency in 1968.

Burton first ran for Congress in 1970, losing to Democratic incumbent Andy Jacobs in Indiana's 11th congressional district.

Burton ran again in 1972, losing in the Republican primary to William Hudnut.

After the 1980 census, the Republican-controlled state legislature reconfigured the 6th District into a heavily Republican district focused on the suburbs north of Indianapolis.

The district's four-term Democratic incumbent, David W. Evans, opted to challenge Jacobs in the Democratic primary (which he lost) rather than face certain defeat.

Burton jumped into the Republican primary halfway into his second stint in the state senate, and won a five-way Republican primary with 37% of the vote.

He then defeated Democrat George Grabianowski in the general election 65%–35%.

He would be reelected 14 times, never dropping below 62% in a general election.

In 1995, Burton authored legislation targeting foreign companies that did business with Cuba.

The bill allowed foreign companies to be sued in American courts if, in dealings with the government of Fidel Castro, they acquired assets formerly owned by Americans.

In February 1996, Cuba shot down two small Brothers to the Rescue planes piloted by anti-Castro Cuban-Americans.

As part of the White House response to crack down on Cuba, President Clinton signed the Helms–Burton Act into law.

Burton was a consistently conservative vote in the US House.

His district was renumbered as the 5th District after the 2000 census.

In 2008, Burton faced a reasonably well-funded challenger in the Republican primary for the first time since his initial run for the seat in former Marion County Coroner John McGoff.

Burton defeated McGoff 52% to 45% in the closest Republican primary election of his career.

In 2010, he faced six challengers in the Republican primary.

He won the primary with a plurality of 30%.

He defeated State Representative Luke Messer (28%), McGoff (19%), State Representative Mike Murphy (9%), Brose McVey (8%), Andy Lyons (4%), and Ann Adcock (3%).

Burton only carried a majority in one county (55%): Huntington.

In the 109th Congress, he had a 100% rating from the National Right to Life Committee.

In 2012, Burton was due to face a number of challengers in the Republican primary including McGoff, former U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks, former U.S. Congressman David McIntosh, and attorney Jack Lugar.

On the Democratic side, State Representative Scott Reske and labor activist Tony Long entered the race.

While the reconfigured 5th is still a Republican stronghold, it is said to be slightly more Democratic than its predecessor.

In January 2012, Burton abruptly announced his retirement, saying, "I don't want to get into it, it's about personal problems with family health."

Brooks won the election.