Tom Ganley

Thomas D. Ganley (December 11, 1942 – August 24, 2016) was an American businessman and politician who was an unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate.

Tom Ganley was born on December 11, 1942 and was an Ohio native.

As a member of the first graduating class of St. Peter Chanel High School in Bedford, Ohio, he became the first inductee into the school's hall of fame.

Ganley grew up in a middle-class home in Garfield Heights, Ohio.

His father was a mechanic on Brunswick automatic pin setting machines and his mother was a waitress.

Although his parents were not well educated, they stressed education for their son.

Ganley began selling motor vehicles as a part-time job while still a student at Chanel High School in Bedford, Ohio.

He purchased his first new vehicle dealership, Eastway Rambler, in Euclid in 1968.

In 1975, Tom purchased an AMC-Jeep store in North Olmsted.

In 1978, Ganley became the owner of Ganley Lincoln-Mercury in Middleburg Heights, Budget Rent a Car at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Ganley Dodge of Bedford.

In 1979, he added Ganley Oldsmobile in Lakewood which eventually also sold Subaru and Suzuki.

During the recession of 1980–1981, Ganley consolidated the growth of his various businesses.

In 1982, he added Budget Rent a Car of Akron, followed by Parma Imports in 1983 and Ganley Dodge West in 1984.

Tom Ganley oversaw what had become the largest automotive group in Ohio, comprising 32 dealerships and employing over 1,000 people.

Ganley had expanded his dealership holdings into Summit and Stark counties and established the Ganley name in Greater Columbus with the opening of a Mitsubishi dealership.

Under his leadership, the company continued to grow to include Chevrolet, Ford, and Chrysler as well as imports such as Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Honda and BMW.

In 2005, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro took legal action against one of Ganley's dealerships, Ganley Ford West of Cleveland, for allegedly deceptive and unfair business practices in its advertising.

Two days after Hurricane Katrina, the dealership had advertised special deals on cars moved out of Louisiana.

After complaints from the Better Business Bureau, Petro initiated an investigation and found that Ganley had not received any cars from Louisiana.

Ganley had been sued more than 400 times in connection with his auto dealerships for complaints including age discrimination, gender discrimination and deceptive business practices.

Ganley formally announced his candidacy for the United States Senate (Ohio) on July 1, 2009.

In making his announcement Ganley stated "I am a businessman, not someone who ever thought about being a professional politician, but maybe that's what's needed in Washington now–someone who understands financial responsibility and what it takes for a business and a country to be competitive. Someone who has built a business from scratch. Someone who knows how to create jobs. Someone who has met a payroll and knows his employees are dependent on him."

Ganley had talked openly earlier that year of his desire to enter the race for the United States Senate in order to give Ohio voters a clear choice.

Although Ganley had never served in elected office, he believed that he could win the Senate seat being vacated by George V. Voinovich.

Ganley said "I have a great passion to see this through to a conclusion, to a victory."

Ganley, because of his involvement in the business community in Ohio, had name recognition in northern Ohio.

He said that America needs businessmen in Washington, D.C., and that he believed the time of the career politician may be ending.

On February 18, 2010, Ganley abruptly made the decision to end his bid for the Republican nomination for the US Senate.

On July 13, 2010, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) announced that Tom Ganley had advanced to the top level of the Young Guns Program of the NRCC, despite being 67 years old.

According to the NRCC "Ganley has proven his ability to build a winning campaign and achieve substantial fundraising goals."

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched attacks against Ganley, accusing him of being a dishonest car salesman attempting to buy his way into Congress.

Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Stephen Loomis responded to that charge by pointing out that Ganley is a major supporter of police charities and regularly donates his private plane to bring out-of-town family members to the funerals or bedsides of fallen local police officers.

Loomis was quoted as saying "Don't let them beat him up too badly about having a corporate airplane because he uses it selflessly. It is unfair if they are trying to portray him as some kind of corporate, egomaniac, big money guy."

Ganley easily won the Republican primary on May 4, 2010.

Shortly before the primary, Ganley received the endorsement of Ohio's Morning Journal newspaper.

In April 2011, Ganley agreed to pay $300,000 to current and former black employees to settle a 2007 racial discrimination case.

Ganley had extended his business interests to include one of the largest independently owned auto financing companies in the nation as well as an insurance company.

He also sat on the Board of Directors of Independence Bank.

After ending his race for the US Senate and instead devoted his energy to running for the US House of Representatives, in the 13th District of Ohio against incumbent Democrat Betty Sutton.

Ganley filed a petition with the Summit County elections board to run for the House seat, immediately making the contest a toss-up.