Brad Wenstrup

Brad Robert Wenstrup (born June 17, 1958) is an American politician, Army Reserve officer, and Doctor of Podiatric Medicine, who has been the U.S. Representative for OH's 2nd congressional district since 2013. A Republican, he defeated U.S. Representative Jean Schmidt in the 2012 Republican primary election and Democrat William R. Smith in the 2012 general election. Wenstrup is a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and an Iraq War veteran. After the shooting of Congressman Steve Scalise on the morning of June 14, 2017, Wenstrup attended to the wounded congressman until he was transported to MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

Early life, education, and medical career
Wenstrup was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Joan (née Carletti) and Frank John "Jack" Wenstrup. His father was of German, Irish, and English descent, while his mother was of Italian ancestry. In 1976, he graduated from St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati. Wenstrup graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati. He then attended the Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science where he earned an B.S. in Biology and a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine degree. He practiced podiatric medicine in Cincinnati for over 24 years.

Military service
Wenstrup joined the U.S. Army Reserve in 1998, attaining the rank of colonel. In 2005-06, he served a tour in Iraq as a podiatrist. Wenstrup served with the 344th Combat Support Hospital in Iraq from 2005 to 2006, calling his deployment "the worst thing that ever happened to me and the best thing I ever got to do." Wenstrup was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Action Badge.

During his tour of duty in Iraq, Wenstrup's sister asked what she could send him. He told her "I wear the same clothes everyday, we're fed, and most days I'm not leaving the base. But the people here have nothing. They were under an oppressed regime and have had nothing for so long." His sister helped organize donations of toys, school supplies, and hygiene supplies donated by local companies, and Wenstrup worked with the base chaplain to distribute the donations to the locals.

2009 Cincinnati mayoral election
Wenstrup ran for mayor of Cincinnati against incumbent Mark Mallory in the November 2009 election. Mallory defeated Wenstrup by a 54%-to-46% margin.

2012
He ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the newly redrawn Ohio's 2nd congressional district, held by incumbent Republican U.S. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt. He was endorsed by the Anderson Tea Party and the Ohio Liberty Council, which is a coalition of Ohio Tea Party groups. In a surprise, he defeated her in the March Republican primary by 49%-to-43%. She carried six counties (all located in eastern part of the CD), while Wenstrup won the two most populous counties (both located in the western part of CD): Hamilton County (59%) and Clermont County (50%).

Wenstrup defeated Democrat William R. Smith, 59%–41%.

2014
Wenstrup won re-election to a second term by defeating Democrat Marek Tyszkiewicz 66%–34%.

2016
Wenstrup won re-election to a third term, defeating Democrats William Smith and Janet Everhard (write in) 65%–32.82%–2.17%.

Tenure
Wenstrup began his first term on January 3, 2013. During his first year in office he held an open town hall meeting in each of the 8 counties in his congressional district, the last of which was in Adams County on July 29, 2013.

He has held a number of conference call town hall 'meetings' (at least one in 2017 and at least three in 2016). The day of a 'meeting' a message is left with the time to call in that evening, the phone number and the meeting code. Opportunities are given to ask questions (live) and answer polls.

Wenstrup's customer service survey received accolades from Roll Call, with 75% of respondents saying they were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their experience with Congressman Wenstrup's office.

Committee assignments

 * Committee on Armed Services
 * Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
 * Subcommittee on Military Personnel
 * Committee on Veterans' Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity
 * Subcommittee on Health
 * United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
 * Department of Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture Subcommittee
 * Emerging Threats Subcommittee

Personal life
Wenstrup is married to Monica Wenstrup (Klein). She works as a financial consultant. They have one son, Brad, Jr.