John Sullivan

Early life, education, and early career

Sullivan was born in Oklahoma City and graduated from Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa. He subsequently entered Northeastern State University, where he received a B.B.A. in marketing, in 1992. Prior to holding elected office, Sullivan worked in the private sector for Love Travel Centers as a regional sales manager and for BAMA Transportation as a fleet manager.

Sullivan was a Republican member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1995 to 2002, where he served as minority whip.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In 2002, incumbent Steve Largent resigned from Congress to focus on his campaign for Governor. Sullivan ran in the ensuing special election, and was originally a long-shot candidate against First Lady Cathy Keating. However, after Sullivan placed first in the primary over Keating by a wide margin, she withdrew from the runoff election, and Sullivan became the Republican nominee. In the general election, Sullivan defeated Doug Dodd, the Democratic nominee, by a wide margin, winning 54–44 percent. He won a full term in the regular election in November 2002.

Tenure

During the 2004 election campaign, Sullivan's police record became public. Local media concluded he had at least three arrests:

for assault and battery of an off-duty police officer in 1982, when he was 17 years old, and for public intoxication and disturbing the peace in 1985, while still under-age. The most recent arrest, at age 27, was due to an outstanding bench warrant issued after he failed to appear in court for a traffic violation.

Sullivan voted to make the PATRIOT Act permanent, without any future option for Congressional review or revocation.

In the 110th Congress, he served as an Assistant Minority Whip under House Minority Whip Roy Blunt. He held the same position in both the 111th and 112th Congresses under Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy.

On October 3, 2008, Sullivan was one of two Oklahoma Republican congressmen to vote for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 which created the Troubled Assets Relief Program. On December 9, 2008, Sullivan voted against a bailout of the automobile industry saying "taxpayers should not be asked to reward failure by subsidizing the very business practices that got them into this situation in the first place". He also was a proponent of the 2009 Tea Party protests which condemned any bailouts, and also spoke at a rally in Tulsa.

On December 16, 2010, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) named Sullivan as the vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Power.

In December 2011, Sullivan was named a co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee's most significant fundraising effort of the 2012 election cycle, the annual March dinner. The dinner was viewed as a tremendous success, drawing in a record-breaking $12 million for republican Congressional candidates across the country. NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions of Texas praised Sullivan and the other co-chairman saying they did "a phenomenal job in their efforts to make this years event a huge success".

Sullivan was tapped to serve on the House Energy and Commerce Leadership team for the 112th Congress. He was the primary sponsor of H.R. 1380, the New Alternative Transportation to Give America Solutions (NAT GAS) Act of 2011, legislation designed to decrease U.S. dependence on foreign oil by encouraging more natural gas powered vehicles on American roads.

Committee assignments

Committee on Energy and Commerce

Subcommittee on Energy and Power (Vice Chair)

Subcommittee on Environment and Economy

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (Vice Chair – Energy and Power)

Personal life

He and his wife, Judy Beck, have four children.

Alcoholism

On May 28, 2009, Sullivan entered the Betty Ford Center in California to receive treatment for his addiction to alcohol.