Paul Cantwell
Member of the Indiana House of Representatives
from the 92nd district
In office
1992 (1992)–1994 (1994)
Succeeded byIrene Heffley
Personal details
Born(1927-09-15)September 15, 1927
Indianapolis, Indiana
DiedJune 30, 1997(1997-06-30) (aged 69)
Political partyDemocratic
RelationsMaria Cantwell (daughter)
ResidenceIndianapolis, Indiana
ProfessionMasonry contractor
Politician
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Navy
Years of service1945–1946
RankCoxswain

Paul Francis Cantwell (September 15, 1927 – June 30, 1997) was an American politician, active in Indianapolis, who served as a Democratic member of the Indiana House of Representatives.[1]

Early life

Cantwell was born September 15, 1927.[1] Cantwell's mother was active in Indianapolis politics.[2] Cantwell began working in politics as a political volunteer at the age of fifteen.[2] He served in the United States Navy during World War II.[3] He took classes at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, University of Indianapolis, and Butler University.[3]

Career

Cantwell began his career as a masonry contractor and became an advocate for trade unions.[2]

In 1965, he was hired to work as an administrative assistant for Congressman Andrew Jacobs Jr. in Washington, D.C.[2]

Beginning in 1966, Cantwell served as a Marion County Commissioner.[2] During part of his tenure as a commissioner, he was the president of the Marion County Board of Commissioners.[4] During part of his tenure on the board, he also served on the Metropolitan Thoroughfare Commission and as president of the Marion County Drainage Board.[5][6] Cantwell was a vocal supporter of James W. Beatty's Democratic primary challenge to incumbent Indianapolis mayor John J. Barton in the 1967 Indianapolis mayoral election.[7] Cantwell was standing with Robert F. Kennedy when he gave his 1968 speech on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.[2]

Cantwell began serving on the Indianapolis City-County Council after the city-county consolidation that established the Unigov in 1970. During part of his time in this body, he served as the minority leader.[8][9][10]

In 1975, Cantwell was one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit arguing that the legislation creating Unigov denied certain voters the equal protection guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The lawsuit, in part, argued that this right was violated by the fact that the Unigov legislation allowed four city-county councilmen elected at-large from the entire Unigov to sit on councils for special police and fire department districts which only served part of the Unigov area.[11][12] The lawsuit sought to have the four at-large council members barred from these boards, which would have had the consequence, with the composition of the council in 1975, of giving Democrats control of these boards.[12] The lawsuit was unsuccessful, with the plaintiffs losing the case in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.[11]

Cantwell resigned from the city council to focus on his campaign as the Democratic nominee in the 1979 Indianapolis mayoral election. Cantwell lost to incumbent Republican William H. Hudnut III in what was reported to have been the greatest margin of defeat for a Democratic candidate in an Indianapolis mayoral election in 150 years.[2] During the campaign, Cantwell struggled to raise funds, while Hadnut was able to spend a considerable amount on his own campaign.[13] Additionally at the time of the election, Cantwell's son Danny was awaiting trial for murder.[2] Cantwell argued that the charges were political, and were retribution for his investigations of police corruption.[2] Danny Cantrell would later be acquitted in 1980.[14]

In 1992, Cantwell was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives district 97.[2][15] He defeated Robert L. Murley in the Democratic primary, capturing more than 70% of the vote.[16] He won the general election by a narrow 250-vote margin over Republican nominee Irene Heffley.[17][18] On the same night he won this election, his daughter Maria, by then already a member of the Washington House of Representatives, won election to the United States House of Representatives.[2]

Cantwell was an opponent of the construction of the Victory Field baseball stadium in Indianapolis, strongly preferring to see the continued use of the existing Bush Stadium.[19]

In 1994, Cantwell lost reelection to Irene Heffley by 4,782 votes to 4,037 votes amid the year of the "Republican Revolution".[20][21]

Personal life

In 1997, Cantwell died of laryngeal cancer at the age of 69.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Paul F Cantwell". Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Mundy, Alicia (July 28, 2006). "Father introduced Cantwell to excitement, pitfalls of politics". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Paul Francis Cantwell". Indiana Legislator Database. Indiana General Assembly. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Public Notices". Newspapers.com. The Indianapolis News. October 28, 1968. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Indianapolis Recorder 22 April 1967 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program". newspapers.library.in.gov. Indianapolis Recorder. April 22, 1967. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Cantwell Named Drainage Board Head". Newspapers.com. The Indianapolis News. January 28, 1966. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Cantwell Rakes Mayor Barton's Fiscal Policies". Newspapers.com. The Indianapolis Star. March 21, 1967. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  8. ↑ "JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE City-County Council OF INDIANAPOLIS-MARION COUNTY State of Indiana FROM JANUARY 1, 1978 to DECEMBER 31, 1978". City-County Council of Indianapolis-Marion County. 1979. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  9. ↑ "JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE City-County Council OF INDIANAPOLIS-MARION COUNTY State of Indiana FROM JANUARY 1, 1977 to DECEMBER 31, 1977". City-County Council of Indianapolis-Marion County. 1978. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  10. ↑ Owen, C. James; Willbern, York (December 31, 1985). "7. Reorganization: Promise and Performance". Governing Metropolitan Indianapolis. University of California Press. pp. 107–136. doi:10.1525/9780520317024-010. ISBN 9780520317024. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  11. 1 2 "Paul Cantwell, Glen Howard and Rozelle Boyd, Plaintiffs-appellees, v. William H. Hudnut, Iii, Mayor of Indianapolis, Joycebrinkman, George Tintera, Alan Kimbell and Paulahart, Members of the Indianapolis-marioncounty City-county Council,defendants-appellants.paul Cantwell, Glen Howard and Rozelle Boyd,plaintiffs-cross-appellants, v. William H. Hudnut, Iii, Mayor of Indianapolis, Joycebrinkman, George Tintera, Alan Kimbell and Paulahart, Members of the Indianapolis-marioncounty City-county Council,defendants-cross-appellees, 566 F.2d 30 (7th Cir. 1977)". Justia Law. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  12. 1 2 Demos Seek Change in Selection of Safety Director (December 20, 1975). "Demos Seek Change in Selection of Safety Director". newspapers.library.in.gov. Indianapolis Recorder. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  13. ↑ Owen, James; York, Wilbern. Governing Metropolitan Indianapolis: The Politics of Unigov. University of California Press. p. 175.
  14. ↑ Mundy, Alicia (July 28, 2006). "Father introduced Cantwell to excitement, pitfalls of politics". archive.seattletimes.com. Seattle Times. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Indiana House (District 97)". Capitol & Washington. March 3, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  16. ↑ "MARION COUNTY RESULTS". Newspapers.com. The Indianapolis Star. May 6, 1992. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  17. ↑ "The Cantwells can and do get elected". Newspapers.com. The Indianapolis Star. November 7, 1992. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  18. ↑ Booher, William J. (May 7, 1992). "25 new faces certain in next legislature". Newspapers.com. The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  19. ↑ Harris, Welton W. II (March 31, 1994). "Stadium foe vows to put up fight". Newspapers.com. The Indianapolis News.
  20. ↑ "Bill Schreiber's Bohemian Election" (PDF). The Howey Political Report. 1 (17): 3. December 1, 1994. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  21. ↑ "1994 Indiana Election Results" (PDF). The Howey Political Report. 1 (17): 3. December 1, 1994. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
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