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Kilburn pitches his honesty as key to Congress

He says Washington is in need of his outspokeness and small-town values.

Warren County Commissioner Mike Kilburn, pictured inside his Lebanon funeral home, Stine-Kilburn Funeral Home. Kilburn has filed petitions to run in the May Republican primary to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District.

GARY STELZER/MBR Warren County Commissioner Mike Kilburn, pictured inside his Lebanon funeral home, Stine-Kilburn Funeral Home. Kilburn has filed petitions to run in the May Republican primary to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District.

ENLARGE PHOTO

By Ed Richter, Staff Writer 3:23 PM Saturday, January 30, 2010

LEBANON — He calls himself a “poor boy from Morrow,” but Warren County’s outspoken conservative Commissioner Mike Kilburn believes his small-town values are what is needed in the U.S. Congress.

Last week, Kilburn, 55, filed petitions with the Hamilton County Board of Elections to run in the May 4 Republican primary to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Miami Twp., Clermont County, in Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District.

Kilburn said he’s running because he’s accomplished a lot in his nearly decades as a county commissioner. “I trust my judgment about issues involved in Congress,” he said. “I’m comfortable in making decisions, and I have a good feel for where the country should go. I see Jean Schmidt as a placeholder, and I have never seen her express outrage with the (President Barack) Obama situation.”

Conservatism at a young age

Kilburn said growing up on the family farm outside Morrow taught him how to be self-sufficient and how to run a small business.

His grandfather moved to Ohio from eastern Kentucky in 1920 and had seven sons. His father, Charlie, sold insurance while his mother worked for 55 years as the administrator of a nursing home that she and Kilburn’s grandmother owned. Kilburn said his father liked to see family members work on the farm. And over the years, the farm has been a place where he and relatives worked to raise cattle and horses.

“I’m not a man of a whole lot of skills and if I can, I prefer to do it myself,” Kilburn said. “Dad always said that it’s not how much money you make, it’s how you spend it.”

Kilburn said he and his dad built most of his house themselves in Salem Twp. in 1995. Before that, he and his late wife, Debbie, and their children lived in Clearcreek Twp. for 15 years.

One of his high school friends, John Wayne “Kip” Thomas, a lifelong Democrat who lives in Clarksville, said Kilburn is “a country boy who speaks his mind and has a lot of common sense.”

Of Kilburn’s outspokeness, Thomas said, “he’s always been that way. You won’t see him being PC ... He’ll be a good congressman who will vote his conscience for the people back home. I think he can beat Schmidt.”

After graduating from Little Miami High School, where he played football, basketball and baseball, Kilburn went on to Ohio State University, graduating in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He earned a master’s in business administration in 1978 from Howard University. Kilburn spent several years as a nursing home administrator in the Dayton area. In 1987, he formed the Stine-Kilburn Funeral Home in Lebanon, where he serves as president and a funeral director.

‘Hard-nosed’ commissioner

In 1982, Kilburn was the youngest person to be elected to the county commission at age 27. He has served for 28 years.

Over those years, Kilburn’s outspoken comments have drawn challenges from other GOP candidates. However, Kilburn has retained his seat each election by winning 60 percent or more of the votes.

“I always could ... sleep well each night because I told them how I felt about things and I told it the way I thought it was,” Kilburn said. “I think people appreciate that from a friend and neighbor — ‘Make me mad, but tell me the truth.’ I’ve always been right up front with people, and I know elected officials who would tell you a lie when the truth would be a better story.”

GOP county commission candidate Tom Ariss recalls going toe-to-toe with Kilburn over several issues during his 16-plus years as the county’s sheriff.

“We had differences, but outside of the job, we got along pretty well,” Ariss said. “The man speaks his mind because he cares about the county. Kilburn’s strength is how he projects himself. He’s steadfast in his opinions and stands behind them. I don’t know of any weaknesses other than he can be condescending at times in his commissioner role ... He’s hard-nosed as hell.”

Last year, that outspokeness also landed Kilburn a spot in the national spotlight as one of the “Worst Persons in the World” on MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.”

Liberal commentator Olbermann criticized Kilburn about not wanting to accept “filthy money” from the Obama administration when Warren County was offered federal stimulus funds.

Kilburn has voted against every resolution that involves federal stimulus funding for the county and against Community Development Block Grant funding.

He said he “could not believe it” when told he made Olbermann’s list.

“But I meant every word of it,” Kilburn said.

Kilburn’s late wife, Debbie, helped keep him grounded, and sometimes she let him know when his outspokeness may have crossed a line.

“She got on me a few times and would cringe on Wednesday when the paper came out,” Kilburn said. “She knew what I was made of and knew I was tough, but also honest, courteous and all about truth and efficiencies.”

After the 2006 commissioner’s race, Kilburn and Debbie talked about this being his last term.

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