Thomas W.L. Ashley, longtime Ohio lawmaker, dies

Thomas W. Ludlow Ashley, a 13-term Ohio Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives who was chiefly known for his work on housing and addressing the energy crisis of the 1970s, died of melanoma Tuesday at his home in Leland, Mich. He was 87.

Ashley - known colloquially as "Lud" - served Ohio's ninth district, which includes Lucas County and the city of Toledo, from 1955 to 1981.

As chairman of a House subcommittee on housing and community development, Ashley was a key supporter of legislation to provide federal grants to cities and counties to improve low- and moderate-income housing. "Americans sleep in better homes today because of Lud Ashley," Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) once said of Ashley's work on housing legislation.

In 1977, Ashley was appointed to an ad hoc energy committee by House Speaker Tip O'Neill (D-Mass.), who said he picked Ashley because he had "toughness, and a never-say-die attitude." A year later, Ashley helped the 40-member bipartisan group pass a series of energy bills aimed at reducing the nation's use of oil and increasing the budget for research into alternative energy sources.

Before losing his House seat in the Reagan landslide of 1980, the only time Ashley had come close to being defeated was in 1974. The race occurred only months after he'd been convicted of drunken driving and resisting arrest in Toledo, and Ashley eked out a victory over his Republican opponent by 3,500 votes.- The Washington Post