Mike Synar

Michael Lynn Synar (October 17, 1950 – January 9, 1996) was an American Democratic politician who represented Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district in Congress for eight terms.

Early life and career Synar was born in Vinita, Oklahoma, degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1977. Synar was also a Rotary International Scholar and attended the Graduate School of Economics at the University of Edinburgh (in Scotland) in 1973, and earned an M.A. from Northwestern University in 1974.

Despite having no criminal prosecution experience, in 1989 Synar served as the lead House manager as Congress conducted an impeachment trial of then-U.S. federal judge Alcee Hastings, who had been acquitted by a jury in a criminal trial but later impeached on bribery charges but was removed from the bench in his impeachment trial. Ironically, Hastings was later elected to the U.S. Congress from Florida, and re-elected 14 times becoming the dean of the Florida congressional delegation in 30 years in office. Hastings later was in line to chair the House Select Committee on Intelligence, but was passed over by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In 1992, the House Committee on Government Operations issued its 17th report, known colloquially as "the Synar Report", but formally as "Misplaced Trust: The Bureau of Indian Affairs Mismanagement of the Indian Trust Fund." Synar was Chairman of the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Subcommittee, which produced the report for the Committee on Government Operations (Chairman, John Conyers Jr.) at the direction of the 102nd Congress. The Synar Report led to the passage of the Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994, and helped to pave the way for the class action lawsuit, Cobell v. Babbitt, initiated in 1996.

In 1994, Synar was narrowly defeated in a Democratic primary runoff election by Virgil Cooper, a retired high school principal. Though Cooper's campaign spent less than $20,000 itself, some money was spent by outside interests that were opposed to Synar, including the National Rifle Association of America, tobacco companies, and cattlemen. Cooper seized on Synar's connections with Japanese businesses with a bumper sticker slogan of "Sayonara Synar."

Cooper won by just 2,609 votes out of 92,987 cast, a 51–49 margin. Cooper was subsequently defeated in the general election by Republican Tom Coburn by a 52–48 margin.

After Congress After Congress, Synar served as the Chairman of the Campaign for America Project and of the National Bankruptcy Review Commission.

He was also awarded the 1995 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

Synar died of a brain tumor on January 9, 1996, at the age of 45. The American College of Physicians offers a national public service award in honor of Rep. Synar's public efforts against tobacco smoking. His name is also attached to the Mike Synar Center at Northeastern State University in Muskogee, Oklahoma. The Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley annually awards up to five graduate research fellowships in honor of Rep. Synar to distinguished graduate students who are writing their dissertations on an aspect of American politics.