No two left feet for this right-winger

When accused of dancing around political issues, Phil Heimlich places any blame on his maternal grandparents – Kathryn and Arthur Murray, (pictured) inducted in July into the National Museum of Dance Hall of Fame.

Heimlich, seeking re-election as Hamilton County Commissioner, received the news that his famous grandparents were inducted in a letter from Eleanor Lachman, the owner of three Cincinnati Arthur Murray Dance Studio franchises.

In their heyday in the 1940s and 1950s, the Murrays – whose daughter Jane Murray Heimlich is Commissioner Heimlich’s mother – were world famous, having a television show for more than a decade, 433 dance studio franchises and were known for their business acumen by owning the second oldest franchise company in the world.

That induction, Commissioner Heimlich suggested, would be the closest he would get to a personal connection to the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Dance Hall of Fame.

“The apple apparently fell relatively far from the family tree and I had to go for remedial work,” Heimlich said.

His two left feet left him so awkward when trying to trip the light fantastic, Heimlich said, that he actually took lessons at an Arthur Murray studio so as not to bring shame on his dancing heritage.

“I did it to at least be respectable so I could live up to the family name,” Heimlich said.

Heimlich’s Democratic opponent, David Pepper, was impressed with the Murrays' induction.

“The Heimlich’s have us beat in that category,” Pepper said of the dancing ability. “Kudos to them.

“But my mom (Francie) plays a mean accordion.”