Charleta B. Tavares is a former member of the Ohio Senate. She represented the 15th District from 2011 to 2018. Her district included much of central Franklin County, including the cities of Bexley and Grandview Heights with the majority encompassing the historic neighborhoods of Columbus, Ohio. Tavares previously had served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1993 to 1998.
Charleta B. Tavares | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) | |
| Member of the Ohio Senate from the 15th district | |
| In office January 1, 2011 – December 31, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Ray Miller |
| Succeeded by | Hearcel Craig |
| Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from the 22nd district | |
| In office July 1, 1993 – December 31, 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Ray Miller |
| Succeeded by | Ray Miller |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Columbus, Ohio |
| Alma mater | |
| Profession | Legislator and non-profit President/CEO |
Life and career
editTavares has an extensive public service career starting as the Legislative Assistant to Ray Miller in the Ohio House of Representatives. She also served as Chief of the Children's Protection Section for Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher prior to her appointment in 1993, as state Representative and the first African-American and Democratic woman to serve in the Legislature from Franklin County in the state's history. Tavares was elected in 1994 and served until 1998. She was elected by her colleagues in 1996 to serve as Minority Whip, making her the first African-American woman ever to hold a leadership position in the Ohio Legislature.[1]
In 1998, Tavares gave up her seat to run unsuccessfully for Ohio Secretary of State. The Republican, J. Kenneth Blackwell won the election. However, Tavares was appointed to Columbus City Council in 1999, and won re-election that year.
Tavares was asked by the Democratic Party in 2002 to run as lieutenant governor with her running mate, Tim Hagan who was nominated to run for governor. They lost the election.[2] She won re-election to City Council in 2003 and 2007.[citation needed]
Ohio Senate
editIn 2010, Senator Ray Miller was term limited and unable to run for another term in the Ohio Senate. As a result, Tavares, Representative Dan Stewart, and politician novice Oyango Snell ran to replace him. Tavares won the Democratic primary nomination with 52.39% of the vote. She went on to defeat Republican Alicia Healy with 72.8% of the vote.
On January 3, 2011, Tavares was sworn into her first term in the Senate and once again became both the first Democratic and African-American woman to serve in the Ohio Senate from Central Ohio. She is also the first woman Democrat to serve in leadership in both the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate in Ohio's history.
In 2014, Tavares was elected as Assistant Senate Democratic Leader. She was re-elected to the Senate 15th District in 2014 with over 73% of the vote. She was also re-elected to her leadership post.[3] Tavares's legislative agenda includes providing benefits and protections for domestic workers, eliminating health disparities, eliminating disparities caused by school expulsions and suspensions, investing in Ohio's infrastructure, and creating equity and racial fairness in the judicial system. She has been an advocate for raising the minimum wage,[4] and for a refundable earned income tax credit.[5]
Committee assignments
editCommittee on Rules; Ways & Means (Ranking Member); Health and Human Services (Ranking Member); Finance; and Corrections Subcommittee (Finance). She was also appointed to the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR), Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee (JMOC), and the Constitutional Modernization Commission (co-chair).
Electoral history
edit| Election results | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Office | Election | Votes for Tavares | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | |||
| 1994 | Ohio House of Representatives | General | 23,866 | 100% | |||||||
| 1996 | General | 23,427 | 73.81% | David Glenn | Republican | 8,311 | 28.19% | ||||
| 1998 | Ohio Secretary of State | General | 1,404,081 | 43.97% | Ken Blackwell | Republican | 1,789,105 | 56.03% | |||
| 1999 | Columbus City Council | General | 72,396 | 15.32% | |||||||
| 2002 | Ohio Lieutenant Governor | General | 1,236,924 | 38.31% | Jennette Bradley | Republican | 1,865,007 | 57.76% | |||
| 2003 | Columbus City Council | General | 52,073 | 16.16% | |||||||
| 2007 | General | 60,833 | 17.83% | ||||||||
| 2010 | Ohio Senate | General | 60,563 | 72.32% | Alicia Healy | Republican | 23,183 | 27.68% | |||
| 2014 | General | 53,258 | 76.39% | Joe Healy | Republican | 16,461 | 23.61% | ||||
References
edit- ^ "Charleta Tavares for secretary of State". The Vindicator. 25 April 1998. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
- ^ "Tavares: Columbus must keep up services". German Village Gazette. 25 September 2003. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
- ^ "Ohio Senate Democrats keep current leadership in place". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cleveland. 2014-11-19. Retrieved 2014-11-26.
- ^ "Senate Democrats want minimum wage increase, affordable college". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cleveland. 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2015-01-22.
- ^ Siegel, Jim (2015-01-21). "Democrats in Ohio Senate lay out agenda". Columbus Dispatch. Columbus. Archived from the original on 2015-01-22. Retrieved 2015-01-22.