Eric H. Kearney (born 1963) is an American
Democratic politician who served as the state senator for the 9th District in the
Ohio Senate
The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of t ...
.
Life and career
In 1981, Kearney graduated from
St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati. He later received his
Juris Doctor
A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from the
University of Cincinnati Law School, and his
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
in English from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
.
Kearney cofounded Sesh Communications, one of the largest African American–owned publishing companies in the area, which produces ''
The Cincinnati Herald'', ''The Dayton Defender'', and ''Our Week''.
He is a partner in the law firm of Cohen, Todd, Kite & Standford, LLC.
Ohio Senate
When incumbent
Mark Mallory
Mark Mallory (born April 2, 1962) is an American politician who served as the 68th Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first two-term Mayor under the City's new Stronger-Mayor system, the first directly elect ...
resigned from the Senate, Kearney as well as
Catherine Barrett,
Tyrone Yates
Tyrone Keith Yates (born January 22, 1954) is a Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge. He was elected on November 8, 2011.
Judge Yates is a former Democratic member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 33rd District from 20 ...
,
Steve Driehaus,
David Pepper and
Alicia Reece all were in the running to replace him. However, Senate Democrats decided on Kearney to ultimately take the appointment.
Only months into his appointed term, Kearney again faced Barrett in the primary election. However, only weeks before the primary election day, Barrett dropped out of the race, securing Kearney as the Democratic nominee. In the general election Kearney went on to face Republican Tom Brown. While the index favored Democrats, precautions were still taken due to the seat being lost only two cycles earlier to Republican
Janet C. Howard. However, Kearney went on to defeat Brown by 34,000 votes.
For the 127th General Assembly, Kearney was appointed by Minority Leader
Teresa Fedor to the Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee. He also was selected to serve as treasurer of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus. In his first full term, Kearney also began his annual walk from Cincinnati to the
Ohio Statehouse
The Ohio Statehouse is the List of state and territorial capitols in the United States, state capitol building and seat of government for the U.S. state of Ohio. The Greek Revival building is located on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio, ...
to underscore their commitment to fighting childhood obesity and supporting physical education.
In the 2010 election cycle, Kearney faced Republican Deborah McKenney in the general election, but won a second term by about 32,000 votes. In January 2012, Kearney was elected Minority Leader of the Senate, succeeding
Capri Cafaro
Capri Silvestri Cafaro (born November 21, 1977) is a former Democratic Party (United States), Democratic member of the Ohio Senate, representing the 32nd District from 2007 to 2016. From the Mahoning Valley, Cafaro served three terms as an Ohio ...
.
Kearney served as Minority Leader for the 130th General Assembly. On November 20, 2013, Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Ed FitzGerald
Edward FitzGerald (born July 10, 1968) is an American politician who served as the first Cuyahoga County Executive from 2011 until 2015. He was the Democratic Party nominee for governor of Ohio in the 2014 election, and was defeated by the inc ...
picked Kearney to be his running mate. On December 10, Kearney stepped down from the ticket due to increasing controversy surrounding back taxes owed by himself and his wife, for which they blamed financial difficulties at the ''Herald''.
Kearney was featured in the 2016 documentary ''The Student Body'' for his sponsorship of S.B. 210, a bill requiring Ohio schools to administer
BMI tests to their students. Although an interview did occur, Kearney's reticence towards being interviewed was featured prominently in the film. Kearney voiced his continued support for these policies.
Electoral history
Personal life
Kearney is married to
Jan-Michele Kearney and together they have two children, Celeste and Asher. They live in Cincinnati.
Eric H. Kearney: Biography
, Ohio Senate
References
External links
The Ohio Senate: Senator Eric Kearney (D) - District 9
Eric Kearney for Senate
official campaign website
Eric H. Kearney
at Project Vote Smart
*''Follow the Money'' - Eric Kerney
2006
campaign contributions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearney, Eric
Democratic Party Ohio state senators
21st-century members of the Ohio General Assembly
Politicians from Cincinnati
St. Xavier High School (Ohio) alumni
1963 births
Living people
African-American state legislators in Ohio
21st-century African-American politicians
20th-century African-American politicians