John Merle Poda Jr. (born 1936 or 1937) is an American politician from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

who served as a member of the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Colu ...

for the Democratic Party. A public relations officer by trade, Poda's father was a member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

for a number of years. Poda initially served as a Summit County Commissioner, but in 1966, after the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights move ...

mitigated legislative districts represented by a single individual, Poda returned to the House of Representatives. He won reelection in 1968 and 1970. In 1971, Ohio Governor John J. Gilligan chose

state Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

William B. Nye as a member of his cabinet, causing a vacancy 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 ...

. As a result, Poda sought and attained an appointment, and was sworn into the state Senate on January 14, 1971. However, citing the want to be closer to family more often, Poda decided not to run for a full term in the Senate, and was replaced by David Headley in 1973. In 1974, Poda ran for Summit County Auditor and won. However, in 1981, Poda was charged with receiving illegal campaign contributions. Following the incident Poda continued to serve as auditor, and eventually recovered politically from the damage. After Summit County revised their government to delete the office of auditor, Poda left office. He has not held elected office since.

References

County commissioners in Ohio Democratic Party Ohio state senators Living people 1936 births 20th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly {{Ohio-OHSenate-stub