Michael D. Dovilla (born March 13, 1975) is 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 ...

who represents the Seventeenth District since 2025. He was also in the Ohio House from 2011-2016. He is a Republican.

Career

Dovilla was raised in

Berea, Ohio Berea ( ) is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 18,545 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A western suburb of Cleveland, it is a part of the Greater Cleveland, Cleveland metropolitan area. Berea is home ...

, and graduated from

Baldwin-Wallace College Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio, United States. Established in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin, it merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallac ...

and

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

. A U.S. Navy veteran, he formerly worked as a Presidential appointee at the

U.S. Office of Personnel Management The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is an independent agency of the United States government that manages the United States federal civil service. The agency provides federal human resources policy, oversight, and support, and ...

, committee staffer for U.S. Senator

George Voinovich George Victor Voinovich (July 15, 1936June 12, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 1999 to 2011. He previously served as the 65th governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998 and as the 54th mayor of Clev ...

and a Presidential Management Intern at the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

. He is a member of

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of May 2024, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 83 active chapters, 7 associate chapters, a ...

and began a two-year term as national president of the fraternity in July 2016. Dovilla is a lieutenant commander in the Reserve Component of the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

, having earned his commission in 2002. In 2007-2008, he completed a 12-month deployment in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. He also manages The Dovilla Group, a strategic consulting firm.

Ohio House of Representatives

When incumbent

Matt Patten Matt Patten (born June 16, 1977) is a Democratic politician who served in the Ohio House of Representatives. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Patten was a labor organizer before beginning a career in the political sector. When Representative Tom ...

won a district in 2008 by a slim margin, he quickly became a big target to Republicans in 2010, and Dovilla was fielded to try and knock him off. Quickly decided the favorite, Dovilla still faced strong opposition in a negative and costly campaign. In an overwhelmingly Republican year, Dovilla bested Patten by about 2000 votes. He was sworn into his first term on January 3, 2011, and served as a member of the committees on Economic and Small Business Development; Education (vice-chairman, 2012); State Government and Elections and its Subcommittee on Redistricting; and Ways and Means (vice-chairman 2011-2012). In 2012, Dovilla was redistricted into the 7th District, composed of the same communities as the former 18th District (Berea, North Royalton, Olmsted Falls, Olmsted Township, and Strongsville). He was reelected to the house with 50.11% of the vote over his predecessor

, a margin of 122 votes. He was sworn into his second term on January 7, 2013, and served as a member of the committees on Finance and Appropriations and its Subcommittee on Higher Education; Military and Veterans Affairs; and Policy and Legislative Oversight (chairman). Dovilla also served as the non-voting House member of the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission from 2011 through 2016. In 2014, Patten again challenged Dovilla for his seat but withdrew his candidacy in August, leaving Dovilla unopposed in the General Election. Dovilla did not seek re-election in 2016 to run for 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 ...

, losing the Republican primary for the 24th District to

Matt Dolan Matthew John Dolan (born January 12, 1965) is an American politician and lawyer who most recently served in the Ohio Senate from 2017 to 2024, representing the state's 24th district. Prior, he served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 200 ...

References

External links

Dovilla for Ohio
''official campaign site'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dovilla, Mike Living people 1975 births American University alumni Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Ohio General Assembly Baldwin Wallace University alumni