Nancy Garland (born January 25, 1954) is an American clinical assistant, and a former Democratic 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 ...

, representing the 20th District from 2009-2012.

Career

After being raised in

Washington Court House, Ohio Washington Court House (often abbreviated as Washington C.H.) is a city in Fayette County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 14,401 at the 2020 census. The area was initially settled by Virginia veterans of the America ...

, Garland attended

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

before attending

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, where he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His wr ...

for law. She has been an aide for Congressman

Jack Hightower Jack English Hightower (September 6, 1926 – August 3, 2013) was a former Democratic U.S. representative from Texas's 13th congressional district, serving five terms from 1975 to 1985. Early life Born in Memphis, the seat of Hall County in Wes ...

, and spent decades of lobbying in Columbus and Washington, D.C., where she worked for the American Optometric Association and the American Physical Therapy Association. Garland most recently served as executive director of the Ohio Physical Therapy Association.

Ohio House of Representatives

Democrat Bev Campbell had been chosen to try to take the 20th District from incumbent Republican Jim McGregor in 2008, but Representative

Ted Celeste Theodore S. Celeste (born September 27, 1945) is an American businessman and former politician. He is a member of the Democratic Party. After serving in the Peace Corps, Celeste, the brother of former Ohio governor and U.S. ambassador Dick Cel ...

encouraged Garland to enter the race. A primary race resulted between Garland and Campbell. Garland won the race by about 2,750 votes. The general election against McGregor proved to be one of the closest watched House races of the cycle, with Republicans hitting Garland's lobbying history negatively. In the end, Garland defeated McGregor by more than 2,000 votes. In 2010, Garland was again targeted by Republicans, and she faced attorney Matt Carle in the general election. The campaign again proved to be negative. In an overwhelmingly Republican year, Garland still beat Carle by 2,000 votes. In her second term, Garland served as a member of the Criminal Justice Committee; the Finance and Appropriations Committee, as ranking member of the Higher Education Subcommittee; the Financial Institutions, Housing, and Urban Development Committee; the Economic and Small Business Development Committee; and on the Health and Aging Committee. She also was a member of the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee, the Hospital Measures Advisory Council, and the Joint Legislative Committee on Medicaid Technology and Reform, and was the Chairman of the Ohio Women's Democratic Caucus.

Initiatives and positions

A reintroduction from the

128th Ohio General Assembly The One Hundred Twenty-eighth Ohio General Assembly was the legislative body of the state of Ohio from January 5, 2009, until December 31, 2010. Ted Strickland was Ohio Governor for its entirety. It was composed of the Ohio Senate and the Ohio ...

, Garland supports legislation that bans

texting Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, tablet computers, smartwatches, desktops/laptops, or ...

while driving, and voted legislation to do this out of committee. The bill passed the full Ohio House. Garland has been a vocal advocate about finding measures to prevent

prescription drug abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definitions ...

. "It is imperative that we enact this law to save Ohioans from the scourge of prescription-drug abuse," she has said.

References

External links

The Ohio House of Representatives: Rep. Nancy Garland (D-New Albany)
''official site''
The Ohio Ladies' Gallery: Rep. Nancy Garland (D-New Albany)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garland, Nancy Living people People from New Albany, Ohio Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Ohio General Assembly Women state legislators in Ohio Ohio University alumni George Mason University alumni 1954 births People from Washington Court House, Ohio 21st-century American women politicians