Jennette Bradley

Bradley was born in Columbus, Ohio. Her family settled in a neighborhood on Columbus' east side after her father retired from the United States Army. After graduating from East High School in 1970, Bradley attended Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio and earned a degree in psychology.[1]

Bradley took a job with the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority. She became the first black woman to serve as the executive director of the Authority when she was 28 years old.[1][2] In 1986, Bradley moved to Washington, D.C. She returned to Columbus in 1989 and worked as a senior executive for Huntington National Bank.[1]

Bradley entered the 1991 Columbus City Council race as a Republican candidate. She won, becoming the first African American woman to serve on the Council. She was reelected in 1995 and 1999. During her tenure she was chair of City Council's Recreation and Parks and Public Utilities committees. She resigned from the council when she became Lieutenant Governor in 2003.[3]

In 2002 Governor Bob Taft announced he had chosen Bradley to replace Maureen O'Connor as his running mate. Many conservatives did not support Bradley because she was pro-choice. Critics of the Taft-Bradley ticket were also concerned about her City Council vote to extend city workers' health care benefits to include domestic partners and same-sex couples.[3] Bradley was then criticized for having later voted against this legislation.

Taft and Bradley won the race with approximately 58% of the vote. Bradley became the third female Lieutenant Governor in Ohio and the first African-American woman elected to the office. She also became the first black female Lieutenant Governor of any U.S. state.[1]

After taking office, Bradley was appointed by Taft to head the Ohio Department of Commerce, the Clean Ohio Council, and the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.[3] In 2004, the governor also appointed Bradley to the "Jobs Cabinet." Following the resignation of Joseph T. Deters as state treasurer, Taft appointed Bradley to the post, effective January 2005.[4] However, Bradley was defeated by conservative Tea Party-backed Ashtabula County Auditor Sandra O'Brien in the May 2006 Republican primary election.[5]

In 2016, Bradley was among the 9 people chosen from over 100 candidates to serve on a committee to review the charter of the Columbus City Council.[6]

• List of female lieutenant governors in the United States

• Appearances on C-SPAN