SECRETARY OF STATE JON HUSTED TO SPEAK FRIDAY ON "OHIO'S ECONOMIC GROWTH PLAN"

As Ohio’s 53rd Secretary of State, Jon Husted is responsible for oversight of elections in one of the nation’s most hotly-contested swing states. Under his leadership, Ohio delivered a smooth 2012 Presidential Election and 2014 Gubernatorial Election. To ensure all voters were treated fairly and equally, Husted has worked to implement uniform rules that included the first ever statewide absentee ballot application mailing to voters in all 88 counties in 2012 and again in 2014, as well as setting expansive hours for early, in-person voting. These efforts made it easier to vote and helped reduce the chance of long lines at the polls on Election Day.

 

From using technology to streamline the voting process to cleaning up Ohio’s voter rolls, and making it easier for military families to vote no matter where their service takes them, Jon is always looking to improve how we run elections in Ohio – and it’s getting noticed nationally. In 2013, the Washington Post’s blog “The Fix” named him one of their “Top 10 Rising Stars” in America. For his outreach to military families, Jon was recently recognized by the Association of the United States Army and Ohio was deemed an All-Star State by the Military Voter Protection Project. Under his watch, Ohio also received high marks for elections preparedness by voter advocacy groups, including Common Cause, the Verified Vote Foundation and Rutgers University Law School. In addition, Jon currently serves as co-chair of the National Association of Secretaries of State Election Committee and previously served on the organization’s Executive Board and as Vice President for its Midwestern Region.

In addition to serving as chief elections official, the Secretary of State is also the custodian of business filings in Ohio. Secretary Husted is committed to ensuring that Ohio’s job creators have a positive first interaction with the state of Ohio. He has achieved this through innovative reforms like allowing businesses to file online and reminds his team that government should be in the business of good customer service, working every day to eliminate bureaucratic delays that cost businesses time and money. During his tenure Ohio has seen record business filings five years in a row.

 

Jon Husted was first elected to public office in 2000 as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. Only four years later, Jon’s colleagues elected him Speaker of the Ohio House, making him one of the youngest ever to lead the body.

 

As Speaker, Jon was instrumental in passing the most fiscally-conservative budget in 40 years that included the reform of the state tax code and the largest income tax cut in Ohio’s history. He also led the passage of the Ed Choice Scholarship -- a school choice option for children trapped in chronically-failing schools -- and the creation of the Choose Ohio First Scholarship to encourage Ohio students studying in the STEMM disciplines of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine. For his legislative work, he’s proud to have been recognized as a Watchdog of the Treasury and as a Legislative Trail Blazer by School Choice Ohio.

 

After serving two terms as Speaker, Husted was elected to the Ohio Senate, where he was a leading advocate for redistricting reform – a cause he continues to champion as Secretary of State.

 

Raised in Montpelier, Ohio, Husted attended the University of Dayton (UD), where he earned All-American Defensive Back honors as a member of the 1989 Division III National Championship football team. After receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UD, Husted stayed in the Dayton area where he served as Vice President of Business and Economic Development at the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce.

With all of his responsibilities, Secretary Husted considers his most important roles as that of husband to his wife Tina and father to his children, Alex, Katie and Kylie.