Meet the Chairman
Chris Redfern was elected Chairman in December 2005, promising to rebuild the Ohio Democratic Party from the ground up. In five short years, Chairman Redfern has moved the Ohio Democratic Party from chronic defeat to widespread victory, making the Party one of the premier state political organizations in the country.
Central to Chairman Redfern’s success has been the “88-County Strategy” which recognizes that Democrats win by competing for votes in every area of Ohio, metropolitan or micropolitan, industrial or agricultural, urban or rural.
The strategy bore fruit immediately in 2006 with the election of Governor Ted Strickland, Senator Sherrod Brown, and three other statewide candidates. These broad-based victories proved that Democrats could win in any region of the state. Following these sweeping successes, Chairman Redfern led the Ohio Democratic Party into key municipal elections, capturing the Canton mayor’s office for the first time in sixteen years and helping to elect the first African-American mayor in the history of Mansfield, Ohio.
In 2008, Chairman Redfern set the party’s sights on historic victories in the general election and began constructing the largest field operation ever envisioned by a state political party. Together, the Campaign for Change and the Ohio Democratic Party registered 105,862 new Ohio voters and engaged in 3,552,486 conversations with Ohioans at their doors or on the phone. Fueling these record-breaking figures were the efforts of more than 60,000 committed volunteers from neighborhoods across Ohio.
On Election Day, Ohio Democrats delivered a decisive victory for Barack Obama and picked up three new congressional seats. Democrats also captured the Ohio House of Representatives on a legislative map drawn by state Republicans, a feat never before seen in Ohio history.
Chairman Redfern previously represented the families of the 80th Ohio State House District for five terms where he established himself as a leading voice for fiscal discipline, an advocate for tax fairness, and a staunch proponent and advocate for Lake Erie. Redfern served in various leadership positions within the House Democratic Caucus, including Minority Leader from 2003 until early 2006. Before coming to the Statehouse, Chairman Redfern was an Ottawa County Commissioner – the youngest in the state when his term began in 1993.
Chairman Redfern attended Bowling Green State University where he earned both a Bachelor’s Degree and then his Master’s Degree in state and local government. He received the BGSU Accomplished Graduate Award in 2004. Chairman Redfern lives on Catawba Island with his wife Kim and their daughter, Reese.
