Jennifer Brunner

Jennifer Brunner

Jennifer Lee Brunner (born February 5, 1957) is an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as the Ohio Secretary of State; Brunner was the first woman to serve in this capacity. She took office after sixteen years of Republican control, which included two four-year terms by her predecessor J. Kenneth Blackwell, who oversaw the 2000 and 2004 United States elections. Prior to being elected Secretary of State, Brunner worked in the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office and served as a County Judge in Franklin County, Ohio. She also owned her own private practice; during her private practice career, she focused on election law and campaign finance law. She represented a broad range of candidates, businesses, political parties and committees before the Ohio Elections Commission on quasi-criminal matters.

As Secretary of State, Brunner was actively involved in evaluating and adjusting statewide election systems. Her efforts focused on correcting the procedural election difficulties that Ohio was known for. She evaluated voting mechanisms and instituted policy changes. She argued policy regarding same day voting, privacy of social security information, and foreclosure-related voter eligibility.

In 2008, she earned a Profiles in Courage Award for her reform of the voting systems. During the 2008 United States elections, Brunner was involved in several court cases in the Ohio State Supreme Court and United States Supreme Court regarding voter registration, provisional ballots and absentee ballots.

On February 17, 2009, she announced that she would be run for the 2010 United States Senate election in Ohio, coincident with the retirement of incumbent George Voinovich and the end of her term as Secretary of State. Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher announced his candidacy on the same day and defeated her in the Democratic primary on May 4, 2010.