Fred Strahorn
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Fred Strahorn
|image = Fred Strahorn 2010 (cropped).jpg
|office = Minority Leader of the Ohio House of Representatives
|term_start = January 5, 2015
|term_end = February 6, 2019
|predecessor = Tracy Maxwell Heard
|successor = Emilia Sykes
|state_senate1 = Ohio
|district1 = 5th
|term_start1 = March 31, 2009
|term_end1 = December 31, 2010
|predecessor1 = Tom Roberts
|successor1 = Bill Beagle
|state_house2 = Ohio
|district2 = 39th
|term_start2 = January 7, 2013
|term_end2 = December 31, 2020
|predecessor2 = Clayton Luckie
|successor2 = Willis Blackshear Jr.
|term_start3 = January 3, 2001
|term_end3 = December 31, 2008
|predecessor3 = Tom Roberts
|successor3 = Roland Winburn
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1965|3|20}}
|birth_place = Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
|death_date =
|death_place =
|party = Democratic
|education = Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University
Ohio State University (BS)
Sinclair Community College
}}
Frederick W. Strahorn[http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/45773/frederick-strahorn VoteSmart - Fred Strahorn] (born March 20, 1965) is an American Democratic politician who served in the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 39th District, which consists of much of Dayton, Ohio. He served as the Minority Leader for the 131st Ohio General Assembly and 132nd Ohio General Assembly.
Life and career
Strahorn served as a member of the Wright State University Board of Trustees, a position that ended in 2013.{{cite news |url=http://www.journal-news.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/ohio-lawmakers-sworn-in-for-general-assembly/nTpqF |title=Ohio lawmakers sworn in for General Assembly |first=Jackie |last=Borchardt |publisher=JournalNews |date=January 7, 2013 |access-date=January 14, 2013}} He attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and graduated with a B.A. in aviation management from Ohio State University.[http://www.wright.edu/about/leadership/board-of-trustees/fred-strahorn Wright State University Board of Trustees - Fred Strahorn] He also attended Sinclair Community College for real estate coursework.
Strahorn won his election to the Ohio House of Representatives in 2000 and was re-elected in 2002, 2004 and 2006. Strahorn was term limited out of running again in his previous district, but chose to run for election in a different district in 2012. File:Dayton Unit NAACP FF 2008 - Rep. Fred Strahorn President's Award (2).jpg presents Strahorn with the President's Award|left]]
In 2008, Strahorn received the Dayton Unit NAACP President's Award from civil rights activist Derrick Foward, the president of the Dayton NAACP.
The following year, Strahorn was appointed to the Ohio Senate to replace Tom Roberts, who had been appointed to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, but lost election to a full term to Republican Bill Beagle.
= Return to the Ohio House of Representatives =
Strahorn was chosen as the Democratic candidate for the position on August 12, 2012, at the Montgomery County Democratic headquarters, with a vote of 41–1.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130528072216/http://www.progressohio.org/blog/2012/08/strahorn-selected-as-democratic-candidate-for-39th-ohio-house-district.html Progress Ohio blog]}}
First elected in November 2012, Strahorn defeated his opponent, Jeffrey Wellbaum, with over 80% of the vote in a traditionally Democratic district. The two competed to fill the position that had been vacated in January 2013 by Clayton Luckie, who had earlier announced his withdrawal from the election following the news that he was being investigated on criminal charges.{{cite news|last=Bischoff|first=Laura|url=http://www.whiotv.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/state-rep-luckie-set-to-face-trial-jan-22/nTbyy/|title=State Rep. Luckie Had to Face Trial on 22 January 2012|date=December 20, 2012|access-date=December 20, 2012|archive-date=February 9, 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209193454/http://www.whiotv.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/state-rep-luckie-set-to-face-trial-jan-22/nTbyy/|url-status=dead}}
Strahorn soundly won re-election in 2014 with over 75% of the vote. His opponents were Jeff Dalton, Republican, and William Pace, an independent perennial candidate.{{cite news|url=http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/polls-closing-in-ohio-local-results-will-be-here/nhzRW/|title=County Commission race a squeaker, Beagle wins, AP says|date=November 4, 2014|access-date=November 6, 2014|publisher=Dayton Daily News}}{{cite news|url=http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/news/elections/results/ohio-house/|title=Election Insider - Your Vote 2014 (Summary of poll results)|access-date=November 6, 2014|publisher=Dayton Daily News}}
On November 18, 2014, Strahorn was elected as Minority Leader of the Ohio House by the Democratic Caucus. Strahorn stated that he would work on trying to make clear the Democratic Party's message to voters, commenting "I know that we have work to do with the general public with communicating what our party really stands for." He was reelected to the position in 2016.{{cite news|url=http://www.whio.com/news/news/strahorn-picked-to-lead-ohio-house-democrats/nh9nT/|title=Strahorn picked to lead Ohio House Democrats|first=Laura|last=Bischoff|publisher=Dayton Daily News|date=November 18, 2014|access-date=November 19, 2014}}
Circa 2016, Strahorn gave an impassioned labor rights speech, denouncing the union busting tactics of Moraine's Fuyao Glass America plant and praising workers who choose to unionize with the UAW. His speech was featured in 2019 documentary film American Factory.{{Cite web |last=Hood |first=Nathanael |date=August 25, 2019 |title=American Factory Review: A horrifying look at Small Town America caught in the crosshairs of global labor rights |url=https://www.theyoungfolks.com/review/135918/american-factory-netflix/ |access-date=September 12, 2023 |website=The Young Folks}}
Electoral history
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=October 2024}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |
| colspan="13" | Election results |
|---|
| Year
!Office !Election !Votes for Strahorn !% !Opponent !Party !Votes !% !Opponent !Party !Votes !% |
| 2000
|rowspan=4|Ohio House of Representatives |General |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |22,411 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |68.96% |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Brian L. Whitaker |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Republican |{{Party shading/Republican}} |7,956 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |24.48% |{{Party shading/none}} |Logan Martinez |{{Party shading/none}} |Independent |{{Party shading/none}} |2,132 |{{Party shading/none}} |6.56% |
| 2002
|General |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |19,725 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |71.81% |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Martin Arbagi |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Republican |{{Party shading/Republican}} |7,744 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |28.19% |
| 2004
|General |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |33,325 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |70.17% |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Glenn Jones |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Republican |{{Party shading/Republican}} |14,164 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |29.83% |
| 2006
|General |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |23,523 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |74.17% |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Martin Arbagi |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Republican |{{Party shading/Republican}} |8,192 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |25.83% |
| 2010
|rowspan=1|Ohio Senate |General |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |47,681 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |49.15% |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Bill Beagle |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Republican |{{Party shading/Republican}} |49,339 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |50.85% |
| 2012
|rowspan=4|Ohio House of Representatives |General |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |37,831 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |82.99% |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Jeffrey L. Wellbaum |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Republican |{{Party shading/Republican}} |7,756 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |17.01% |
| 2014
|General |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |16,344 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |77.5% |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Jeffrey Dalton |{{Party shading/Republican}} |Republican |{{Party shading/Republican}} |3,891 |{{Party shading/Republican}} |18.41% |{{Party shading/none}} |William Pace |{{Party shading/none}} |Independent |{{Party shading/none}} |895 |{{Party shading/none}} |4.24% |
| 2016
|General |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |27,558 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |100% |{{Party shading/none}} | |{{Party shading/none}} | |{{Party shading/none}} | |{{Party shading/none}} | |
| 2018
|General |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |26,879 |{{Party shading/Democratic}} |100% |{{Party shading/none}} | |{{Party shading/none}} | |{{Party shading/none}} | |{{Party shading/none}} | |
Personal life
He is a member of the Baptist faith and has one daughter.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.ohiohouse.gov/fred-strahorn Fred Strahorn - The Ohio House of Representatives]
- [http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Fred_Strahorn Ballotpedia - Fred Strahorn]
- [http://ohiovotes.org/Legislator.aspx?ID=19995 Ohio Votes - Fred Strahorn]
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-oh-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=Tracy Maxwell Heard}}
{{s-ttl|title=Minority Leader of the Ohio House of Representatives|years=2015–2019}}
{{s-aft|after=Emilia Sykes}}
{{s-end}}
{{OhioSen05thDst}}
{{Members of the Ohio House of Representatives}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strahorn, Fred}}
Category:20th-century African-American politicians
Category:21st-century African-American politicians
Category:African-American state legislators in Ohio
Category:Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University alumni
Category:Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives
Category:21st-century members of the Ohio General Assembly
Category:Democratic Party Ohio state senators
Category:Ohio State University College of Engineering alumni
Category:Politicians from Cincinnati