Bob Hagan

Robert F. Hagan (born March 31, 1949) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who held a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives for the 58th District from 2007 to 2014.

In 1986, he was elected to a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 53rd Ohio House district, centered on Youngstown, Ohio.

At the time, his father, Robert E. Hagan, was also serving in the House.

Between 1986 and 1990, the Hagans were the first father and son to simultaneously hold seats in the Ohio House of Representatives.

Hagan served in the House for ten years.

He represented the same seat from 1987 to 1997, and served in the Ohio Senate from 1997 to 2006.

When incumbent Joseph Vukovich was appointed to a judiciary position in 1997, Hagan was chosen to succeed him in the Ohio Senate.

He was appointed to the State Senate on February 12, 1997, to represent the 33rd district in northeastern Ohio, centered on the city of Youngstown.

His brother, Tim Hagan, served for many years as a county commissioner in Cuyahoga County, Ohio and was the 2002 Democratic nominee for Governor of Ohio.

Before entering electoral politics, Hagan worked for 15 years as a locomotive engineer for CSX Transportation.

In 2005, Hagan ran for mayor of Youngstown, hoping to replace outgoing mayor George McKelvey.

Although initially favored to win, he was soundly defeated by independent candidate Jay Williams.

A strong proponent of progressive policies, Hagan occasionally uses satire to attempt to make a point.

In February 2006, he placed a spoof request for co-sponsors for a fictional piece of legislation called the "Republican Adoption Ban of 2006."

The bill was meant as a response to HB 515, which was a ban on adoption by homosexual or bisexual people or couples, and in presenting the fake legislation Hagan cited so-called "credible research" indicating that children in Republican households had a host of emotional problems.

Hagan, in 2008, won reelection with 84.9% of the vote again Republican Timothy Gordon.

In April 2010, Bob Hagan co-sponsored a measure to legalize marijuana in Ohio.

Unsuccessful in his bid for Mayor of Youngstown, Hagan sought to return to Ohio House of Representatives to succeed term limited Sylvester "Sly" Patton.

Against six others for the nomination, Hagan won the primary with 37.59% of the vote.

He won the general election with 58.08% of the vote against Republican John Johnson.

Facing primary opposition for a third term in 2010, Hagan defeated Don Hanni with 70.59% of the vote for the nomination.

He won the general election with 81.23% of the vote over Republican Daniel Thimons.

During his time in there, he was chosen by the Senate Democratic caucus to serve as assistant minority whip in the 126th Ohio General Assembly; however, he stepped down from his leadership post when he entered the election for State Representative.

For the 129th General Assembly, Hagan served on the committees of Commerce and Labor; Health and Aging; and Transportation, Public Safety and Homeland Security.

He also served on the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission.

Hagan won a final term in 2012 unopposed, and was term-limited in 2014.

He was succeeded by his wife Michele Lepore-Hagan.

On April 17, 2013, Hagan announced his candidacy for the United States Senate seat currently occupied by Republican Rob Portman.

He cited Portman's vote against background checks as his motive for challenging the freshman senator.

With the city of Youngstown being majorly pro-labor, Hagan had been against a bill that looks to limit collective bargaining for public employees.

While it was virtually inevitable that the bill will pass into law, Hagan vowed to lead an effort to overthrow it via a referendum.

A member of the committee hearing the bill, Hagan presented his colleagues with 65,000 petitions from individuals opposing the bill, which were ordered removed from the room by chairman Joe Uecker.

Hagan has cited a considerable amount of secrecy and partisanship surrounding the legislation.

He has called the bill simply a bust to unions.

The bill ultimately passed the entire legislature.

Building off his opposition to S.B. 5, Hagan introduced legislation with Michael Foley that would allow voters to recall the governor, other statewide officeholders and members of the General Assembly.

In 2014, he began work for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen governmental affairs team.

Hagan was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio.

He attended Ursuline High School.

His father, Robert E. Hagan, was also involved in politics.