Jennifer Brunner

Jennifer Lee Brunner (born February 5, 1957) is an American attorney, politician and judge.

She is currently an associate justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, a position to which she was elected after serving as a judge on Ohio's Tenth District Court of Appeals.

On June 8, 2021, Brunner announced her candidacy for Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court in the November 8, 2022, general election.

Brunner is a member of the Democratic Party who served as the Ohio Secretary of State; Brunner was the first woman to serve in this capacity.

She earned a B.A. in sociology-gerontology, cum laude, from Miami University in 1978 and a J.D. from Capital University Law School with honors in 1982.

Subsequently, Brunner worked in the Ohio Secretary of State's Office as a deputy director and legislative counsel to the Ohio General Assembly during the administration of Sherrod Brown from 1983 to 1987.

In four years of service under Brown, Brunner's responsibilities included working with state legislators on finance-reporting laws for campaign committees and laws for election procedures.

She then began a statewide law practice where she worked on election law and campaign finance from 1988 to 2000.

She briefly served as a member of the Franklin County Board of Elections, appointed by Republican Secretary of State, Bob Taft.

In 1988, Brunner represented the Ohio Pesticide Applicators for Responsible Regulation, when the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency held hearings about testing Ohio water supplies for pesticides that were not against federal regulations.

Her clients, including lawn care chemical companies, agreed that testing standards should be higher, but that such standards should not be mandated.

She expressed an interest in public service when a seat on the Columbus City Council became available following the April 29, 1988 death of John R. Maloney.

The list of candidates who applied included at least 20 applicants.

Brunner has litigated various ballot propositions.

In 1988, she represented a client who contested the validity of a ballot proposal to halt the sale of alcohol at the Cuyahoga Falls entertainment center.

She was treasurer of a citizens group that attacked the financial reports related to a Westerville, Ohio school district tax levy on the November 1988 ballot.

Later in 1989, she represented property owners in a rezoning referendum.

Brunner represented Ohioans Against Casino Gambling in its dispute over the wording of the 1990 ballot issue on "games of chances".

Brunner's private practice was not exclusively about ballot issues.

She served as treasurer of Choice '90, a political action committee that ran television commercials about the abortion positions of 1990 Ohio's gubernatorial candidates (Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr. (D) and George Voinovich (R)) but that was funded primarily by the Ohio Democratic Party.

Brunner represented Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Eugene Branstool in battles with the Ohio Republican Robert Bennett and Canton, Ohio industrialist William R. Timken over the state redistricting following the 1990 Census.

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 state elections.

Brunner served only a single term as Secretary of State.

In 2008, she earned a Profile 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 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.

When it came time for re-election in 2010, she instead made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate.

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.

Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher announced his candidacy on the same day and defeated her in the Democratic primary on May 4, 2010.

Brunner announced on February 18, 2014, that she was certified by the Franklin County Board of Elections as the Democratic candidate for the Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals.

Brunner defeated incumbent Judge Amy O'Grady in the general election.

On August 17, 2019, Brunner announced she would be a candidate for the Ohio Supreme Court in 2020, in opposition to current Justice Judith L. French.

She went on to win the general election on November 3, 2020.

Brunner was born in Springfield, Ohio, and spent her formative years in Columbus, Ohio.