Chris Redfern

Chris Redfern
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from the 89th district
In office January 2, 2013-December 31, 2014
Preceded by	Dennis Murray
Succeeded by	Steve Kraus
In office September 8, 1999-December 31, 2008
Preceded by	Darrell Opfer
Succeeded by	Dennis Murray
Personal details
Political party	Democratic

Chris Redfern (born 1964, South Bend, Indiana) is an American politician, former state representative in Ohio, and former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party. He won election to the chairmanship of the Ohio Democratic Party in December 2005 and was reelected in 2008 and again in 2012 before resigning in December 2014. He was previously a Democratic State Representative for Ohio House District 80 and had been a member of the Ohio House since 1999. During the 2012 general election, he was again elected to serve as State Representative for the newly drawn 89th District.

Redfern is the only Ohio Democratic Party Chairman on record to have served as chairman when the Democratic Party won gubernatorial, U.S. Senate, and presidential elections. In 2008, The Columbus Dispatch wrote:"Democrats made history -- marking the first time a party that did not draw the district lines was ever able to take control of the House chamber." Following President Barack Obama's successful 2012 re-election, Redfern became the only State Party Chairman in Ohio's history to help a Democratic presidential candidate carry Ohio twice with more than 50% of the vote. Since taking office in late 2005, Redfern has helped raise more than $100,000,000 for Ohio Democrats.

Before becoming party chairman, he was the Minority Leader in the Ohio House of Representatives. During Redfern's term as Minority Leader, he was the first Democratic Leader to oversee multiple gains in the Ohio House of Representatives (during the 2004 election) since former Speaker of the Ohio House Vern Riffe. Redfern was also an Ottawa County commissioner from 1993 to 1999 - the youngest in the state when his term began in 1993.

In 2008, Redfern set the party’s sights on 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 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 on a legislative map drawn by state Republicans, a feat never before seen in Ohio history.

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