County Executive of Cuyahoga County, Ohio | |
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![]() Flag of Cuyahoga County | |
Style | The Honorable |
Term length | Four years. No term limits. |
Constituting instrument | Charter of Cuyahoga County |
Inaugural holder | Ed FitzGerald |
Formation | January 1, 2011 |
Salary | $175,000 |
Website | executive |
The County Executive of Cuyahoga County , the second largest county in Ohio, and the 29th largest county by population in the United States, is the elected chief executive of the Cuyahoga County government. Democrat Chris Ronayne is the current county executive. The county charter [1] stipulates that the executive is responsible for the appointment and removal of county personnel, working with other local governments, introducing legislation to the county council, submitting budgets and capital improvements plans to the council, and many other duties.
After a widespread corruption scandal [2] was revealed, the voters of Cuyahoga County, which includes the City of Cleveland and 58 surrounding suburbs, voted to authorize a new form of county government on November 3, 2009. [3] The charter replaced three county commissioners with an executive and 11-member council. Under the charter, other previously elected posts, such as sheriff, treasurer, and clerk of courts became appointed positions under the executive. [4] Summit County is the only other Ohio county with an executive.
Democrat Ed FitzGerald, the then-Mayor of Lakewood, Ohio, defeated Matt Dolan in the initial election in November 2010 [5] and was sworn in as the first Cuyahoga County executive on January 1, 2011 and inaugurated on January 9. [6]
After FitzGerald was elected, The Plain Dealer political reporter Henry J. Gomez wrote that many observers believed the county executive job would "be second only to the governor in terms of power and constituency." [5] This prediction seemed to foreshadow FitzGerald's decision to challenge John Kasich's re-election bid for Governor of Ohio in 2014. [7] FitzGerald was the Democratic nominee for the November election. However, he was defeated. [8]
After FitzGerald chose to run for Governor of Ohio in 2014, then-state Representative Armond Budish was elected to succeed him. [9] Budish was reelected in 2018, [10] but chose not to run again in 2022. [11] Democrat Chris Ronayne defeated Republican Lee Weingart in the November 2022 election to become the third person to hold the office. [12] [13]
# | Portrait | Name | Term in office | Party affiliation | Previous office | |
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1 | ![]() | Ed FitzGerald (born 1968; age 55) | January 9, 2011 – December 31, 2014 | Democratic | Mayor of Lakewood, Ohio | |
2 | ![]() | Armond Budish (born 1953; age 70) | January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2022 | Democratic | Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives | |
3 | ![]() | Chris Ronayne (born 1968; age 56) | January 1, 2023 – Incumbent | Democratic | CEO of University Circle Inc. | |
Cuyahoga County is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The county seat and largest city is Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,264,817, making it the second-most populous county in the state.
John Richard Kasich Jr. is an American politician and author who was the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001, and a Republican candidate for the presidential nomination in 2000 and 2016.
The Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Ohio. Summit County Council President Elizabeth Walters has been the party's chairwoman since January 2021.
Vernon Sykes is an American politician serving as the state Senator for the 28th district of the Ohio Senate. The district included Akron, Barberton, Green, Portage Lakes, Sawyerwood, Lakemore and portions of Cuyahoga Falls, Mogadore and Tallmadge in Summit County.
Sandra R. Williams is a former Democratic member of the Ohio Senate who served the 21st district from 2015 to 2022. She also formerly served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 2007 to 2014. Her district includes the eastern two-thirds of Cleveland, as well as the east-side suburbs of Bratenahl, Cleveland Heights, Garfield Heights, Newburgh Heights, Shaker Heights and University Heights.
Armond D. Budish is an American politician, lawyer, and television host who served as Cuyahoga County Executive for two terms from 2015 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a four-term Ohio State Representative from the 8th district, and served as Speaker of the House from 2009 to 2011. He was the first Jewish representative to hold that office. He was re-elected to the House in 2010 and 2012, and thereafter was term-limited.
Matthew John Dolan is an American politician and lawyer who is a member of the Ohio Senate from the 24th district, since 2017. He previously was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010.
The 2014 Ohio gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Republican Governor John Kasich won reelection to a second term in office by a landslide over Democratic candidate Ed FitzGerald and Green Party candidate Anita Rios. Primary elections were held on May 6, 2014.
Edward "Ed" FitzGerald is an American politician who served as the first Cuyahoga County Executive from 2011 until 2015. He was the Democratic Party nominee for governor of Ohio in the 2014 election, and was defeated by the incumbent, John Kasich. Before being elected county executive, FitzGerald served as mayor of Lakewood, Ohio; a Lakewood city councilman; an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor; and a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Ohio general elections, 2014 were held on November 4, 2014, throughout Ohio, with polls opened between 6:30AM and 7:30PM. The close of registration for electors in the primary election was April 7, 2014, and the primary election day took place on May 6, 2014.
Kent Smith is the Senator of the 21st district of the Ohio Senate. Smith is a resident of Euclid, Ohio, and previously served as a Representative in the Ohio House of Representatives from 2015-2022 and on the Euclid School Board for 12 years. He also served as head of the Democratic Party for Euclid, and has a degree from the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. In 2014, Smith opted to run for the Ohio House of Representatives to replace Armond Budish, who was term-limited and sought election instead as Cuyahoga County Executive. He faced Republican Mikhail Alterman and Independent Jocelyn Conwell, and won with 71.47% of the vote. He would go on to be re-elected in 2016 and 2018.
The 2018 Ohio gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Ohio, concurrently with the election of Ohio's Class I U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various Ohio and local elections. Incumbent Republican Governor John Kasich was term-limited and could not seek re-election for a third consecutive term.
The Ohio general elections, 2018, were held on November 6, 2018, throughout Ohio.
The 2021 Cleveland mayoral election took place on November 2, 2021, to elect the Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. The election was officially nonpartisan, with the top two candidates from the September 14 primary election advancing to the general election, regardless of party. Incumbent Democratic Mayor Frank G. Jackson was eligible to run for reelection to a fifth term, but instead chose to retire. Justin Bibb was elected the 58th mayor of Cleveland in the general election.
On March 10, 2021, Marcia Fudge resigned her seat in the United States House of Representatives after being confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Biden administration. Governor Mike DeWine set the primary date for August 3, concurrent with the special election in Ohio's 15th congressional district. The general election was on November 2. Shontel Brown won both the competitive Democratic primary and the general election, and was sworn in on November 4.
The 2018 Cuyahoga County executive election took place on November 6, 2018 to elect the County Executive of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Incumbent Democratic County Executive Armond Budish won reelection to a second term with 67.47% of the vote, making him the first since the establishment of the office to be reelected.
The 2022 Cuyahoga County executive election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the County Executive of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Incumbent Democratic County Executive Armond Budish was eligible to run for a third term, but instead chose to retire.
The 2014 Cuyahoga County executive election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the County Executive of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Incumbent Democratic County Executive Ed FitzGerald was eligible to run for reelection, but instead retired in order to run unsuccessfully for governor in the concurrent gubernatorial election.
The 2010 Cuyahoga County executive election took place on November 2, 2010, to elect the County Executive of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. This was the first held under the newly ratified Charter of Cuyahoga County, which replaced Cuyahoga's 200 year old Board of County Commissioners with an executive and legislature, establishing the office of County Executive.