David J. Leland

Last updated
David J. Leland
David J. Leland.jpg
Judge, Ohio 10th District Court of Appeals
Assumed office
February 9, 2023
ProfessionAttorney

David J. Leland (born September 18, 1953) is a judge of the Ohio District Court of Appeals for the 10th District (Franklin County), elected in 2022. He was formerly a member of the Ohio House of Representatives representing the 22nd House district, and a partner at litigation law firm Carpenter Lipps & Leland LLP in Columbus, Ohio. Leland is the former Ohio Democratic Party Chair, a position he held from 1995 until 2002. Leland also served as the finance chair and senior advisor to the successful 2006 gubernatorial campaign of Ted Strickland, for which he helped raise a record $17 million.

Contents

A candidate for chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2005, Leland is one of Ohio's best-known lawyers, and has been active in state and national politics for over 50 years.

In November 2014, Leland was elected as State Representative of the 22nd Ohio House District, having served as representative of roughly the same district in the 115th Ohio General Assembly (1983–1985).

Early life and education

Leland spent his early life in Kansas before moving to Columbus his senior year of high school. He graduated from Columbus North High School and Ohio State University, and then studied at nearby Capital University Law School, where he was a member of the Capital Law Review and earned his J.D. in 1978.

Public service and political career

David J. Leland, Community.jpg

Leland became vice chairman of the Franklin County, Ohio Democratic Party at the age of 18. [1] He was also elected to serve as committeeman for Franklin County's 19th ward, a position he held for 23 years.

In 1973, at age 20, Leland ran unsuccessfully for election to the Columbus, Ohio Board of Education, coming in fourth in a field of nine candidates (including three incumbents) for three open seats. All three incumbents, including later Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court Thomas J. Moyer, were reelected. [2]

Elected at the age of 29 to a term as state representative from Columbus (Clintonville) in the 115th Ohio General Assembly (1983–1985), Leland was a major proponent of Ohio's collective bargaining law and was voted the outstanding freshman state representative of that Assembly. He was elected to the first of his four terms as chair of the Ohio Democratic Party in 1995 during Bill Clinton's tenure as president. A year later, Leland was appointed to the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee and served on the DNC's executive committee. Leland chaired Ohio's delegation to the 1996 and 2000 Democratic National Conventions. [1] [3]

In 2000, Clinton appointed Leland to the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) of the Federal Labor Relations Authority. [4] The FSIP resolves disputes between the government and federal labor unions. [5]

In 2002, Leland became national director of Project Vote a group which registered 2.7 million low-income and minority citizens as voters between 1982 and 2002. [3]

After Leland's terms at both the ODP and DNC concluded in 2002, he launched a bid for Democratic National Committee Chair in 2005, with the position going to former Vermont governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean instead. [1]

Leland continued to contribute to state politics, serving as finance chair and senior advisor to Ted Strickland's gubernatorial campaign in 2006 and helping to raise a record $17 million as Strickland won both his party's primary and the general election with comfortable margins. Strickland was the first Democrat to be elected governor in Ohio since 1983. Leland also served as the president and CEO of the Strickland/Fisher Inaugural Committee.

2014 candidacy for Ohio House

On September 12, 2013, Leland announced his candidacy for state representative of the 22nd district of the Ohio House of Representatives in the 2014 election. The 22nd Ohio House district (after redistricting that became effective with the 130th Assembly) includes much of the district (then OH 28) Leland served in the 115th Ohio General Assembly.

On November 4, 2014, Leland defeated Republican Andrew C. Hall with 16,315 votes to Hall's 10,128, or 62% of the vote. [6] He was subsequently re-elected in 2016, 2018. He was re-elected in 2020 without opposition

Private practice

Leland at a Columbus Clippers game in 2012 David J. Leland, Clippers.jpg
Leland at a Columbus Clippers game in 2012

Until 1996, Leland was counsel to the Columbus law firm of Schwartz, Kelm, Warren and Rubenstein. Prior to that, Leland served as Transportation Director for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Leland also served as general counsel to the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA/AFSCME Local 11). [4]

In January 2007, Leland joined the law firm of Carpenter & Lipps, which was renamed in March 2008; Carpenter Lipps & Leland. [7] Leland left the firm in February 2023 to assume his Judicial responsibilities on the Ohio 10th District Court of Appeals

Personal life

Leland is active in the Columbus community and has received numerous community service awards and citations.

An avid baseball fan, Leland served on the board of directors of the Columbus Clippers, the Cleveland Guardians’ AAA franchise, from 2005 to 2023. During his tenure the Clippers won two National Championships and constructed a state-of-the-art, baseball complex named Huntington Park.

Leland has lived in the Clintonville neighborhood of north Columbus since 1970.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Fisher</span> American lawyer, academic, public servant and charity officer

Lee Irwin Fisher is an American attorney, politician, and academic. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 64th lieutenant governor of Ohio, with Governor Ted Strickland, from 2007 until 2011. He has served as Dean of Cleveland State University College of Law since 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Blackwell</span> American politician and activist

John Kenneth Blackwell is an American politician, author, and conservative activist who served as the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio (1979–80), the Ohio State Treasurer (1994–99), and Ohio Secretary of State (1999–2007). He was the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio in 2006, the first African-American major-party candidate for governor of Ohio. He is currently a Senior Fellow for Family Empowerment with The Family Research Council. He currently sits as Vice-President of the Executive Committee of the Council For National Policy and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joyce Beatty</span> American politician (born 1950)

Joyce Marie Beatty is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Ohio's 3rd congressional district since 2013, and as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Beatty represented the 27th district in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1999 to 2008, serving for a time as minority leader. She was also previously the senior vice-president for outreach and engagement at Ohio State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohio Democratic Party</span> Political party in Ohio

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Klein</span> American politician and lawyer (born 1957)

Ronald Jason Klein is an American politician and lawyer who is a former member of the United States House of Representatives for Florida's 22nd congressional district. He is a member of the Democratic Party and chairs the Jewish Democratic Council of America. He previously served in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate. He is currently employed by the law firm Holland & Knight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Stivers</span> American politician (born 1965)

Steven Ernst Stivers is an American businessman and politician who was the U.S. representative for Ohio's 15th congressional district from 2011 until 2021. He is a member of the Republican Party, and became chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee in 2017. Stivers previously served in the Ohio Senate, representing the 15th district. He is a major general in the Ohio Army National Guard, serving as the Assistant Adjutant General, and served active duty in Iraq as a battalion commander until December 2005. On May 16, 2021, he resigned his seat to become the president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis E. Eckart</span> American lawyer and politician

Dennis Edward Eckart is an American lawyer and politician who is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. Eckart, a member of the Democratic Party, represented Ohio's 11th congressional district from 1983 to 1993, and Ohio's 22nd congressional district from 1981 to 1983. Before being elected to Congress, Eckart served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1975 to 1980.

Chris Redfern 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Perez</span> American politician and attorney (born 1961)

Thomas Edward Perez is an American politician and attorney currently serving as senior advisor to the president of the United States and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, holding both positions since June 2023. Perez previously served as the United States secretary of labor (2013–2017), the chair of the Democratic National Committee (2017–2021), and United States assistant attorney general for civil rights (2009–2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">115th United States Congress</span> 2017–2019 legislative term

The 115th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 2017, to January 3, 2019, during the final weeks of Barack Obama's presidency and the first two years of Donald Trump's presidency. The seats in the House were apportioned based on the 2010 United States census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Boyce</span> American politician

Kevin L. Boyce is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party who currently serves as President of the Franklin County Board of Commissioners. Formerly, he was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from the 25th District from 2012 to 2016, a member of Columbus City Council, and was the 47th Ohio State Treasurer from 2009 to 2010.

Kevin Bacon is a former state senator for the 3rd District of the Ohio Senate, who served from 2011 to 2018. Formerly, he served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 2007 to 2010, and as a Blendon Township Trustee. Bacon represents the portions of Franklin County including Westerville, New Albany, Gahanna, Whitehall, Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, Obetz, Valley View, Marble Cliff and portions of Columbus.

Dennis E. Murray Jr. is a current City Commissioner in the City of Sandusky. He has served as a Sandusky City Commissioner since 2014. Dennis is a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives, serving the 89th District from 2009 to 2012. Dennis announced that he will run for re-election of his commission seat. On Nov. 2, 2021, Dennis won re-election of his commission seat.

Dennis Wojtanowski is an American former member of the Ohio House of Representatives and co-founder of the Columbus, Ohio-based nonprofit organization Democratic Voices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Ohio gubernatorial election</span> Election for the governorship of the U.S. state of Ohio

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 United States Senate election in Ohio</span>

The 2016 United States Senate election in Ohio was held November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Ohio, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The close of registration for electors in the primary election was December 16, 2015, and the primary election took place on March 15, 2016. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Rob Portman faced former Democratic Governor Ted Strickland. Green Party nominee Joseph DeMare was also on the ballot along with two other independent candidates and one officially declared write-in candidate.

The 2005 Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairmanship election was held on February 12, 2005, to elect a chairperson to the DNC for a four-year term. Howard Dean was elected as the DNC chair, succeeding Terry McAuliffe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Ohio's 12th congressional district special election</span>

A special election for Ohio's 12th congressional district was held August 7, 2018, following the resignation of Republican U.S. Representative Pat Tiberi. The Republican Party nominated State Senator Troy Balderson for the seat while the Democratic Party nominated Franklin County Recorder Danny O'Connor. Balderson led O'Connor in preliminary results; however, the race was not officially called on election night. Counting of outstanding ballots began on August 18 and was completed on August 24. The outstanding ballots did not change the margin enough to trigger an automatic recount, so Balderson was declared the winner on August 24.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Ohio Attorney General special election</span>

The 2008 Ohio Attorney General special election was held on November 4, 2010, concurrently with the Presidential Election as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives. Incumbent Attorney General Marc Dann who was elected in 2006 resigned on May 14, 2008 due to various scandals, thus triggering a special election. Governor Ted Strickland appointed Nancy H. Rogers to the position, but she announced she would not run to complete the rest of Marc's term. On June 11, 2008, Ohio State Treasurer Richard Cordray announced his candidacy for the election. He was challenged in the general election by former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Michael Crites. Cordray won in a landslide winning 56% of the vote to Crites' 38%.

Elliot Forhan is an attorney and non-profit executive who has served in the Ohio House of Representatives since 2023. He represents the 21st district in Cuyahoga County.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Arena: David Leland Bio". Politico.com. 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  2. ↑ "Columbus Board of Education Race - Nov 06, 1973". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  3. 1 2 Drew, Jim (2002-01-06). "Editorial: Leland knows it's about winning and losing". Toledo Blade . Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  4. 1 2 "Bonnie Prouty Castrey appointed as chair of the Federal Service Impasses Panel; David Leland appointed as Member". The FLRA Bulletin, Vol. 9 No. 1. Federal Labor Relations Authority. January 31, 2000. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
  5. ↑ "The Federal Services Impasses Panel". Federal Labor Relations Authority. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  6. ↑ http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2014/general/by_county/state_sen_house/OH_State_House.html
  7. ↑ Carpenter Lipps & Leland LLP Attorney Profile for David Leland
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.