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 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. 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.

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. 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.