Barbara R. Sears (born December 5, 1966) is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician who formerly represented the 47th District of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

from 2008 to 2016. She served as the Majority Floor Leader in the

. Her district included much of suburban

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

Life and career

Sears graduated from the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...

in 1983. She served on the city council of

Sylvania, Ohio Sylvania is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 19,011 at the 2020 census. Sylvania is a suburb of Toledo, and encompassed by Sylvania Township. Its northern border is the southern border of the state of Michigan. T ...

from 1998 to 2008, serving as president of the council from 2004 to 2008. She is a co-owner of Noble and Sears, Inc. Currently, she lives in Monclova Township, Ohio. She has two sons.

Ohio House of Representatives

In 2008, Sears was appointed to the Ohio House to succeed

Mark Wagoner Mark D. Wagoner, Jr. (born September 18, 1971) is an American politician and former Republican member of the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives. Career Wagoner is a lifetime resident of Ottawa Hills and graduated from Ottawa Hills H ...

, who had resigned to serve in the

Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the se ...

. She won reelection in 2008 and 2010. In 2012, Sears won election to a third term, defeating Democrat Jeff Bunck with 60.18% of the vote. Sears came under fire from ultra-conservatives in 2014 for her outspoken support for

Medicaid expansion In the context of American public healthcare policy, Medicaid coverage gap refers to uninsured people who reside in states which have opted out of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), who are both ineligible for Medicaid unde ...

, which many saw as a facet of

Obamacare The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

. Regardless, she easily won a primary for her seat to take another term in 2014. Sears won a final term in 2014 unopposed and served as House

Majority Leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

for half of the

131st Ohio General Assembly The One Hundred Thirty-first Ohio General Assembly was a meeting of the Ohio state legislature, composed of the Ohio State Senate and the Ohio House of Representatives. It convened in Columbus, Ohio on January 5, 2015 and is scheduled to adjour ...

. She resigned prior to the expiration of her term in 2016 to the assistant director of the Governor's Office of Health Transformation for Ohio Governor

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasic ...

. On December 23, 2016, she was sworn in as Ohio's new Medicaid director.

References

External links

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sears, Barbara 1961 births Politicians from Youngstown, Ohio Living people Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives People from Sylvania, Ohio University of Toledo alumni Women state legislators in Ohio 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians People from Lucas County, Ohio