Irene Balogh Smart (March 24, 1921 – May 3, 2017) was an

Ohio Democratic Party 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. U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown is the top Oh ...

politician and a former member of the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...

. Smart was a graduate of Wittenberg University, Harvard University, and the William McKinley School of Law. An attorney by trade, Smart first ran for the Ohio House of Representatives in 1972, and defeated Republican incumbent Ross Heintzelman in a narrow victory. She won reelection in 1974, and 1976. In 1977, Smart ran for Canton City Municipal Judge, and won. She took the bench in 1978, resigning her House seat to do so, and was succeeded by

Robert Regula Robert L. Regula (January 18, 1923 – May 19, 1996) was a Democratic politician who served in the General Assembly in the U.S. state of Ohio in 1978. Life Regula was born in Bucks, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, to Alvin G. and Emma E. Regula. He e ...

. She served on the municipal court until 1985, when she moved up to the Stark County Court of Common Pleas. In 1988, Smart again moved up, this time to the Ohio 5th District Court of Appeals. In 1994, Smart was unable to seek another term since she had hit the 70-year age limit, and retired at the end of her term.

References

External links

Rep. Smart on the Ohio Ladies' Gallery website
1921 births 2017 deaths Lawyers from Cleveland Judges of the Ohio District Courts of Appeals Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Wittenberg University alumni Harvard University alumni Women state legislators in Ohio 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women 21st-century American women {{ohio-politician-stub