John Adams (born January 14, 1960) is an American politician who served as a member 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 2007 to 2014. For part of his tenure, he served as the majority whip. In 2022, he ran for

Ohio Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Ohio is an elected statewide official in the State of Ohio. The Secretary of state is responsible for overseeing elections in the state; registering business entities (corporations, etc.) and granting them the author ...

, but was defeated by incumbent Secretary of State

Frank LaRose Frank LaRose (born April 18, 1979) is an American politician. He has served as Secretary of State of Ohio since 2019, after serving two terms as a Republican member of the Ohio State Senate from Ohio's 27th Senate district which includes Wayne ...

in the Republican primary.

Early life

Adams was born in

Urbana, Ohio Urbana is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Ohio, United States, west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. Urbana was laid out in 1805, and for a time in 1812 was the headquarters of the Northwestern army during the War of 1812. It is t ...

. He has studied at

Mesa Community College Mesa Community College (MCC) is a public community college in Mesa, Arizona. It is the largest of the 10 community colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District, the largest community college district in the United States in ter ...

and Edison State Community College. Adams was a

Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sma ...

and later worked for

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

Career

He is the owner and operator of a furniture store. Adams has served two terms on the Board of Directors of the Shelby County United Way and was elected as president in 1991.

Politics

When incumbent Representative

Derrick Seaver Derrick Seaver is an American politician who served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 78th District from 2001 to 2006. Early life and education Derrick Charles Seaver was born on February 6, 1982 in Oxford, Ohio ...

did not seek another term in 2006, Adams was one of four who sought to replace him. He won the Republican nomination with 50.26% of the electorate. He won the general election with 52.37% of the vote over Democrat Adam Ward. In his first reelection bid in 2008, Adams ran unopposed. He became the minority whip in the House for the 128th General Assembly. He won a third term in 2010 with 74.27% of the vote over Democra
Anthony Ehresmann
Soon after, House colleagues elected Adams to be majority whip of the 129th General Assembly. He was sworn in as whip on January 3, 2011. He also serves on the committees of Commerce, Labor and Technology; Insurance and its Subcommittee on Workers' Compensation; Rules and Reference; and State Government and Elections. Adams is also chairing the Tax Structure Study Committee. Adams won a final term in 2012 unopposed. Adams is a member of the conservative

American Legislative Exchange Council The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model legislation for distribution among state governments in the United State ...

(ALEC), serving as Ohio state leader.

Initiatives and positions

In the

128th Ohio General Assembly The One Hundred Twenty-eighth Ohio General Assembly was the legislative body of the state of Ohio from January 5, 2009 until December 31, 2010. Ted Strickland was Ohio Governor for its entirety. It was composed of the Ohio Senate and the Ohio Hous ...

, Adams introduced a measure that sought to eliminate the Ohio

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

, but was unsuccessful. 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 ...

afterwards used the same initiative as a campaign talking point, to mixed reviews. Adams introduced a measure to create a panel that reviews the potential of any state-owned property for possible oil and gas drilling. A similar bill was introduced 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 ...

. It would consist of a five-member panel that would open potential state lands up to the highest bidder for oil and gas exploration. While controversial, the bill passed the Ohio House of Representatives, with the promise that the measure would create jobs and help lower energy prices. The bill was signed into law by

, allowing for oil and gas to now be taken from state lands. Stating that no profession is immune from economic reality, Adams voted for a bill that limits

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...

for public employees.

Personal life

Adams lives in

Sidney, Ohio Sidney is a city in Shelby County, Ohio, located approximately 36 mi (58 km) north of Dayton and 100 mi (161 km) south of Toledo. The population was 20,421 at the time of the 2020 census. It is named after English poet Phili ...

. He and his wife Tara have seven children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, John 1960 births 21st-century American politicians Bethlehem Steel people Living people Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives People from Sidney, Ohio People from Urbana, Ohio United States Navy SEALs personnel