Mary Taylor (born March 7, 1966) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 65th

lieutenant governor of Ohio The position of lieutenant governor of Ohio was established in 1852. The lieutenant governor becomes governor if the governor resigns, dies in office or is removed by impeachment. Before 1852, the president of the Ohio State Senate would serve a ...

from 2011 to 2019. She was most recently a candidate in the Republican Party primary for

Governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in the 2018 election.

Early life and business career

Taylor was born in 1966. She attended Springfield Local School District in Springfield Township. She attended the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classified ...

, obtaining a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Accounting and

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Taxation. Becoming a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...

, she worked for

Deloitte and Touche Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

and Bober, Markey, Fedorovich & Company in Akron.

Political career

Taylor was first elected to the

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, eventually being elected to 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 ...

to represent the 43rd district. In 2006, she was elected to serve as

Ohio State Auditor The Ohio State Auditor (formally known as the Auditor of State) is responsible for auditing all the public offices of the state of Ohio. The auditor is elected to a four-year term. The current Auditor is Keith Faber. References External links ...

, where she defeated Democratic candidate Barbara Sykes. Taylor succeeded fellow Republican

Betty Montgomery Betty Montgomery (born April 3, 1948) is an American politician from the state of Ohio. A Republican, she formerly served as Ohio State Auditor and is the first woman Ohio Attorney General. Education Montgomery earned a Bachelor of Arts degre ...

as state auditor in January 2007. She was the only Republican in Ohio to be elected to a statewide non-judicial office during the 2006 election.

Lieutenant Governor

On January 14, 2010, she was announced as

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 ...

's choice as lieutenant gubernatorial running mate in the 2010 election. On November 2, 2010, Kasich defeated incumbent Governor

Ted Strickland Theodore Strickland (born August 4, 1941) is an American politician who was the 68th governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ...

(D). Thus Taylor became the lieutenant governor on January 10, 2011. She was named as Director of the

Ohio Department of Insurance The Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI) is an Ohio state government Ohio Rev. Code § 121.01 ''et seq.'' administrative agency. The ODI provides consumer protection through education and regulation while promoting a stable and competitive environme ...

the same day. Kasich and Taylor were re-elected in November 2014. In 2011, it was reported that she on several occasions used the state airplane to run "personal errands." Governor Kasich stated he requested Taylor to refund the money. Taylor stated that she had already refunded the money, even though the plane was only used for official business. An analysis by USA Today's Cincinnati branch indicated unusually high turnover among her staff during her tenure as Lieutenant Governor.

2018 Ohio gubernatorial election

On February 23, 2017 she formed a campaign committee to raise money and campaign in the 2018 Ohio gubernatorial election. She was endorsed by U.S. Senator

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...

in April 2018. Taylor's campaign hired

Axiom Strategies Axiom Strategies is one of the largest Republican political consulting firms in the United States. Founded in 2005 by Jeff Roe, who has been described as "Ted Cruz's Karl Rove", it has been described as a "mega firm" by industry professionals. O ...

, a consulting firm, with close ties to Cruz. On May 8, 2018, Taylor lost the Republican Primary to Ohio Attorney General

Mike DeWine Richard Michael DeWine (; born January 5, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 70th and current governor of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, DeWine began his career as a prosecutor before being elected to the O ...

, garnering 40.2% of the vote compared to DeWine's 59.8% of the vote.

Family

She is married to Donzell (Don) Taylor and has two sons, Joe (b. circa 1991) and Michael (b. circa 1994) and the family resides in

. In 2017 she revealed that both her children have been struggling with

opioid addiction Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. Op ...

Electoral history

References

External links

Taylor for Governor website

Official Biography from the State of Ohio website

Biography on KasichForOhio.com

Profile on the Ohio Ladies' Gallery website
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Mary 1966 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians John Kasich Lieutenant Governors of Ohio Living people Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives People from Green, Ohio State Auditors of Ohio State insurance commissioners of the United States University of Akron alumni Women state legislators in Ohio