Paula S. Hicks-Hudson (born May 28, 1951) is an American politician currently serving 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 Ch ...

. She is the former

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of Toledo,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Early life and education

Hicks-Hudson was born in Hamilton, Ohio. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from

Spelman College Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman rece ...

, Master of Arts from Colorado State University, and Juris Doctor from the

University of Iowa College of Law The University of Iowa College of Law is the law school of the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. It was founded in 1865. Iowa is ranked the 28th-best law school in the United States by the '' U.S. News & World Report'' "Best Law Sch ...

Career

She was admitted in the

Ohio State Bar Association The Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of Ohio. History OSBA was founded on March 6, 1880 when the Cleveland Bar Association issued a call other Ohio local bar associations to meet at Case Hall in Cle ...

in 1982 and specialized in business and education Law, as well as Social Security and Working Disability before entering public office. Hicks-Hudson was appointed to the Toledo City Council in 2011, representing the 4th district, after Michael Ashford vacated the seat when he was elected to the Ohio General Assembly. She ran in the special election in May 2011, and again in the general election in November 2011, winning both to retain her seat. In 2013, her council colleagues voted for her to replace council President Joe McNamara when he resigned to run for mayor. While serving as Toledo city council president, she was sworn in as acting mayor after her predecessor Mike Collins suffered from

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poss ...

. She served in this office for several days until Collins died, at which point she ascended to the office of mayor. Hicks-Hudson became only the second woman to lead the city of Toledo, and the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

woman to serve as mayor. Toledo held a special election in November 2015 to fill the seat for the rest of the term. On March 18, 2015 Hicks-Hudson announced her candidacy for the November 2015 mayoral election. Hicks-Hudson won the special election to serve the remainder of the term on November 3, 2015. However, she later lost her bid for re-election on November 7, 2017 to fellow Democrat and Lucas County Treasurer Wade Kapszukiewicz.

Electoral history

2011

2015

References

1951 births Living people 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American mayors in Ohio Ohio city council members Colorado State University alumni Mayors of Toledo, Ohio Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio lawyers Spelman College alumni University of Iowa College of Law alumni Women mayors of places in Ohio African-American women mayors {{Ohio-mayor-stub