Anthony Leon Alexander

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Anthony Leon Alexander

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

March 19, 2024

Personal

Birthplace

Cleveland, Ohio

Religion

Non-Denominational

Profession

MRDD Site Supervisor

Contact

Campaign website

Anthony Leon Alexander (Republican Party) ran for election to the Ohio House of Representatives to represent District 17. He lost in the Republican primary on March 19, 2024.

Biography

Anthony Leon Alexander was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His career experience includes working as an MRDD site supervisor.

Elections

2024

See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 17

Mike Dovilla defeated Jessica Sutherland in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 17 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Dovilla (R)	54.6	34,403
	Submit photo	Jessica Sutherland (D)	45.4	28,643

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 63,046
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 17

Jessica Sutherland advanced from the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 17 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Jessica Sutherland	100.0	6,602

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,602
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 17

Mike Dovilla defeated Gordon Short and Anthony Leon Alexander in the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 17 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Dovilla	49.3	5,865
	Submit photo	Gordon Short	46.3	5,507
		Anthony Leon Alexander	4.5	530

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 11,902
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Alexander in this election.

2022

See also: Ohio's 7th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Ohio District 7

Max Miller defeated Matthew Diemer, Vince Licursi, and Brian Kenderes in the general election for U.S. House Ohio District 7 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Max Miller (R)	55.3	168,002
		Matthew Diemer (D)	44.6	135,485
		Vince Licursi (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	51
	Submit photo	Brian Kenderes (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	35
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	10

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 303,583
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Regina Gustafson Ewing (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Ohio District 7

Matthew Diemer defeated Tristan Rader (Unofficially withdrew) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Ohio District 7 on May 3, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matthew Diemer	62.8	12,636
		Tristan Rader (Unofficially withdrew)	37.2	7,500

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 20,136
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Patrick Malley (D) (Unofficially withdrew)
• Matt Harman (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Ohio District 7

Max Miller defeated Jonah Schulz, Charlie Gaddis, and Anthony Leon Alexander in the Republican primary for U.S. House Ohio District 7 on May 3, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Max Miller	71.8	43,158
		Jonah Schulz	13.9	8,325
	Submit photo	Charlie Gaddis	9.3	5,581
		Anthony Leon Alexander	5.0	3,033

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 60,097
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Bob Gibbs (R) (Unofficially withdrew)
• Donald Truex (R)
• Matt Shoemaker (R)

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Anthony Leon Alexander did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Anthony Leon Alexander completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Alexander's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I have a personal DNA of advocacy for many causes. This was because I was a single father raising my three children and I had to ask for help throughout his community. I found out that there is no limit to being humble. When I found out how the community helped me I promised myself that I would come back and help them.

For over 15 years I've worked in the MRDD (Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities) field as a Site Supervisor helping people with mental and physical disabilities.

I've also worked over 20 years in Multi-media. From hosting radio shows, tv shows, managing community papers; to currently doing podcasts and Facebook live shows. I love getting information out that people can use.

I am a board member of the Berea Planning Commission and the Berea Tax Incentive Review Council.

My family and I attend Grace Church in Middleburg Heights where I've taught kids and adults classes.

I had a heart attack a few years ago. Right while I was running for office. I sat back after that and had to reevaluate everything. I did and found out that life is short. What is your purpose in life? Mine is raising my children and giving back to the community that helped me.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Mental Health
• Minimum Wage
• Justice System

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Mental Health-It means more then mental health. It includes people with disabilities; children's and adults that have lost a lot of social skills throughout the pandemic.

Minimum Wage - As the pandemic seems to have subsided and people are back to work people's cost of necessities have gone up with no end in sight. Thus minimum wages should be increased or controlled stimulus checks should be put into place.

Justice System - Better rehabilitation of criminals, less police brutality, more community review boards.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

There are a few people I look up too. One is my daughter Angel Alexander and the other one is my son Anthony Alexander Jr. Angel at times has showed me how to use your grace, compassion and firmness with people and situations. It's still the growing power of her; but I see in her the amazing potential to make so much of a difference in the world. My son Anthony Jr has shown me how it is when people want to be around you. And he is also showing me how to use that. Sometimes people are there for you for good; sometimes people are there for their own motives. As he grows more into who he wants to be he's finding out which people are there for which situations he's in. At their ages I admire what they've gone through and that they try to be there for each other.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

One of my most favorite movies is 1939's "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington". It stars Jimmy Steward as a Congressman who fights for the right to clear his name and expose political corruption. The scene where he is in the congress chambers giving this impassioned speech to congress is spine-tingling. Sometimes you have to be the one that fights for you and others when no one else will.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty, transparency, compassion to the voters; and an accessibility for voters to talk to their officials in a timely fashion.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Honesty, transparency, compassion to the voters and an accessibility for voters to reach me. .

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Honesty, transparency, compassion to the voters; and an accessibility for them to reach me.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Probably that no one is perfect but try to treat people in the way that you want to be treated and where you don’t do it because you’re being watched but even when you aren’t.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

When I was in elementary school I had a chance to meet Olympic Gold Meade list and Clevelander Jesse Owens. He had come to our school to talk. I remember I had his autograph. It was so cool until I had lost it.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked at a Chinese restaurant when I was 16. It was to mop the upstairs and downstairs floor. After I did the upstairs I moved to do the downstairs. As I approached the downstairs with the mop and a full bucket in water I slipped and dropped the full bucket downstairs. Of course the stairs in this story had to be carpeted. So I was only there for a few weeks.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Any book that talks about Job. Especially the Bible. He was a person that had a good life. He was happy and had a great family. The devil saw that and made a deal with GOD to see if he could do every bad thing to JOB except kill him. He wanted to test his faith. GOD agreed. JOB lost his family, his body got sick, His friends told him he had to of done something to deserve this. He said no he didn't. When he started to question GOD and GOD talked to him he blessed him with more then what he had had. Through every bad thing that had happened to him he stood steadfast that God would take care of him,

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Peter Purer Better Known As Spiderman. Peter; Before He Became Spiderman; Was Like A Lot Of Us Growing Up. A Little Insecure In Himself; A Little Unsure Of Himself, Not The Most Popular Kid; But Yet Was Very Confident In His Inner Abilities; And Just Wanting An Opportunity To Show It. After Being Bitten By That Spider It Gave Him Superpowers And Enhanced In A Positive Way What He Already Had In Himself - The Opportunity To Show The World What He Had To Offer - Again, All He Needed Was A Chance. He Also Found Out That "With Great Power Comes Great Responsivity. By Gaining That Power To Help And Change People's Life's You Have To Also Realize That It Also Comes With A Cost. Like A Politician If You're The Only Person Fighting Then It's Worth It.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

The song that I always play a couple of times each day is called Jirah, Elevation Worship. It’s about God blessing you no matter what is going on in your life. My favorite verse is “I’ll still bless you in the middle of the storm in the middle of my trial. I’ll still bless you when I’m in the middle of the road and I don’t know which way to go. When I hear those words and it motivates me that I can achieve anything.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

It has been being humbled and asking for help. I’ve found out that there’s no limit to being humble. You will always need help; and when you don’t then you help others tha do.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

They have the abilities to communicate what the voters want. They should be able to help solve problems, they do collaborations with other congress members to help enact or change laws. Last but nit least they should be a visionary to know that whatever they do has consequences and will effect the country.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

I feel that each person should be judged individually. If that person hasn’t been officially in office but has some type of volunteering in their community; or bigger campaigns and issues; then that has to be taken into consideration.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

To find out who we are as a country. Over the past few presidencies we’ve had to recreate who we are globally; and even to ourselves. Are we a superpower country that flex's our muscles and tells everyone that everything goes thru us? Our we that big brother country that monitors everyone else and decides should we get involved with other countries skirmishes? And to what extent to wheel it affects us? Or, like being a parent with many chidden that you have to treat by their different personalities, deal with each countries issues separately? Until we decide who we are as a nation we will not have an identity of who we represent to the world. It will only come when we have bi-partisan collaborations between the politicians to help mold the country that we live in which we call the United States Of America.

If you are not a current representative, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

I would like to be on:

Small Business
Transportation and Infrastructure
Veterans’ Affairs
Ethics
Education and Labor
Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth
Armed Services

House Administration

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

No I do not.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

I think it should be a 4 year term. If your in a position that’s so important to the country; especially if you’re new to the job and have the energy and the desire to succeed; it should take some time to learn the ropes adequacy.

It seems that the first year is on the job training. As soon at it gets into the second year its time to start for your run at office for the next term when you should be committed to the job. So if you get reelected that is technically your third year. That’s why I think it should be a 4 year term.

After that it should be term limited after 2 terms or 8 years in office. That way the votes can decided if they want a new person or want the same person in.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

The late Georgia Congressman John Lewis. He was in office for over 46 years! Throughout his life he preached and practiced equal and fair rights for everyone. At 23 years old he was a speaker at the March on Washington. He got beat and jailed many times fighting for people. After getting in Congress he did the same thing. Up until his dying days he was still fighting for people.

And now The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 is currently waiting to be turned into a law which would ironically restore parts of the Voting Rights Act's Law which he fought so hard for.

He was full of great integrity and character and made a difference in office. I've got the first two. I would love to get in office to have that third.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

From going door to door talking to many residents they had been discourage but finally happy that someone came by their house and wanted to hear their stories, They wanted to know how their voice could make a different. I told them that's why I'm here. We talked, they signed my petition, and it showed me that if we're there for our citizens the our citizens will be there for us.

Tell us your favorite joke.

One day I was getting some gas. I got out of my car to get some gas and a guy came up to me and he said, " Excuse me I haven't had a bite in a week" So I bit him.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

I feel that almost with any issue compromise in some way is negotiable. As long as it doesn't overcome the character of who and what you believe in.

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

This would be an important one because I would have to look at the pros and cons as to why this particular bill should be raised or lowed and go from there.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Anthony Leon Alexander campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Ohio House of Representatives District 17	Lost primary	$0	$0
2022	U.S. House Ohio District 7	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
Grand total			$0	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

See also

2024 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

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External links

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Candidate

Ohio House of Representatives District 17

Website

Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Ohio House of Representatives

Leadership

Speaker of the House:Jason Stephens

Majority Leader:Marilyn John

Minority Leader:Dani Isaacsohn

Representatives

District 1

Dontavius Jarrells (D)

District 2

Latyna Humphrey (D)

District 3

Ismail Mohamed (D)

District 4

Beryl Piccolantonio (D)

District 5

Meredith Lawson-Rowe (D)

District 6

Christine Cockley (D)

District 7

Allison Russo (D)

District 8

Anita Somani (D)

District 9

Munira Abdullahi (D)

District 10

Mark Sigrist (D)

District 11

Crystal Lett (D)

District 12

Brian Stewart (R)

District 13

Tristan Rader (D)

District 14

Sean Brennan (D)

District 15

Chris Glassburn (D)

District 16

Bride Rose Sweeney (D)

District 17

Mike Dovilla (R)

District 18

Juanita Brent (D)

District 19

Phil Robinson (D)

District 20

Terrence Upchurch (D)

District 21

Eric Synenberg (D)

District 22

Darnell Brewer (D)

District 23

Dan Troy (D)

District 24

Dani Isaacsohn (D)

District 25

Cecil Thomas (D)

District 26

Vacant

District 27

Rachel Baker (D)

District 28

Karen Brownlee (D)

District 29

Cindy Abrams (R)

District 30

Mike Odioso (R)

District 31

Bill Roemer (R)

District 32

Jack Daniels (R)

District 33

Veronica Sims (D)

District 34

Derrick Hall (D)

District 35

Steve Demetriou (R)

District 36

Andrea White (R)

District 37

Tom Young (R)

District 38

Desiree Tims (D)

District 39

Phil Plummer (R)

District 40

Rodney Creech (R)

District 41

Erika White (D)

District 42

Elgin Rogers (D)

District 43

Michele Grim (D)

District 44

Josh Williams (R)

District 45

Jennifer Gross (R)

District 46

Thomas Hall (R)

District 47

Diane Mullins (R)

District 48

Scott Oelslager (R)

District 49

Jim Thomas (R)

District 50

Matthew Kishman (R)

District 51

Jodi Salvo (R)

District 52

Gayle Manning (R)

District 53

Joe Miller (D)

District 54

Kellie Deeter (R)

District 55

Michelle Teska (R)

District 56

Adam Mathews (R)

District 57

Jamie Callender (R)

District 58

Lauren McNally (D)

District 59

Tex Fischer (R)

District 60

Brian Lorenz (R)

District 61

Beth Lear (R)

District 62

Jean Schmidt (R)

District 63

Adam Bird (R)

District 64

Nick Santucci (R)

District 65

David Thomas (R)

District 66

Sharon Ray (R)

District 67

Melanie Miller (R)

District 68

Thaddeus Claggett (R)

District 69

Kevin Miller (R)

District 70

Brian Lampton (R)

District 71

Levi Dean (R)

District 72

Heidi Workman (R)

District 73

Jeff LaRe (R)

District 74

Bernard Willis (R)

District 75

Haraz Ghanbari (R)

District 76

Marilyn John (R)

District 77

Meredith Craig (R)

District 78

Matt Huffman (R)

District 79

Monica Robb Blasdel (R)

District 80

Johnathan Newman (R)

District 81

James Hoops (R)

District 82

Roy Klopfenstein (R)

District 83

Ty Mathews (R)

District 84

Angela King (R)

District 85

Tim Barhorst (R)

District 86

Tracy Richardson (R)

District 87

Riordan McClain (R)

District 88

Gary Click (R)

District 89

D.J. Swearingen (R)

District 90

Justin Pizzulli (R)

District 91

Bob Peterson (R)

District 92

Mark Johnson (R)

District 93

Jason Stephens (R)

District 94

Kevin Ritter (R)

District 95

Ty Moore (R)

District 96

Ron Ferguson (R)

District 97

Adam Holmes (R)

District 98

Mark Hiner (R)

District 99

Sarah Fowler (R)

Republican Party (65)

Democratic Party (33)

Vacancies (1)