Bernadine Kennedy Kent
Bernadine Kennedy Kent (Democratic Party) was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing District 25. She assumed office on January 1, 2017. She left office on December 31, 2020.
Kent (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Ohio House of Representatives to represent District 25. She won in the general election on November 6, 2018.
On December 17, 2019, Kennedy Kent announced she would not seek re-election to a third term.[1]
Kennedy Kent was a candidate for at-large representative on the Columbus City Schools Board of Education in Ohio. She lost in the general election on November 3, 2015. Kent was one of the eight candidates to advance from the primary election held on May 5, 2015.[2]
Kent uncovered fradulant payments going to tutoring companies from the district. She brought the fraud to the attention of the FBI, leading to an investigation and financial audit of the district. The audit discovered that over $800,000 had gone to tutoring companies for services that did not occur between the years of 2006-2013.[3]
Biography
Kent worked as a teacher and an assistant principal for Columbus City Schools for over 20 years. She was voted educator of the year during that time. She works as the director of the organization Parent Advocates for Students in Schools (P.A.S.S.).[4]
Committee assignments
2019-2020
Kent was assigned to the following committees:
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Ohio committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Community and Family Advancement |
| • Criminal Justice |
| • Government Accountability and Oversight |
| • Health |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2020
Bernadine Kennedy Kent did not file to run for re-election.
2018
General election
General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 25
Incumbent Bernadine Kennedy Kent defeated Debbie Staggs in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 25 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Bernadine Kennedy Kent (D) | 84.5 | 33,788 |
| Debbie Staggs (R) | 15.5 | 6,187 | ||
| Total votes: 39,975 | |||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 25
Incumbent Bernadine Kennedy Kent defeated Ismail Mohamed and Lamar Peoples in the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 25 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bernadine Kennedy Kent | 45.7 | 4,990 |
 | Ismail Mohamed | 39.7 | 4,332 | |
 | Lamar Peoples | 14.6 | 1,595 | |
| Total votes: 10,917 | |||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Daahir Omar (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 25
Debbie Staggs advanced from the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 25 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Debbie Staggs | 100.0 | 1,328 | |
| Total votes: 1,328 | |||
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2016
Elections for the Ohio House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on March 15, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was December 16, 2015. Incumbent Kevin Boyce (D) did not seek re-election.
Bernadine Kennedy Kent defeated Seth Golding and Napoleon A. Bell in the Ohio House of Representatives District 25 general election.[5]
| Ohio House of Representatives, District 25 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Bernadine Kennedy Kent |
70.80% | 33,826 | |
| Republican | Seth Golding | 14.86% | 7,100 | |
| Independent | Napoleon A. Bell | 14.34% | 6,853 | |
| Total Votes | 47,779 | |||
| Source: Ohio Secretary of State | ||||
Bernadine Kennedy Kent defeated Dontavius Jarrells, Jeffrey Mackey, and Mayo Makinde in the Ohio House of Representatives District 25 Democratic primary.[6][7]
| Ohio House of Representatives District 25, Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Bernadine Kennedy Kent |
35.18% | 5,699 | |
| Democratic | Dontavius Jarrells | 25.91% | 4,197 | |
| Democratic | Jeffrey Mackey | 19.50% | 3,158 | |
| Democratic | Mayo Makinde | 19.41% | 3,144 | |
| Total Votes | 16,198 | |||
Seth Golding ran unopposed in the Ohio House of Representatives District 25 Republican primary.[6][7]
| Ohio House of Representatives District 25, Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Seth Golding (unopposed) |
100.00% | 2,960 | |
| Total Votes | 2,960 | |||
2015
- See also: Columbus City Schools elections (2015)
Opposition
Four of the seven seats on the Columbus City Schools Board of Education were up for at-large general election on November 3, 2015. A primary election was held on May 5, 2015.
Three incumbents—Gary Baker, Shawna Gibbs, and Mary Jo Hudson—won re-election to their seats. Eric Brown won the fourth seat left open by incumbent Bryan Steward. Challengers Jim Hunter, Bernadine Kennedy Kent, Tina Pierce and Ben Tyson were defeated in the general election. Brian Bainbridge and Robert Sharrah were defeated in the primary election.[8][2]
Results
| Columbus City Schools, At-Large, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Mary Jo Hudson Incumbent |
20.0% | 59,922 |
| Eric Brown |
18.0% | 53,778 |
| Shawna Gibbs Incumbent |
15.7% | 46,947 |
| Gary Baker Incumbent |
12.6% | 37,755 |
| Tina Pierce | 10.9% | 32,699 |
| Ben Tyson | 9.1% | 27,173 |
| Jim Hunter | 7.6% | 22,813 |
| Bernadine Kennedy Kent | 6.0% | 17,910 |
| Total Votes | 298,997 | |
| Source: Franklin County, Ohio, "2015 General Election Official Results," November 27, 2015 | ||
| Columbus Board of Education, At-Large Primary Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Mary Jo Hudson Incumbent |
16.1% | 16,399 | |
| Nonpartisan | Shawna Gibbs Incumbent |
13.8% | 14,068 | |
| Nonpartisan | Eric Brown |
13.1% | 13,343 | |
| Nonpartisan | Tina Pierce |
10.4% | 10,595 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bernadine Kennedy Kent |
8.8% | 9,018 | |
| Nonpartisan | Gary Baker Incumbent |
8.6% | 8,748 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ben Tyson |
8.3% | 8,505 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jim Hunter |
7.5% | 7,683 | |
| Nonpartisan | Brian Bainbridge | 7.5% | 7,607 | |
| Nonpartisan | Robert Sharrah | 6% | 6,078 | |
| Total Votes | 102,044 | |||
| Source: Franklin County Board of Elections, "Franklin County Only Official Results Primary Election May 2015," accessed October 26, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Kent reported $8,003.51 in contributions and $8,003.51 in expenditures to the Franklin County Board of Elections, which left her campaign with $0 on hand in the election.[9]
Endorsements
Kent received no official endorsements for her campaign during the election.
Campaign themes
2016
Kent's campaign website highlighted the following issues:
| “ |
Ms. Kent fervently believes what leads to success is a commitment to factual, sincere communication and an allegiance to the pledge of representative government – not self. She is determined to bridge the communication gap between the people, their government, and the business community. Spending responsibly, greater accountability, and line-by-line reviews of each agency forces government agencies to be transparent and more efficient in the spending of the people's tax dollars. For Ms. Kent, it all comes full circle - a relevant and quality education for all children is critical to America's economic future as well as its people. Bias has no place in our society where children are involved. It is through education in world-class schools, job growth and equity in pay and a massive reduction in crimes of violence against our nation's children, we will emerge in a whole vibrant and inclusive 21st-century society.[10] |
” |
| —Bernadine Kennedy Kent[11] | ||
Campaign finance summary
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.
Campaign themes
2015
Kent highlighted the following goals on her campaign website:
| “ | 1. Reduce class sizes and train our teachers to teach through technology by providing classroom assistants that are tech savvy to aid in making education more relevant to an ever-changing world.
2. Offer Equal opportunity for all students to participate in the sciences, the arts, technology, and skill-producing education so that we can return to neighborhood schools for safety, financial reward and sense of community. 3. Eliminate standardized testing as a factor in determining whether a child advances or as a way to grade schools or define the effectiveness of teachers. 4. Utilize the budget to properly foster accountability, gain oversight, and eliminate unnecessary spending as well as fraud, waste, and abuse. 5. Recognize and value those public employees, parents, and community members, who work behind the scenes to help our students succeed.[10] |
” |
| —Bernadine Kennedy Kent's campaign website (2015), [12] | ||
What was at stake?
2015
- See also: 2013 school board elections
Four seats were up for election in 2015. Three incumbents, Gary Baker, Shawna Gibbs and Mary Jo Hudson, were running for re-election. They faced five challengers for the four seats in the general election.[13]
| Voter Participation 2011-2015, Franklin County[14] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Voter Turnout (%) | Total votes in school board election |
| 2015 | 34.4 | 286,178 |
| 2013 | 17.6 | 139,515 |
| 2011 | 29.3 | 219,645 |
A primary election was held for the district when there were more than double the number of candidates per open seat. There was no primary election held in 2011 or 2013. The 2013 election averaged two candidates per seat with six candidates running for three seats. Of the three incumbents running, only one of them won re-election. The 2011 election only had three candidates running for four seats, two of which were incumbents who won re-election. The fourth seat had to be filled by a write-in candidate. A primary election was held in 2015 when the race averaged 2.5 candidates per seat. Three incumbents won in the general election.
In addition to the increase in the average number of candidates between 2011 and 2015, the total number of votes in the election also experienced a 30 percent increase during that time. The 2011 election garnered 57 percent more votes than the 2013 election. The 2015 election had a 105 percent increase in total votes, compared to the 2013 election. Voter turnout took a 40 percent decrease between 2011 and 2013. Turnout improved between 2013-2015 by 95 percent.
Issues in the district
Audit discovers payments for unperformed services
The state of Ohio conducted a special investigation audit that discovered approximately $850,000 in payments from Columbus City Schools to tutoring companies for services that were never provided. The money was paid to 27 different tutoring companies to tutor at-risk students in the district as part of a federal grant program provided by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The district received the NCLB money from the state as part of the now defunct Supplemental Educational Services program. The district was billed for students who did not attend the tutoring sessions or who were not attending school in the district. Two tutoring company owners, Mussa Farrah and Ashkir Ali, were charged with aggravated identity theft and making false statements as a result of the investigation.[15]
School board candidate Bernadine Kennedy Kent and her husband, James Whitaker, attempted to uncover the fraud in 2006 when they filed a report with the Columbus Police Department that alleged fraud involving the NCLB funds. Kent was an assistant principal in the district and operator of the nonprofit Parents Advocates for Students in Schools (PASS). After no action was taken by the Columbus Police Department, Kent and Whitaker went to the FBI with the information they had collected regarding the fraudulent payments. The FBI then launched an investigation, which led to the state audit. In 2014, it was discovered that Kent and Whitaker had been placed on a "chronic complainer" list by the Columbus Police Department, leading to their original report being ignored.[16][17]
While the tutoring providers submitted false invoices to the district, Ohio state auditor Dave Yost criticized the district for a lack of oversight: “Even if you don’t do it for every single invoice, to not at least sample some of those invoices and check it back is a little bit puzzling." The district released a statement regarding the audit that said it had implemented new accounting practices since that time.[3]
Scorecards
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2020
In 2020, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 6 to December 31.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Representatives are scored on their votes on bills affecting working families.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 7 through December 31.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the 132nd Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 2 through December 31.
|
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the 132nd Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 2 through December 31.
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Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Bernadine Kennedy Kent Ohio House. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Columbus City Schools, Ohio
- Columbus City Schools elections (2015)
- Ohio House of Representatives
- Ohio House of Representatives District 25
- Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2016
- Ohio State Legislature
- Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
- What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)
External links
- Profile from the Ohio State Legislature
- Campaign website
- Bernadine Kennedy Kent on Facebook
- Candidate list
- Ohio House of Representatives
Footnotes
- ↑ The Columbus Dispatch, "Ohio Democrats hope 'boots on the ground' for 2020 elections will end GOP's supermajorities in legislature," December 18, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Franklin County, Ohio, "2015 General Election Unofficial Results," November 3, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 WOSU Radio, "Columbus City Schools Bilked Out Of Tutoring Money," October 5, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Bernadine Kent," accessed October 15, 2015
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Official election results," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ohio Secretary of State, "Candidate Listing By Office," accessed February 8, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ohio Secretary of State, "2016 Official Elections Results," accessed August 29, 2016
- ↑ Columbus City Schools, "Board of Education," accessed July 14, 2015
- ↑ Franklin County Board of Elections, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed February 3, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Kent for Ohio, "Main page," accessed February 29, 2016
- ↑ Vote Bernadine Kennedy Kent for Columbus School Board, "Goals," accessed October 15, 2015
- ↑ Franklin County, Ohio, "General Certified Candidate List," accessed August 6, 2015
- ↑ Franklin County, Ohio, "Election Archives," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ The Columbus Dispatch, "Audit: Fake tutoring accounts cost taxpayers more than $800,000," October 6, 2015
- ↑ Columbus Free Press, "Are you on the Columbus Police's secret blacklist," January 30, 2014
- ↑ The Columbus Dispatch, "Complainers list holds risk," March 24, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Kevin Boyce (D) |
Ohio House of Representatives District 25 2016–2020 |
Succeeded by Dontavius Jarrells (D) |
| 2015 Columbus City Schools Elections | |
| Franklin County, Ohio | |
| Election date: | Primary election: May 5, 2015 General election: November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Brian Bainbridge • Incumbent, Gary Baker • Shawna Gibbs • Mary Jo Hudson • Eric Brown • Jim Hunter • Bernadine Kennedy Kent • Tina Pierce • Robert Sharrah • Ben Tyson |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional measures on the ballot |
