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Ed FitzGerald
Ed FitzGerald (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Ohio's 7th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on May 5, 2026.[source]
FitzGerald (Democratic Party) was the Cuyahoga County Executive in Ohio. He assumed office in 2011. He left office in 2015.
Biography
FitzGerald began his career as a special agent with the FBI. In this role he was assigned to the Organized Crime Task Force in Chicago, investigating political corruption and mafia influence. After leaving the FBI he returned to Ohio, serving as an assistant county prosecutor. In 2007 he was elected Mayor of Lakewood and in 2010 elected as Cuyahoga County Executive.[1]
Education
- Bachelor's degree, Ohio State University, 1990
- Cleveland–Marshall College of Law, 1993
Elections
2026
See also: Ohio's 7th Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on May 5, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Ohio District 7
Michael Eisner and Ed FitzGerald are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Ohio District 7 on May 5, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Michael Eisner | ||
 | Ed FitzGerald | |
| ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Ohio District 7
Incumbent Max Miller and Jonah Schulz are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Ohio District 7 on May 5, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Max Miller | |
 | Jonah Schulz | |
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2014
- See also: Ohio gubernatorial election, 2014
On March 11, 2013, FitzGerald filed campaign committee paperwork with the Ohio Secretary of State enabling him to begin fundraising for the 2014 Ohio gubernatorial election. FitzGerald had yet to officially declare his candidacy, despite releasing a 3-minute video spot to accompany his committee filings. "Today I'm announcing the formation of an exploratory committee to run for governor; But more than that, I'm beginning a conversation with you, the people of Ohio," he said in the video.[2] FitzGerald confirmed his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor on April 24, 2013.[3][4] Republican incumbent Gov. John Kasich ran for re-election in 2014.[5] FitzGerald won the primary on May 6, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
Results
Primary election
| Governor/Lt. Governor of Ohio - Democratic Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 Ed FitzGerald/Sharen Neuhardt |
83.1% | 366,056 | ||
| Larry Ealy/Ken Gray | 16.9% | 74,197 | ||
| Total Votes | 440,253 | |||
| Election results via Ohio Secretary of State. | ||||
General election
| Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | John Kasich/Mary Taylor Incumbent |
63.6% | 1,944,848 | |
| Democratic | Ed FitzGerald/Sharen Neuhardt | 33% | 1,009,359 | |
| Green | Anita Rios/Bob Fitrakis | 3.3% | 101,706 | |
| Total Votes | 3,055,913 | |||
| Election results via Ohio Secretary of State | ||||
Endorsements
- Former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland[6]
- Ohio AFL-CIO[7]
- U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge[8]
Race background
Incumbent Republican John Kasich was initially seen as potentially vulnerable in late 2013, as there was speculation he might face a primary challenge from the right, along with a competitive general election featuring a full slate of Ohio Libertarian Party candidates. These potential challenges diminished by early 2014: Kasich did not face any primary opponents, and the Libertarian gubernatorial candidate was disqualified from the ballot. In the general election, Kasich faced Democratic Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald and Green Party candidate Anita Rios. By May 2014, polling indicated an improvement in Kasich’s approval ratings and an expanding lead.[9]
In August 2014, The Washington Post reported on several challenges facing FitzGerald’s campaign, including limited fundraising, a delay in renewing his driver’s license, a meeting with a foreign trade representative that drew attention, and significant staff turnover.[10] Following these developments, a poll conducted by the Columbus Dispatch in September showed Kasich increasing his lead over FitzGerald to 30 percentage points.[11]
Tea Party primary challenge
Ted Stevenot, an Ohio Tea Party leader, had planned to announce a primary challenge to incumbent Governor Kasich.[12] In early January 2014, however, Stevenot and his running mate, Brenda Mack, decided not to challenge Kasich.[13] In his prepared statement, Stevenot said that his running mate's financial history, which had been the subject of recent news coverage, was not part of his consideration to withdraw.[14]
Ballot disqualifications
Libertarian Party
The Libertarian Party of Ohio had intended to file a full slate of candidates to contest each election. However, due to the number of signatures rejected on their ballot access petitions, no candidate ended up qualifying.[15]
On March 7, 2014, the Libertarian gubernatorial ticket was stricken from the ballot, having initially received the secretary of state's approval following a legal challenge from a self-identified Libertarian voter.[16] The challenge alleged that Charlie Earl's signature-gathering effort had been led by Democrats; however, this allegation was not the basis of Secretary of State Husted's decision. Husted found that some of the signature gatherers had failed to properly identify their employer on the correct form and therefore rejected the signatures they had gathered.[17] Ballot Access News reported that the decision could impact future elections: "With no gubernatorial candidate on the November ballot, the party will lose its status as a qualified party."[18] The Libertarian Party of Ohio failed to win an injunction against this disqualification twice at the district court level and, after a similarly unsuccessful appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for emergency relief that would have allowed Charlie Earl to appear on the May 6 primary ballot. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case.[19] On May 2, the Supreme Court rejected the petition.[20] On June 4, a petition for re-hearing before the full Sixth Circuit was rejected, leaving an appeal to the district court as the only possible source of redress.[21][22]
Green Party
Both of the Green Party's candidates were also disqualified for signature-related issues. Two alternative candidates filed to run as write-ins on the Green Party line: Anita Rios and Bob Fitrakis for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively. To get on the November ballot, Rios and Fitrakis needed to receive 500 write-in votes in the primary on May 6. They succeeded and participated in the general election.[23]
Polls
| Ohio Governor's Race 2014 - Kasich vs. Fitzgerald | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | John Kasich | Ed Fitzgerald | Other | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| The Columbus Dispatch October 22-31, 2014 | 62% | 34% | 4% | +/-3.3 | 1,009 | ||||||||||||||
| New York Times/CBS News/YouGov October 16-23, 2014 | 54% | 35% | 11% | +/-3 | 2,728 | ||||||||||||||
| Columbus Dispatch September 3-12, 2014 | 59% | 29% | 10% | +/-2.7 | 1,185 | ||||||||||||||
| Rasmussen Reports September 8-9, 2014 | 50% | 30% | 20% | +/-4.0 | 780 | ||||||||||||||
| YouGov August 18, September 2, 2014 | 50% | 37% | 13% | +/-3.0 | 2,978 | ||||||||||||||
| Qunnipiac July 24-28, 2014 | 48% | 36% | 16% | +/-2.7 | 1,366 | ||||||||||||||
| YouGov July 7-24, 2014 | 49% | 43% | 8% | +/-0 | 3,624 | ||||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac May 7-12, 2014 | 50% | 35% | 14% | +/-2.9 | 1,174 | ||||||||||||||
| Rasmussen Reports May 7-8, 2014 | 45% | 38% | 17% | +/-4.0 | 750 | ||||||||||||||
| SurveyUSA April 24-28, 2014 | 46% | 36% | 18% | +/-4 | 618 | ||||||||||||||
| Magellan Strategies for the Liberty Foundation of America April 14-15, 2014 | 47% | 41% | 12% | +/-3.35 | 857 | ||||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University Poll February 12-17, 2014 | 43% | 38% | 19% | +/-2.7 | 1,370 | ||||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 50.25% | 36% | 13.5% | +/-2.97 | 1,536.58 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio Governor's Race 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | John Kasich | Ed Fitzgerald | Charlie Earl | Not sure | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling (December 6-8, 2013) | 40% | 38% | 6% | 16% | +/-3.1 | 1,011 | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling (November 5-6, 2013) | 41% | 41% | 6% | 13% | +/-4.0 | 595 | |||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 40.5% | 39.5% | 6% | 14.5% | +/-3.55 | 803 | |||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
2010
FitzGerald was elected as Cuyahoga County Executive in the general election on November 2, 2010.[24]
| Cuyahoga County Executive General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Matt Dolan | 30.3% | 124,719 | |
| Green | David H. Ellison | 1.5% | 6,193 | |
| Democratic | Edward FitzGerald |
45.7% | 188,475 | |
| - | Ken Lanci | 11.4% | 47,110 | |
| - | Tim McCormack | 8.2% | 33,760 | |
| Nonparty | Don Scipione | 2.9% | 11,897 | |
| Total Votes | 412,154 | |||
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
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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.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
FitzGerald and his wife Shannon have four children: Jack, Connor, Colleen and Bridget.[25]
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Facebook, "Ed FitzGerald," accessed April 24, 2013
- ↑ Ed FitzGerald for Ohio, "Home," accessed March 13, 2013
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbid14 - ↑ FOX 28, "Cleveland Dem Enters 2014 Governor Race," April 24, 2013
- ↑ Columbus Dispatch, "Kasich focused on his own re-election bid," November 8, 2012
- ↑ Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Ohio governor's race: Former Gov. Ted Strickland passes torch to fellow Democrat Ed FitzGerald," July 29, 2013
- ↑ Cleveland.com, "Ohio AFL-CIO backs Ed FitzGerald for governor," October 7, 2013
- ↑ Cleveland.com, "U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge endorses Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald for governor," November 29, 2013
- ↑ Quinnipiac, "Ohio Gov Roars Past Little Known Challenger, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Support For Life Options Outweighs Death Penalty," May 14, 2014
- ↑ The Washington Post, "The remarkable implosion of Ed FitzGerald," August 26, 2014
- ↑ Columbus Dispatch, "Ohio governor: Kasich ahead by 30 points in new poll," September 14, 2014
- ↑ Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Tea party leader takes first step toward challenging John Kasich in GOP primary," January 6, 2014
- ↑ Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Tea Party primary challenge to Kasich fizzles," January 6, 2014
- ↑ Ohio Liberty Coalition, "Stevenot Decides Not to Run for Governor," January 6, 2014
- ↑ The Plain Dealer, "Ed FitzGerald faces only primary among statewide candidates; Libertarians fail to field full slate," March 10, 2014
- ↑ Akron Beacon Journal Online, "Libertarian governor candidate challenged in Ohio," March 10, 2014
- ↑ The Republic, "Ohio elections chief disqualifies 2 Libertarian candidates from May primary after protests," March 10, 2014
- ↑ Ballot Access News, "Ohio Secretary of State Removes Libertarian Party Statewide Candidates from the Libertarian Primary Ballot," March 10, 2014
- ↑ Libertarian Party of Ohio v. Jon Husted, "Application for stay and emergency injunction addressed to Justice Kagan," accessed May 2, 2014
- ↑ The Republic, "Ohio Libertarians' ballot plea denied at US Supreme Court, re-filed with 2nd justice," May 2, 2014
- ↑ The Alliance Review, "Court denies request in Ohio Libertarians’ case," May 5, 2014
- ↑ The Blade, "Legal options trimmed for Libertarian Ohio governor candidate; federal court won't rehear case," June 4, 2014
- ↑ Ballot Access News, "Ohio Green Party Still Has Chance to Qualify its Gubernatorial Candidate for the November Ballot," March 24, 2014
- ↑ Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, "General election results – November 2, 2010," accessed April 24, 2013
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedabout
