Hearcel Craig
2019 - Present
2026
6
Hearcel Craig (Democratic Party) is a member of the Ohio State Senate, representing District 15. He assumed office on January 1, 2019. His current term ends on December 31, 2026.
Craig (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Ohio State Senate to represent District 15. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Craig is a former Democratic member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing District 26 from 2015 to 2018. He served on the Columbus City Council from 2007 to 2014. He resigned to begin his term in the Ohio House of Representatives.[1]
Biography
Hearcel Craig served in the U.S. Army from 1970 to 1972. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Franklin University, a master’s degree from Central Michigan University, and attended Ashland Theological Seminary. Craig’s career experience includes working as a legislative liaison for the Ohio Department of Youth Services, as Director of Recruitment & Admissions for City Year, as Auto Policy Issue Manager at the JCPenney Casualty Insurance Company, and as the executive director of the Hilltop Civic Council.[2]
Craig is a lifetime member of the NAACP and has served as the Sergeant-at-Arms for the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, vice chair for the Ohio Commission on Minority Health, co-chair of the Developmental Disabilities Caucus, and as an associate minister at the First Church of God.[2]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Craig was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Finance Committee
- Senate Insurance Committee
- Medicaid Committee (Decommissioned)
- Senate Rules and Reference Committee
- Veterans and Public Safety Committee
- Correctional Institution Inspection Committee
- Joint Legislative Ethics Committee
- Legislative Service Commission Committee
2021-2022
Craig was assigned to the following committees:
- Correctional Institution Inspection Committee, Secretary
- Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review Committee
- Energy and Public Utilities Committee
- Senate Finance Committee
- Financial Institutions and Technology
- General Government Committee, Ranking member
- Government Oversight and Reform Committee, Ranking member
- Senate Insurance Committee, Ranking member
- Senate Rules and Reference Committee
2019-2020
Craig was assigned to the following committees:
- Correctional Institution Inspection Committee
- Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review Committee
- Government Oversight and Reform Committee, Ranking minority member
- Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee, Ranking minority member
- Local Government, Public Safety, and Veterans Affairs Committee
- Energy and Public Utilities Committee
- General Government and Agency Review Committee
- Workforce and Higher Education Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Ohio committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Aging and Long Term Care |
| • Armed Services, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security |
| • Financial Institutions, Housing and Urban Development |
| • Public Utilities |
| • Correctional Institution Inspection |
| • Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Craig served on the following committees:
| Ohio committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and Public Safety |
| • Economic and Workforce Development |
| • Financial Institutions, Housing and Urban Development |
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
2022
See also: Ohio State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Ohio State Senate District 15
Incumbent Hearcel Craig won election in the general election for Ohio State Senate District 15 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Hearcel Craig (D) | 100.0 | 72,000 |
| Total votes: 72,000 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Ohio State Senate District 15
Incumbent Hearcel Craig advanced from the Democratic primary for Ohio State Senate District 15 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Hearcel Craig | 100.0 | 9,880 |
| Total votes: 9,880 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Andrew Brush (R)
Campaign finance
2018
- See also: Ohio State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Ohio State Senate District 15
Hearcel Craig defeated Jordan Garcea in the general election for Ohio State Senate District 15 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Hearcel Craig (D) | 82.5 | 107,505 |
 | Jordan Garcea (R) | 17.5 | 22,778 | |
| Total votes: 130,283 | |||
| = 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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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Ohio State Senate District 15
Hearcel Craig defeated Jodi Howell in the Democratic primary for Ohio State Senate District 15 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Hearcel Craig | 69.8 | 20,440 |
 | Jodi Howell | 30.2 | 8,857 | |
| Total votes: 29,297 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Mayo Makinde (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Ohio State Senate District 15
Jordan Garcea advanced from the Republican primary for Ohio State Senate District 15 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jordan Garcea | 100.0 | 5,009 |
| Total votes: 5,009 | |||
| = 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
- Stephanie Thomas (R)
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 Hearcel Craig defeated Kenneth Collins in the Ohio House of Representatives District 26 general election.[3]
| Ohio House of Representatives, District 26 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Hearcel Craig Incumbent |
79.61% | 40,268 | |
| Republican | Kenneth Collins | 20.39% | 10,314 | |
| Total Votes | 50,582 | |||
| Source: Ohio Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Hearcel Craig ran unopposed in the Ohio House of Representatives District 26 Democratic primary.[4][5]
| Ohio House of Representatives District 26, Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Hearcel Craig Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 14,766 | |
| Total Votes | 14,766 | |||
Kenneth Collins ran unopposed in the Ohio House of Representatives District 26 Republican primary.[4][5]
| Ohio House of Representatives District 26, Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Kenneth Collins (unopposed) |
100.00% | 3,714 | |
| Total Votes | 3,714 | |||
2014
Elections for the Ohio House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 6, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 5, 2014. Hearcel Craig defeated Howard Heard in the Democratic primary, while Dustin Pyles was unopposed in the Republican primary. Craig defeated Pyles in the general election.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Hearcel Craig |
75.8% | 19,513 | |
| Republican | Dustin Pyles | 24.2% | 6,230 | |
| Total Votes | 25,743 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Hearcel Craig |
60.4% | 4,430 |
| Howard Heard | 39.6% | 2,899 |
| Total Votes | 7,329 | |
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.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Ohio scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 2 to December 19. A special session on elections commenced on May 28, 2024, and ended on May 31.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 2 to December 31.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 19 to December 15.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 4 to December 31.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 6 to December 31.
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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.
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Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Hearcel + Craig + Ohio + House"
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Hearcel Craig did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ City of Columbus, "Craig," accessed December 8, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ohio Senate, "Hearcel F. Craig Biography," accessed October 25, 2024
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Official election results," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ohio Secretary of State, "Candidate Listing By Office," accessed February 8, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ohio Secretary of State, "2016 Official Elections Results," accessed August 29, 2016
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Official primary election results for May 6, 2014," accessed July 3, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charleta Tavares (D) |
Ohio State Senate District 15 2019-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Ohio House of Representatives District 26 2015-2018 |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Columbus City Council 2007-2014 |
Succeeded by - |
