Mary Lightbody

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Mary Lightbody
Image of Mary Lightbody
Prior offices
Ohio House of Representatives District 19
Successor: Phil Robinson

Ohio House of Representatives District 4
Predecessor: Bob Cupp

Education

Bachelor's

Harvard University

Ph.D

The Ohio State University

Personal
Birthplace
Ohio
Profession
Educator
Contact

Mary Lightbody (Democratic Party) was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing District 4. She assumed office on January 1, 2023. She left office on January 9, 2024.

Lightbody (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Ohio House of Representatives to represent District 4. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Lightbody left office on January 9, 2024 to spend more time with her family.[1]

Biography

Mary Lightbody was born in Ohio and lives in Plain Township. Lightbody earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a doctorate in science education from The Ohio State University. Her career experience includes working as a teacher in K-12 education and at the collegiate level. Lightbody also served as a deacon at her church, as a member of the board of trustees of the Westerville Public Library, and in leadership positions with state and national science teachers’ professional associations.[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.

2021-2022

Lightbody was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Lightbody was assigned to the following committees:


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

2024

See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2024

Mary Lightbody did not file to run for re-election.

2022

See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 4

Incumbent Mary Lightbody defeated Jill Rudler in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 4 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Mary Lightbody
Mary Lightbody (D)
 
55.6
 
28,135
Image of Jill Rudler
Jill Rudler (R)
 
44.4
 
22,462

Total votes: 50,597
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 4

Incumbent Mary Lightbody advanced from the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 4 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Mary Lightbody
Mary Lightbody
 
100.0
 
3,247

Total votes: 3,247
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 4

Jill Rudler advanced from the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 4 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Jill Rudler
Jill Rudler
 
100.0
 
1,956

Total votes: 1,956
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign finance

2020

See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 19

Incumbent Mary Lightbody defeated Meredith Freedhoff in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 19 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Mary Lightbody
Mary Lightbody (D)
 
56.2
 
42,267
Image of Meredith Freedhoff
Meredith Freedhoff (R)
 
43.8
 
32,950

Total votes: 75,217
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 19

Incumbent Mary Lightbody advanced from the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 19 on April 28, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Mary Lightbody
Mary Lightbody
 
100.0
 
10,916

Total votes: 10,916
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 19

Meredith Freedhoff advanced from the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 19 on April 28, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Meredith Freedhoff
Meredith Freedhoff
 
100.0
 
4,591

Total votes: 4,591
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign finance

2018

See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 19

Mary Lightbody defeated Tim Barhorst in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 19 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Mary Lightbody
Mary Lightbody (D)
 
55.7
 
33,025
Image of Tim Barhorst
Tim Barhorst (R)
 
44.3
 
26,293

Total votes: 59,318
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 19

Mary Lightbody defeated Noni Banks in the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 19 on May 8, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Mary Lightbody
Mary Lightbody
 
55.9
 
3,939
Noni Banks
 
44.1
 
3,102

Total votes: 7,041
Candidate Connection = 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 19

Tim Barhorst defeated Dave Ferguson and Chris Curry in the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 19 on May 8, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Tim Barhorst
Tim Barhorst
 
53.3
 
4,893
Dave Ferguson
 
39.5
 
3,621
Chris Curry
 
7.2
 
660

Total votes: 9,174
Candidate Connection = 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.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Mary Lightbody did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Mary Lightbody did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2018

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Candidate Connection

Mary Lightbody participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on April 11, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Mary Lightbody's responses follow below.[3]

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

1.) My main priorities are to ensure equal access for all to quality education and vocational training, to attract well-paying jobs that offer advancement for hard-working Ohioans, and to be sure that quality and affordable health care are available to all. I am an educator who values hard work, has strong personal morals and ethics, and comes from a family whose motto is “Doing does it.” I believe that men and women who work hard should earn enough to support their families, send their children to good schools, have affordable health care, and be able to save for their retirements. Education is an important factor in a robust economy. More educated workers produce a bigger middle class, and a bigger middle class produces a demand for goods and services that has been shown to boost the economy.

2.) I will sponsor legislation that raises the minimum wage, ensures pay equity, fights discrimination, brings well-paying jobs to the area, and requires the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes Ohioans need the opportunity to secure well-paying jobs that offer opportunities for future advancement. To be competitive for business investment and jobs, Ohio must develop and attract job candidates with the knowledge, skills, and credentials that meet the needs of employers. There is a direct correlation between shifting state revenue away from the municipalities and schools and the steady decline in the quality of the schools and the services available to residents in the municipalities. Increasing state aid to the local governments can be achieved by eliminating tax breaks for the wealthy. This would restore state funding to the municipalities and to public education, could reduce the cost of college, and expand vocational training programs to make sure workers have the skills they need to get good jobs that pay well and offer benefits.
3.) I am very committed to ensuring that every Ohioan has access to quality and affordable health care, in part because my late husband was a kidney dialysis and later transplant patient, and I understand the challenges, heartbreak, and financial burden that families who have a serious medical problem face. I believe that the Medicaid expansion in Ohio should be maintained and supported because the coverage it provides removes health care insecurity. I support a single payer system and recognize that the minimal 5% overhead required to run Medicare is the most affordable system available. I will invest all my energy and experience to bring all the best ideas to the table to solve our problems together. I am running for the Ohio House to help hardworking Ohioans achieve these goals.[4][5]

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?

I married a guy from Tiffin OH whom I met at college. While Rick was enrolled in graduate school he learned during a routine physical that his kidneys were failing. We arranged to do Rick’s hemodialysis treatments at home, which meant that our three children grew up with their father hooked to a dialysis machine in the family room three nights a week for 13 years. Rick eventually got a kidney transplant but after 16 years, his immune system was no longer able to defend him from infections, and after a serious but brief illness and hospitalization in the fall of 2009 he died in his sleep.

When I emerged from the fog of my husband’s passing, I realized that one way for me to move past my grief would be to give back in a significant way. I want to find a way to use my family’s health care experience in a larger public service opportunity. All of the costs of Rick’s home hemodialysis, his two transplant surgeries, and the immune-suppressants he took to prevent his body from rejecting his transplant were paid for by Medicare. I have always been very grateful this was the case, as without federal support neither we nor our families could have been able to pay the costs, and my much-loved husband would have died at an even younger age.

I teach full time at Ohio State Newark. I am a member of the Westerville Public Library Board of Trustees. I have been a deacon at The First Congregational church in Columbus. And now I am a candidate for the Ohio House of Representatives. That same “Doing does it.” spirit I learned from my family helped me all the years we managed Rick’s medical regimes, our family, and our work, and is surely going to help me now as I seek to move into a leadership position to represent Ohioans and to make a difference in our community and state. I feel very strongly that hard-working men and women need to have access to high quality and affordable health care, just as Rick and I had. Without such coverage, they are but one serious illness away from financial hard times or even the loss of their homes.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[5]


Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Ohio

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

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.

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to LGBTQ, civil rights, and racial justice issues.


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018





See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Yahoo News, "Westerville-area Democratic Rep. Mary Lightbody to resign," January 4, 2024
  2. The Ohio House of Representatives, "Mary Lightbody Biography," accessed March 12, 2023
  3. Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
  4. Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Mary Lightbody's responses," April 11, 2018
  5. 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

Political offices
Preceded by
Bob Cupp (R)
Ohio House of Representatives District 4
2023-2024
Succeeded by
Beryl Brown Piccolantonio (D)
Preceded by
-
Ohio House of Representatives District 19
2019-2022
Succeeded by
Phil Robinson (D)


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
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
Dan Troy (D)
District 24
District 25
District 26
Vacant
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
Tom Young (R)
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
District 49
District 50
District 51
District 52
District 53
District 54
District 55
District 56
District 57
District 58
District 59
District 60
District 61
Beth Lear (R)
District 62
District 63
Adam Bird (R)
District 64
District 65
District 66
District 67
District 68
District 69
District 70
District 71
Levi Dean (R)
District 72
District 73
Jeff LaRe (R)
District 74
District 75
District 76
District 77
District 78
District 79
District 80
District 81
District 82
District 83
District 84
District 85
District 86
District 87
District 88
District 89
District 90
District 91
District 92
District 93
District 94
District 95
Ty Moore (R)
District 96
District 97
District 98
District 99
Republican Party (65)
Democratic Party (33)
Vacancies (1)