Randy Gardner

Randy Gardner

Republican Party

Prior offices

Ohio House of Representatives District 6

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Ohio State Senate

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Ohio State Senate District 2

Successor: Theresa Gavarone

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Education

Bachelor's

Bowling Green State University, 1981

Graduate

Bowling Green State University, 1987

Personal

Religion

Christian: Lutheran

Randall 'Randy' L. Gardner (b. August 20, 1958) is a former Republican member of the Ohio State Senate, representing District 2 from 2013 to 2019. Gardner served as state Senate majority leader from 2017 to 2019. He resigned from office in January 2019 to become chancellor of the Department of Higher Education in the gubernatorial administration of Mike DeWine (R).

Gardner served in the Ohio House of Representatives, representing District 6 from 1985 to 2000 and 2009 to 2013. He previously served in the Senate from 2001 to 2008.

Biography

Gardner earned his B.S. in education from Bowling Green State University in 1981 and his M.A. in political science from Bowling Green State University in 1987. He worked as a real estate agent and as a high school history and government teacher in Otsego Local Schools.

Committee assignments

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Gardner served on the following committees:

2013-2014

In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Gardner served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Gardner served on the following committees:

Ohio committee assignments, 2011
• Finance and Appropriations
• Health and Aging
• State Government and Elections

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Gardner served on the following committees:

Ohio committee assignments, 2009
• Finance and Appropriations
• Health
• Housing and Urban Revitalization
• Public Utilities

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

2016

See also: Ohio State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Ohio State Senate 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 Randy Gardner defeated Kirk Halliday in the Ohio State Senate District 2 general election.

Ohio State Senate, District 2 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Randy Gardner Incumbent	66.38%	118,232
	Democratic	Kirk Halliday	33.62%	59,882
Total Votes				178,114
Source: Ohio Secretary of State

Kirk Halliday ran unopposed in the Ohio State Senate District 2 Democratic primary.

Ohio State Senate District 2, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Kirk Halliday  (unopposed)	100.00%	25,228
Total Votes				25,228

Incumbent Randy Gardner ran unopposed in the Ohio State Senate District 2 Republican primary.

Ohio State Senate District 2, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Randy Gardner Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	50,116
Total Votes				50,116

2012

See also: Ohio State Senate elections, 2012

Gardner won election in the 2012 election for Ohio Senate District 2. Gardner defeated Michelle McCauley in the March 6 Republican primary and defeated Jeff Bretz (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.

Ohio State Senate, District 2, General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Randy Gardner	58.3%	102,319
	Democratic	Jeff Bretz	41.7%	73,113
Total Votes				175,432

Ohio State Senate District 2 Republican Primary, 2012

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Randy Gardner	79.5%	28,626
Michelle McCauley	20.5%	7,361
Total Votes		35,987

2010

See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2010

Gardner won re-election to District 6 of the Ohio House of Representatives. He defeated Jackie Brown (D) in the general election, which took place on November 2, 2010.

Ohio House of Representatives, District 6
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Randy Gardner (R)		28,590	66.61%
Jackie Brown (D)		14,333	33.39%

2008

See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2008

On November 4, 2008, Gardner won election to the Ohio House of Representatives. He defeated Jeffery Bretz (D) in the general election.

Ohio House of Representatives, District 6
Candidates		Votes
Randy Gardner (R)		37,253
Jeffery Bretz (D)		22,858

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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Randy Gardner campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2016	Ohio State Senate, District 2	Won	$944,105	N/A**
2012	Ohio State Senate, District 2	Won	$289,445	N/A**
2010	Ohio State House, District 6	Won	$208,071	N/A**
2008	Ohio State House, District 6	Won	$310,827	N/A**
2004	Ohio State Senate, District 2	Won	$767,078	N/A**
2000	Ohio State Senate, District 2	Won	$475,428	N/A**
1998	Ohio State House, District 4	Won	$279,893	N/A**
1996	Ohio State House, District 4	Won	$203,932	N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

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.

2018

In 2018, the 132nd Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 2 through December 31.

• Innovation Ohio

Representatives are scored on their votes on bills affecting working families.

• Ohio Chamber of Commerce

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills impacting Ohio's business community.

• The American Conservative Union

Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2017

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show].
In 2017, the 132nd Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 2 through December 31. Ohio Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills impacting Ohio's business community. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2016

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show].
In 2016, the 131st Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 5 through December 31. Ohio Chamber of Commerce: 2015-2016 scorecard Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills impacting Ohio's business community. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2015

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show].
In 2015, the 131st Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 5 through December 31. Ohio Chamber of Commerce: 2015-2016 scorecard Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills impacting Ohio's business community. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2014

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show].
In 2014, the 130th Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 7 through December 31. Innovation Ohio: 130th General Assembly - Women's issues scorecard Legislators are scored based on their votes on women’s issues. The American Conservative Union: 2014 legislative scorecard Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2013

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show].
In 2013, the 130th Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 7 to December 31. Innovation Ohio: 130th General Assembly - Women's issues scorecard Legislators are scored based on their votes on women’s issues. The American Conservative Union: 2013 legislative scorecard Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2012

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show].

In 2012, the 129th Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 3 through December 31. Innovation Ohio: 129th General Assembly - Middle class scorecard Legislators are scored based on their votes on middle class issues. Innovation Ohio: 129th General Assembly - Votes on legislation supported by Gov. Kasich Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills introduced at Gov. Kasich’s urging or which had his support. Innovation Ohio: 129th General Assembly - Women's issues scorecard Legislators are scored based on their votes on women’s issues. Ohio Federation of Teachers: State House 129th General Assembly scorecard Representatives are scored based on how they voted on issues of priority to members of the Ohio Federation of Teachers. Ohio Federation of Teachers: State Senate 129th General Assembly scorecard Senators are scored based on how they voted on issues of priority to members of the Ohio Federation of Teachers. The American Conservative Union: 2012 legislative scorecard Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2011

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show].

In 2011, the 129th Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 3 through December 31. Innovation Ohio: 129th General Assembly - Middle class scorecard Legislators are scored based on their votes on middle class issues. Innovation Ohio: 129th General Assembly - Votes on legislation supported by Gov. Kasich Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills introduced at Gov. Kasich’s urging or which had his support. Innovation Ohio: 129th General Assembly - Women's issues scorecard Legislators are scored based on their votes on women’s issues. Ohio Federation of Teachers: State House 129th General Assembly scorecard Representatives are scored based on how they voted on issues of priority to members of the Ohio Federation of Teachers. Ohio Federation of Teachers: State Senate 129th General Assembly scorecard Senators are scored based on how they voted on issues of priority to members of the Ohio Federation of Teachers. The American Conservative Union: 2011 legislative scorecard Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

Endorsements

Presidential preference

2012

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Randy Gardner endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
When he served in the state legislature, Gardner and his wife, Sandy, had three children. They resided in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Randy + Gardner + Ohio + Senate"

All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.

Randy Gardner News Feed

See also

• Ohio State Senate
• Senate Committees
• Ohio General Assembly
• Joint Committees
• Ohio state legislative districts

External links

Suggest a link

• Profile from Open States
• State Surge Representative Gardner's sponsored bills
• Campaign contributions via Follow the Money

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Mark Wagoner (R)	Ohio State Senate, District 2 2013–2019	Succeeded by Theresa Gavarone (R)
Preceded by -	Ohio House of Representatives, District 6 2009–2013	Succeeded by Marlene Anielski (R)

[show]

Current members of the Ohio State Senate

Leadership

Senate President:Robert McColley

Minority Leader:Nickie Antonio

Senators

District 1

Robert McColley (R)

District 2

Theresa Gavarone (R)

District 3

Michele Reynolds (R)

District 4

George Lang (R)

District 5

Stephen Huffman (R)

District 6

Willis Blackshear (D)

District 7

Steve Wilson (R)

District 8

Louis Blessing (R)

District 9

Catherine Ingram (D)

District 10

Kyle Koehler (R)

District 11

Paula Hicks-Hudson (D)

District 12

Susan Manchester (R)

District 13

Nathan Manning (R)

District 14

Terry Johnson (R)

District 15

Hearcel Craig (D)

District 16

Beth Liston (D)

District 17

Shane Wilkin (R)

District 18

Jerry Cirino (R)

District 19

Andrew Brenner (R)

District 20

Tim Schaffer (R)

District 21

Kent Smith (D)

District 22

Mark Romanchuk (R)

District 23

Nickie Antonio (D)

District 24

Thomas Patton (R)

District 25

William DeMora (D)

District 26

Bill Reineke (R)

District 27

Kristina Roegner (R)

District 28

Casey Weinstein (D)

District 29

Jane Timken (R)

District 30

Brian Chavez (R)

District 31

Al Landis (R)

District 32

Sandra O'Brien (R)

District 33

Alessandro Cutrona (R)

Republican Party (24)

Democratic Party (9)