Personal life

Jennette Bradley (born October 2, 1952), her family would settle in a neighborhood on Columbus' east side, after her father retired from the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

. Bradley graduated from East High School

East High School (Columbus, Ohio)

East High School is a public high school located on the near east side of Columbus, Ohio at 1500 E. Broad Street. It is a part of Columbus City Schools. It was originally constructed in 1922....

 in 1970. Upon graduation, Bradley attended Wittenberg University

Wittenberg University

Wittenberg University is a private four-year liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio serving 2,000 full-time students representing 37 states and approximately 30 foreign countries...

 in Springfield, Ohio

Springfield, Ohio

Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek and Beaver Creek, approximately west of Columbus and northeast of Dayton. Springfield is home to Wittenberg...

, and would earn a degree in psychology.
Bradley would take a job with the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority, which she would later be promoted to head of the authority when she was twenty-eight years old.
In 1986, Bradley moved to Washington, D.C. Bradley would move back to Columbus in 1989 and work for Huntington National Bank.

Columbus City Council

Bradley entered the 1991 City Council race, with her newly wed husband as her campaign manager. Bradley ran as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, and won, becoming the first African American woman to serve on the council. She would be reelected in 1995 and 1999. During her tenure she was in charge of the parks and recreation and public utilities commissions.

Lieutenant governor

In 2002 Governor Taft

Bob Taft

Robert Alphonso "Bob" Taft II is an Ohio Republican Party politician. He was elected to two terms of office as the 67th Governor of the U.S. state of Ohio between 1999-2007. After leaving office, Taft started working for the University of Dayton beginning August 15, 2007.-Personal background:Taft...

 announced he had chosen Bradley to replace Maureen O'Connor

Maureen O'Connor

Maureen O'Connor is an American jurist and the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. Prior to this, O'Connor served as an Associate Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court and as Lieutenant Governor of Ohio under Gov. Bob Taft...

 as his running mate.
Many conservatives did not support Bradley because she was pro-choice

Pro-choice

Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....

. Critics of the Taft-Bradley ticket were also concerned about her City Council vote to extend city worker's health care benefits to include domestic partners

Domestic partnership

A domestic partnership is a legal or personal relationship between two individuals who live together and share a common domestic life but are neither joined by marriage nor a civil union...

 and same-sex couples. Bradley was then criticized for having later voted against this extension.

Taft and Bradley won the race with approximately 58% of the vote. Bradley became the third female Lieutenant Governor

Lieutenant Governor of Ohio

The position of lieutenant governor of Ohio was established in 1852. The lieutenant governor becomes governor if the governor resigns, dies in office or is removed by impeachment. Before 1852, the president of the Ohio State Senate would serve as acting governor if a vacancy in the governorship...

 in Ohio and the first African American woman elected to the office.

After taking office, Bradley was appointed by Taft to head the Ohio Department of Commerce, the Clean Ohio Council, and the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. In 2004, the governor also appointed Bradley to the "Jobs Cabinet." Following the resignation of Joseph T. Deters as state treasurer, Taft appointed Bradley to the post, effective January 2005. However, Bradley was defeated by conservative Ashtabula County Auditor Sandra O'Brien in the May 2006 Republican primary election.

Jet Magazine

Jet (magazine)

Jet is an American weekly marketed toward African-American readers, founded in 1951 by John H. Johnson of Johnson Publishing Company in Chicago, Illinois...

reported that Bradley's inauguration was "awe-inspiring."