Party Leadership

In January of 2021, Elizabeth (Liz) Walters was unanimously elected as Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party. She is the first woman elected to this role. Throughout her career Liz has worked with people and organizations that support progressive values, including the Obama-Biden Campaign, Congresswoman Betty Sutton, We Are Ohio, the Ohio Democratic Party, the Ohio Progressive Collaborative, Red, Wine, & Blue, and many community-based nonprofits and community organizing groups.

Walters is also serving her second term representing the citizens of Summit County as an At-Large member, and Council President. She has been active on a wide variety of issues and led the passage and implementation of Paid Parental Leave for county employees, the only Ohio county to pass such legislation. Currently, she chairs the Summit County Environmental Sustainability Task Force, co-chairs Summit County’s Special Committee to address racism as a public health crisis, and serves on numerous County boards and commissions.

She is a lifetime Girl Scout and has been active with the organization as a member, employee, or volunteer since the age of five. Liz serves on the Advisory Council for the United Way of Summit County’s Financial Empowerment Centers, and is an alumna of the American Council of Young Political Leaders. Liz earned a B.A. in History from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and her MPA from Cleveland State University. She and her rescue dog, Beatrice, live on the westside of Akron.

André Washington started his labor career at the University of Michigan Medical Center, AFSCME Local 1583 where he worked for 13 years before being hired as an organizer for AFSCME Council 25 in Detroit, Michigan. He helped organize the Detroit Medical Center's hospitals. In 2000, André was hired by the Ohio Association of Public School Employees as a Field Representative in the Toledo area where he negotiated for 17 locals. In 2012, André received a promotion to OAPSE Field Representative/Special Projects Coordinator in Columbus, Ohio, representing over 3,100 employees of the Columbus City School District, where his primary focus is on labor arbitration and being the Chief Negotiator. André attended Wayne State University for the labor study two-year program and is a graduate of the George Meany National Labor College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Labor Studies. André Washington has been a member of many community and labor organizations during his labor career. In January of 2021, Mr. Washington was elected Vice Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party. He is a lifetime member of the NAACP and was recently elected to serve as the NAACP Ohio State Conference 2nd Vice President. André is an active member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), the League of Women Voters, pride@work, Ohio State Voice Table, the Central Ohio Labor Council, Labor Council for Latino American Advancement, and the Ohio Unity Coalition. André is the father of two sons Chris and Derick. He attends the Travelers Rest Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus. He is passionate about working with minorities and underserved communities, educating, encouraging and empowering people to be the best they can possibly be. His passion and dedication have him involved in many organizations. He currently serves as Midwest Regional Representative and Ohio State President of the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), overseeing 10 states.

Taylor Sappington is a 33 year old, lifelong Ohioan from the rural town of Nelsonville, Ohio. He was the youngest and first openly gay statewide candidate in Ohio history. He was raised by a working class single-mom in a trailer on a hillside.

His Appalachian upbringing instilled in him a sense of hard work and the difference between right and wrong. Sappington attended school at Nelsonville-York City Schools where he graduated. He put himself through undergraduate studies at Ohio University in Athens.

After school, Sappington was elected with the most votes in a 5-way race for City Council where he worked tirelessly on the City’s ethics, policies, and finances. His first legislative accomplishment was a balanced budget ordinance that mandated balanced budget proposals from the administration with the City’s most vital and endangered funds.

After a full term on City Council, Taylor beat a 5-year incumbent for City Auditor on the promise to balance the books and beat corruption. Following the discovery of missing city emails and financial records, Sappington began an investigation on day one that eventually led to the largest theft and fraud bust in City history. The former Deputy Auditor used access to cash, payroll, and income taxes to steal hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars for years. She was discovered within 8 weeks of Sappington beginning the term.

Taylor has worked tirelessly to get City finances to a place where residents could be proud and trust where their money is going. City finances are now online, operated in the cloud, in surplus, and audited. Under Sappington’s leadership, the City has returned to strong surpluses and honesty and transparency have become commonplace.

In 2024, Taylor was overwhelmingly elected as Athens County's Treasurer with 93% of the vote. He recently obtained his Master of Public Administration and is now proudly twice an OU Bobcat. Taylor believes in proud, unafraid, progressive Appalachian leadership for Ohio and America.

Pat Frost-Brooks serves as Treasurer of the Ohio Democratic Party. She previously served as President of the Ohio Education Association. A teacher with the East Cleveland City School District, she also served OEA for many years as a member of the board of directors and as vice president. She also represented the association to the National Education Association and several statewide labor coalition activities. During her tenure, she was instrumental in reforming school funding in House Bill 1, securing Race to the Top funding, and reauthorizing the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and she has been involved with such organizations as the Ohio Appalachian Educator Institute, Education Voters, the Education Commission of the States, the National Association of Professional Women, and Read Across America; and many others.

Allison Russo is the Ohio House Minority Leader. Rep. Allison Russo has spent two decades advising leaders and policymakers on issues related to the healthcare financing and care delivery needs of seniors, vulnerable populations, veterans, and military families. Rep. Russo is a lifelong advocate for women and families, championing issues like strong public education, affordable and accessible healthcare, and economic strategies that sustain 21st century working families. She is excited to be serving in her first elected office because Ohioans deserve leaders who bring their expertise and diverse perspectives to the crucial issues facing our state.

As a veteran’s wife and parent to three young children, Rep. Russo is deeply committed to public service and to the 24th district. She created the Girls Who Lead after-school program and serves on the Women’s Leadership Council of the United Way of Central Ohio. Rep. Russo is a member of the Upper Arlington Rotary Club, a graduate of Leadership Upper Arlington, and regularly volunteers with Meals on Wheels. Rep. Russo and her husband Brian live in Upper Arlington and are actively involved in their children’s local public schools and youth sports leagues.

Rep. Russo is Policy Research Director for a healthcare policy consulting firm, where she also leads business development efforts and strategy for this Federally-qualified small business. She earned her Doctor of Public Health in health policy from The George Washington University and a Master of Public Health in epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Ohio Senate Minority Leader, Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) is honored to serve
the people of Ohio Senate District 23. Antonio, now serving in her second term in
the Senate (2022), previously spent eight years in the Ohio House of Representatives,
District 13. Antonio has also served as a Lakewood City Councilmember, Executive
Director of a Cleveland based women’s outpatient drug and alcohol treatment
program, Adjunct Professor at CSU and as a teacher for children with special needs.

She has been a dedicated champion of public education, working families, small
businesses, social justice and equal rights and health care for all and continued efforts
to fight the opioid crisis through prevention and treatment. Antonio has received
numerous awards for outstanding legislative leadership, including the Cleveland State
University 2013, Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award from the Maxine Levin College
of Urban Affairs and the 2019, ACAR J. Howard Battle Equal Opportunity in Housing
Award from the Akron/Cleveland Association of Realtors. A full list of Senator
Antonio’s awards can be found here ( http://www.nickieantonio.com ).

Antonio is recognized in the General Assembly as a leader who reaches across the
aisle to get things done and an established expert in health policy. She championed
Ohio’s historic Adoption Open Records (S.B. 23/H.B. 61) and Step Therapy Reform
laws (S.B. 265/H.B. 72). In the 133 rd General Assembly, Antonio passed legislation to
abolish the shackling of pregnant inmates (S.B. 18/H.B. 1) and to require pharmacist
education for dispensing life-saving naloxone (S.B. 59/H.B. 341). During her tenure,
Antonio has repeatedly introduced the Ohio Fairness Act, which would provide civil
rights protections for LGBTQ Ohioans as well as, legislation to end Ohio’s use of the
death penalty, as well as work on many other bills to improve the lives of all Ohioans.

Antonio’s 2023 historic ascension to Senate Minority Leader is the pinnacle of her
numerous notable firsts in the Ohio General Assembly. In 2010, she became the first
member of the LGBTQ community ever elected to the Ohio House of
Representatives in the 208-year history of the Ohio General Assembly. She was also
the first LGBTQ member to hold a leadership position when she was elected
Minority Whip in the 131 st General Assembly. In 2018, she became the first woman to
hold the Senate District 23 seat and the first member of the LGBTQ community ever
elected to the Ohio Senate. She continued historic firsts with her Senate leadership
positions of Minority Whip and Assistant Minority Leader in 2021.

The first in her family to graduate from college, she holds both an M.P.A. and a B.S.
Ed. from Cleveland State University. She is also an alumnus of the Bohnett Fellow of
the Kennedy School Harvard Leadership Program (2011).

Daughters, Ariel and Stacey have made Antonio and her wife, Jean Kosmac, very
proud as the girls engage in their adult life journeys.