Clara Weisenborn

Clara Weisenborn
Member of the Ohio Senate from the 5th district
In office January 3, 1967-December 31, 1974
Preceded by	First (None)
Succeeded by	Neal Zimmers
Personal details
Political party	Republican

Clara E. Weisenborn was a Republican Ohio politician who served in the Ohio General Assembly. Born in Dayton, Weisenborn was a journalist by trade for the Journal Herald, a prominent Dayton newspaper. She was initially elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1952, and served seven consecutive terms in the House. In 1966, Weisenborn was elected to the Ohio Senate, following the Voting Rights Act of 1965. She was reelected to a second term in 1970.

An advocate for women's rights, Weisenborn challenged and was critical of the fact that no women served as committee chairs in the Ohio legislature.^[1] Ultimately, she became one of the first, as chair of the Senate Education Committee.

By 1974, the Fifth Senate District was equally distributed among Republicans and Democrats, and Weisenborn was considered vulnerable in her bid for a third term. She was challenged by Neal Zimmers, who was an attorney in Dayton.^[2] Ultimately, Weisenborn lost the election, in a year where Democrats took control of both houses of the state legislature.^[3] In all, Weisenborn served twenty two years as a legislator.

Following her time in elected office, Weisenborn returned to Dayton where she remained active in gardening and her local historical society, as well as championing many park districts throughout the Miami Valley. She died in 1985.

References

1. ^ Women legislators said challenging powerless status
2. ^ Collins given edge in 17th District Senate seat
3. ^ Democrats take both Ohio Houses

External links

• The Ohio Ladies Gallery: Senator Clara Weisenborn (R-Dayton)

Persondata
Name	Weisenborn, Clara
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 9, 1907
Place of birth
Date of death	January 26, 1985
Place of death