Biography of Karen Gillmor

Karen L. Gillmor is a lifelong Ohioan with more than three decades of service to our state and nation.

A graduate of Rocky River High School where she was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1998, Karen worked through college and graduate school, earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree with honors from Michigan State University and both a Master of Arts Degree and a Ph.D. Degree from The Ohio State University.

Karen began her career working in the fields of education, health care, and finance in both the public and private sectors. In 1992, Karen was elected to the first of two-terms in the State Senate representing the 26th District of Ohio. As a state senator, Senator Gillmor was a member of numerous committees and served as Chairman of the Senate Insurance, Commerce, and Labor Committee; Chairman of the Senate State and Local Government & Veterans Affairs Committee; and the Vice Chair of the Senate Health Committee.

Among her many accomplishments in the State Senate, Senator Gillmor authored bills to create the Office of Women’s Health Initiatives, prohibit smoking in daycare centers, eliminate two state agencies, require adult care facilities to complete criminal background checks on job applicants, set standards for the safety and noise of personal watercraft on Ohio’s waterways, and authorize the transfer of convicts who are not citizens of the United States back to their native countries.

Senator Gillmor was the principal co-sponsor of a bill which created the Ohio School Facilities Commission.  Since 1997, the Commission has approved over $6.9 billion for the construction, renovation, and repair of school buildings around Ohio.  She also authored a tax credit for employers who offer childcare assistance to their employees and an amendment to create managed health care for injured workers. Senator Gillmor secured more than $15 million in state appropriations to improve the economy of the 26th District in both the 1994 and 1996 budgets.

Senator Gillmor sponsored the renewal of State Issue II, to provide funding for local roads, bridges, water and sewer lines which was approved by 62% of voters in 1995. Senator Gillmor also sponsored legislation to create a tax credit for the purchase of new equipment used for manufacturing in Ohio. Her legislation resulted in over 400 companies bringing $2 billion in new investment to Ohio in the first two years.

In 1997, Karen was appointed by Governor George Voinovich to the State Employment Relations Board where she was reappointed in 2003. Karen served as vice chairman of the board which adjudicates labor disputes between public employers and 400,000 public employees for 10 years.

During her career in public service, Senator Gillmor has received numerous awards for outstanding accomplishments from groups representing education, medicine, ethics and the American taxpayer. She has been named the Ohio Outstanding Freshman Legislator by the United Conservatives of Ohio and the National Outstanding Freshman Legislator of the Year by the National Republican Legislators Association. Karen currently serves as a trustee of Heidelberg College, the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, and the National First Ladies Library. She was also a member of the Advisory Council to the Childhood League Center and a trustee of the U.S. Capitol Childcare Center.

Senator Gillmor was married to Congressman Paul E. Gillmor, who passed away September 5, 2007, and has three sons, Paul Michael, Connor, and Adam, and two daughters, Linda and Julie.