Service
Ohio Senate, 2007 – Current
Trumbull, Ashtabula Counties
Party
Democrat
Biography
Capri Cafaro was appointed to the Ohio Senate in 2007. One year after becoming a member of the Ohio General Assembly, Cafaro secured a leadership position as the Assistant Minority Whip for the Senate Democrats. In January 2009 she was sworn in as the Ohio Senate Minority Leader.
In addition to her leadership roles, Cafaro has served on the following Senate committees:
- Senate Finance and Financial Institutions (ranking minority member),
- Health, Human Services and Aging,
- Highways and Transportation, and
- Joint Legislative Ethics.
Sen. Cafaro has also been called upon to serve on many of Ohio's special committees, councils and taskforces. Such appointments include: the Ohio Arts Council; the Ohio Rail Development Commission; the Ohio Transportation Task Force; the Ohio Agriculture to Chemicals, Polymers, and Advanced Material Task Force; the Motor Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program Legislative Oversight Committee; the Ohio Advisory Council for the Aging; the Medicaid Administrative Study Council; the Unemployment Compensation Advisory Council; the Unified Long-Term Care Budget Workgroup; the Ohio Help Me Grow Advisory Council; the Household Sewage and Small Flow On-Site Sewage Treatment System Study Commission; the Ladies Gallery Committee; the Joint Legislative Committee on Health Care Oversight; and the Ohio 21st Century Transportation Priorities Task Force.
Cafaro graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in American Studies and from Georgetown University with an MALS in International Studies. She has a long-standing interest in public policy pertaining to health care and the needs of older adults. She has served on the Trumbull County Senior Services Advisory Council and was a state policy liaison for Ohio with the National Patient Advocate Foundation. She was also a state advocate representative for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and served as a counselor for the Medicare Rights Center. Cafaro has also acted as an Economic Policy Associate for Global Action on Aging, an NGO with consultative status at the United Nations. Additionally, as a participant in the Clinton Global Initiative, she developed a project on Anti-Corruption efforts in emerging democracies.
Senator Cafaro has also taken on a national leadership role and currently serves as a Vice Chair of the National Conference of State Legislature's Transportation Committee and the Midwestern Regional Member of the Women's Legislative Network. Additionally, Cafaro was presented with the 2007-08 Legislator of the Year Award by the Ohio Association of Advanced Practice Nurses for her outstanding contributions to the practice of advanced nursing and advocacy of health care-related legislation. She was also honored as 2008 Woman of the Year Award by the Liberty Historical Society. In 2008, she was named a Friend of Agriculture by the Ohio Farm Bureau. In November 2008 she was awarded the honor of being one of the five MVP's in her "40 under 40" Class, selected and hosted by the Mahoning Valley 20/30 Club. Cafaro's Senate district encompasses Ashtabula and Trumbull counties located in the Northeastern part of Ohio.
Biography courtesy of the Ohio Senate, 2009.