| Fred Strahorn | |
| Office: | Minority Leader of the Ohio House of Representatives |
| Term Start: | January 5, 2015 |
| Term End: | February 6, 2019 |
| Predecessor: | Tracy Maxwell Heard |
| Successor: | Emilia Sykes |
| State Senate1: | Ohio |
| District1: | 5th |
| Term Start1: | March 31, 2009 |
| Term End1: | December 31, 2010 |
| Predecessor1: | Tom Roberts |
| Successor1: | Bill Beagle |
| State House2: | Ohio |
| District2: | 39th |
| Term Start2: | January 7, 2013 |
| Term End2: | December 31, 2020 |
| Predecessor2: | Clayton Luckie |
| Successor2: | Willis Blackshear Jr. |
| Term Start3: | January 3, 2001 |
| Term End3: | December 31, 2008 |
| Predecessor3: | Tom Roberts |
| Successor3: | Roland Winburn |
| Birth Date: | 20 March 1965 |
| Birth Place: | Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Education: | Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University Ohio State University (BS) Sinclair Community College |
Frederick W. Strahorn[1] (born March 20, 1965) is an American Democratic politician who served in the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 39th District, which consists of much of Dayton, Ohio. He served as the Minority Leader for the 131st Ohio General Assembly and 132nd Ohio General Assembly.
Strahorn served as a member of the Wright State University Board of Trustees, a position that ended in 2013.[2] He attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and graduated with a B.A. in aviation management from Ohio State University.[3] He also attended Sinclair Community College for real estate coursework.
Strahorn won his election to the Ohio House of Representatives in 2000 and was re-elected in 2002, 2004 and 2006. Strahorn was term limited out of running again in his previous district, but chose to run for election in a different district in 2012.
In 2008, Strahorn received the Dayton Unit NAACP President's Award from civil rights activist Derrick Foward, the president of the Dayton NAACP.
The following year, Strahorn was appointed to the Ohio Senate to replace Tom Roberts, who had been appointed to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, but lost election to a full term to Republican Bill Beagle.
Strahorn was chosen as the Democratic candidate for the position on August 12, 2012, at the Montgomery County Democratic headquarters, with a vote of 41–1.[4]
First elected in November 2012, Strahorn defeated his opponent, Jeffrey Wellbaum, with over 80% of the vote in a traditionally Democratic district. The two competed to fill the position that had been vacated in January 2013 by Clayton Luckie, who had earlier announced his withdrawal from the election following the news that he was being investigated on criminal charges.[5]
Strahorn soundly won re-election in 2014 with over 75% of the vote. His opponents were Jeff Dalton, Republican, and William Pace, an independent perennial candidate.[6] [7]
On November 18, 2014, Strahorn was elected as Minority Leader of the Ohio House by the Democratic Caucus. Strahorn stated that he would work on trying to make clear the Democratic Party's message to voters, commenting "I know that we have work to do with the general public with communicating what our party really stands for." He was reelected to the position in 2016.[8]
Circa 2016, Strahorn gave an impassioned labor rights speech, denouncing the union busting tactics of Moraine, Ohio's Fuyao Glass America plant and praising workers who choose to unionize with the UAW. His speech was featured in 2019 documentary film American Factory.[9]
| Election results | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Office | Election | Votes for Strahorn | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | ||||||||||
| 2000 | Ohio House of Representatives | General | 22,411 | 68.96% | Brian L. Whitaker | Republican | 7,956 | 24.48% | Logan Martinez | Independent | 2,132 | 6.56% | ||||||||||
| - | 2002 | General | 19,725 | 71.81% | Martin Arbagi | Republican | 7,744 | 28.19% | ||||||||||||||
| 2004 | General | 33,325 | 70.17% | Glenn Jones | Republican | 14,164 | 29.83% | |||||||||||||||
| 2006 | General | 23,523 | 74.17% | Martin Arbagi | Republican | 8,192 | 25.83% | |||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Ohio Senate | General | 47,681 | 49.15% | Bill Beagle | Republican | 49,339 | 50.85% | ||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Ohio House of Representatives | General | 37,831 | 82.99% | Jeffrey L. Wellbaum | Republican | 7,756 | 17.01% | ||||||||||||||
| 2014 | General | 16,344 | 77.5% | Jeffrey Dalton | Republican | 3,891 | 18.41% | William Pace | Independent | 895 | 4.24% | |||||||||||
| 2016 | General | 27,558 | 100% | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | General | 26,879 | 100% | |||||||||||||||||||
He is a member of the Baptist faith and has one daughter.