Jamie Callender

Jamie Callender (born January 9, 1965) is an American lawyer and college professor who has served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives since 2019. He represents the 57th district which includes the Lake County communities of Concord Township, Kirtland, Kirtland Hills, LeRoy Township, Madison, Madison Township, North Perry, Perry, Perry Township, Waite Hill, Willoughby Hills, as well as most of both Mentor and Painesville Township.^[1] He currently is Chairman of Public Utilities and Finance, as well as serving on Civil Justice, Joint Education Oversight Committee, Rules and Reference Ohio House Committees.

Jamie Callender
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from the 57th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 7, 2019
Preceded by	Ron Young
In office January 3, 1997 – December 31, 2004
Preceded by	Dan Troy
Succeeded by	Lorraine Fende
Personal details
Born	(1965-01-09) January 9, 1965 (age 60) Mayfield, Kentucky, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Height	5 ft 1 in (155 cm)
Alma mater	Cleveland State University (BA, JD)
Profession	Attorney

After practicing law full-time as a partner at Buckley King LPA, he founded Callender Law Group and The Callender Group,^[2] education law and consulting firms based in Concord and Columbus, Ohio, and Nashville, Tennessee. Callender is also an adjunct professor of political science at Kent State University for the Columbus Program in Intergovernmental Issues.

Ohio state Representative Jamie Callender

In 1997, Callender was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, and would be elected three more times.^[3] As Chairman of the Ohio House Education Committee, Callender was involved in the creation of Ohio's charter school laws and later legislative reforms related to community ("charter") schools, and the introduction of the concept of "value added" as a measurement of a child's educational progress.^[4] Callender was also appointed as Ohio's representative on the Education Commission of the States (ECS), which worked with the Bush administration and various state governors to develop national education standards and accountability measurements, work which led to the No Child Left Behind Act.^[5]

In 2004, Callendar was term limited from the state House and unsuccessfully ran for the state Senate, losing in the Republican primary to Tim Grendell.^[6] In 2018, he successfully returned to the Ohio House, winning an open seat similar to the seat he previously represented.^[7]

In 2021, Callender introduced an overhaul of the state's education funding system, the Ohio Fair School Funding Plan (HB 1).^[8]

First Energy scandal

In 2019, Callender was one of two primary sponsors of House Bill 6 (HB 6), legislation that provided subsidies to Ohio's two nuclear power plants and made other changes to the state's energy policy.^[9] Alongside Representative Shane Wilkin, he introduced the bill in April 2019, and it was signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine in July 2019.^[10]

In July 2020, federal prosecutors charged then–House Speaker Larry Householder and others with racketeering in what they described as a $60 million bribery scheme funded by FirstEnergy Corporation to secure passage of HB 6.^[11][12]

Callender was not charged in the case, but his campaign was among those that reportedly benefited from outside spending connected to the scheme.^[13] He later said he had no knowledge of any corrupt plan and described himself as feeling "betrayed" if the allegations were true.^[14]

The scandal led to Householder's removal as Speaker, his 2023 conviction on racketeering conspiracy charges, and a 20-year federal prison sentence.^[15][16] FirstEnergy later admitted to paying bribes and agreed to pay a $230 million criminal penalty as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.^[17]

Although Callender remained a legislator after the scandal, HB 6 and its aftermath continued to draw criticism over the influence of utility companies and "dark money" in Ohio politics.^[18]