Councilman Gordy Heminger, Bowling Green

Gordy Heminger is a rising star in the Northwest Ohio political scene. Having worked on and manged successful campaigns as a teenager, Gordy transitioned that success into winning a seat on Maumee City Council at the age of 18.

Since that time, Gordy has been employed at Bowling Green State University and was elected (and re-elected) to Bowling Green City Council with large margins.

Gordy was nice enough to entertain a few questions:

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1. When did you first decide to pursue a career in public service?
The first time I ran for office was in 1995 at 18 for Maumee City Council. Probably two years earlier, I knew I was going to run for council when I successfully managed the campaign for re-election of an incumbent member of council, Tim Wagener.

2. How did you start your career in politics (working on a campaign, interning, other?)
The first campaign I worked on was for Darlene Dunn who was running for state representative. It is ironic that this year, Darlene, is again running for state representative. That year I also helped do phone banking for Tony Celebreeze who was running for Governor of Ohio. The following year, I got involved in local politics even more by helping several people who were running for Maumee City Council, along with Toledo Mayor John McHugh. From there, my involvement just continued to grow until I ran for council in 95.

3. What advice do you have for young people looking to get involved?

Work on campaigns at the ground level. While it might seem exciting and certainly is to work on presidential campaigns, work on local races for city council, mayor, school board, county-wide, etc. It is in those races where you really learn how to organize, how to target precincts, and the nuts and bolts of winning a campaign. You'll meet people who can contribute to your campaign and build a volunteer list.

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As Gordy pointed out, a great starting point is working on local campaigns. Currently, Gordy is running for Wood County Clerk of Courts. If readers would like to help out, contact information is available at the following site:

http://woodcodemocrats.org/gordy_heminger.html