Background
Kearney, Eric Henderson was born on October 27, 1963 in Cincinnati. Son of Jasper William and Rose Lavonne Kearney.
Kearney, Eric Henderson was born on October 27, 1963 in Cincinnati. Son of Jasper William and Rose Lavonne Kearney.
Bachelor in English, Dartmouth College, 1985. Juris Doctor, University Cincinnati Law School, 1989.
He later received his Juris Doctor from the University of Cincinnati Law School, and his Bachelor of Arts in English from Dartmouth College. Kearney founded the communications group that is among one of the largest African American-owned publishing companies in the area, producing The Cincinnati Herald, The Dayton Defender and Our Week. When incumbent Mark Mallory resigned from the Senate, Kearney as well as Catherine Barrett, Tyrone Yates, Steve Driehaus, David Pepper and Alicia Reece all were in the running to replace him.
However, Senate Democrats decided on Kearney to ultimately take the appointment.
Only months into his appointed term, Kearney again faced Barrett in the primary election. However, only weeks before the primary election day, Barrett dropped out of the race, securing Kearney as the Democratic nominee.
In the general election Kearney went on to face Republican Tom Brown. While the index favored Democrats, precautions were still taken due to the seat being lost only two cycles earlier to Republican Janet C. Howard.
However, Kearney went on to defeat Brown by 34,000 votes.
Foreign the 127th General Assembly, Kearney was appointed by Minority Leader Teresa Fedor to the Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee. He also was selected to serve as treasurer of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus. In his first full term, Kearney also began his annual walk from Cincinnati to the Ohio Statehouse to underscore their commitment to fighting childhood obesity and supporting physical education.
In January 2012, Kearney was elected Minority Leader of the Senate, succeeding Capri Cafaro.
Kearney served as Minority Leader for the 130th General Assembly. On November 20, 2013, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Editor Fitzgerald picked Kearney to be his running mate.
Board directors Invest in Neighborhoods, since 1994, Charter Committee of Greater Cincinnati, since 1993, Cincinnatus, since 1995, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Cincinnati chapter, since 1994, Indiana Living Options, since 1993. Member Cincinnati Bar Association (communications committee since 1991, judicial review committee since 1991, municipal court committee since 1990), Cincinnati Racquet Club, Cincinnati Athletic Club, Bankers Club.