Government Accountability and Fairness: Wenda Sheard’s Positions

• Sheard would keep elections safe and fair, and make voting easier for all eligible citizens. She supports:
  • Automatic voter registration. Eligible people are signed up to vote unless they choose not to be.
  • Same-day registration. People can register and vote on the same day.
  • Reasonable ID requirements. 
  • Ranked choice voting. Ranked choice voting lets voters rank candidates in order of preference.
• Sheard would work to keep large corporations and foreign actors out of politics.
• She supports nonpartisan elections for judges. That means candidates would run without a party label.
• Sheard has her own personal experience with this: many years ago, her name was removed from the voter rolls in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, because officials assumed she had taken her husband’s last name. 
• Once voters pass a constitutional amendment, the legislature is bound by its oath to uphold the Ohio Constitution. Lawmakers should not change a voter-passed amendment through regular legislation, whether or not they agree with it. 

Fair Voting Districts

• What she wants. Voters should pick their politicians, not the other way around. Ohio’s greatest governmental challenge is gerrymandering. Gerrymandering means drawing district lines to help one party win. Ohio should reform how it draws voting district maps so that citizens, not politicians, draw them. Sheard would amend the Ohio Constitution to make this happen. Once Ohio has fair maps and fair elections, it will have much greater success improving people’s lives. Competitive districts help make sure all sides of a question are heard when policy is made.
• A model she likes. Sheard would like Ohio to use a system like Michigan’s, where a carefully selected group of citizens draws the maps based on common sense, not politics.
• Athens County. Athens County was gerrymandered–split in a way known as “crack and pack.” The City of Athens was separated from the rest of the county and joined with other counties, so the voting power of Democrats weakened. 
• Both parties. Both parties have used gerrymandering over time, and it has gotten worse with computing power. Voters should elect people of any party as long as those people commit to never drawing unfair maps again.

Money in Politics

• Sheard would fight to end dark money in politics by requiring that the source of political action committee (PAC) funding be made public, so voters know who is behind the ads they see. PACs are groups that raise money to support candidates or causes. Sheard does not accept corporate PAC money.
• The rich have too much influence over the legislature. Government must work fairly for all people, not just those who donate to political campaigns.
• Sheard criticizes House Bill 6, a 2019 law tied to a bribery scandal involving the FirstEnergy company. The Ohio bribery scandal was the subject of the documentary titled “The Dark Money Game: Ohio Confidential.”

Open Government: Public Hearings and Secret Deals

• Data centers. Data centers are large buildings full of computers. Several Ohio communities have learned about data center plans only after deals were made behind closed doors. Sheard’s positions:
  • She supports Ohio House Bill 695, which would ban secrecy agreements (called NDAs, or non-disclosure agreements) for local officials on data center projects. 
  • Ohio should require public hearings before large data centers are built or get tax breaks.
  • Democrats in the Ohio House and Senate introduced a series of data center bills in February 2026. They have not passed. Ohio House Bill 983, which contains some provisions from the February 2026 bills, has passed the Ohio House, but has not passed the Ohio Senate. Sheard believes all of the issues in the February 2026 bills should go to committee for public hearings on how to regulate data centers and whether they should get any tax breaks.
• Secrecy agreements in general. Ohio needs more public input into economic decisions and should end the abuse of NDAs. Trade secrets are meant to protect things like recipes and manufacturing methods. A company’s plan to significantly change a community should not be considered a trade secret allowed to be hidden from public view.
• Tax breaks for corporations. Public hearings should be required before the state gives large tax breaks to companies.
• State agencies. Agencies like the Ohio Department of Natural Resources should serve the public interest, not private interests.

Working Across Party Lines

• Sheard will work for the people, not for any donor, party, or corporation.
• She will listen to people in the district before voting on any issue.
• She has support from Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.
• Some compromise is necessary. Policymakers should start from shared values and mutual interests and hold honest, open discussions to learn what compromises both sides can accept.
• It is always possible to sit down with another person and find common ground. Sheard’s training as a mediator, trained by the Ohio Supreme Court and court-appointed mean she has skills and extensive experience in bringing together different views on an issue to find solutions that work for everyone.
• She worked in Ohio courts for more than two decades under Republican and Democratic judges, including as a law clerk, staff attorney, and domestic relations magistrate. She served as Hocking County Domestic Relations Magistrate for three years.
• Many problems, like keeping our drinking water safe from toxic, radioactive fracking fluid injected into the ground for disposal, are not partisan.
• She will respect the dignity of all people and protect civil rights.
• Sheard is a Democrat who believes neither party is perfect. She ran unopposed for the Democratic state central committee in May 2026. She currently sits on the Democratic state central committee, and intends to help improve her party. She hopes her Republican friends will do the same in their party.

What Sheard Believes Elected Officials Owe Voters

• Elected officials must first care about all people in their district. They must respect the worth and dignity of everyone, and work cooperatively and honestly, so that government serves people’s interests.
• Government must work fairly for all people, not just those who donate to political campaigns.
• Legislators should represent Ohioans, not their own personal agendas. Sheard promises to listen to the people of the 94th District before every vote she casts.

Being Available to Voters

Sheard plans to hold town halls and spend most of the legislature’s recess time in the district, listening to voters in all three counties. Her cell phone number is on her website. (She does not answer unknown callers, but instead asks unknown callers to text her first.)