Bride Rose Sweeney Biography
Bride Rose Sweeney is a three-term Democratic member of the Ohio House of Representatives for Western Cuyahoga County, serving as Ranking Member of the Ohio House Finance Committee and the lead Democratic sponsor of the bipartisan Fair School Funding Plan that became law on July 1, 2021. When she was elected in November 2018, Bride became the first woman ever to represent her district at the Statehouse and the youngest Democratic member of the 133rd Ohio General Assembly.
For the last four years, Representative Bride Rose Sweeney has served the working people of the Westside of Cleveland with distinction. Sweeney is committed to finding real solutions to the problems we face, not finding more ways to divide us. She has had success, passing nine bills in four years as Democrat in a Republican super-majority legislature. Some of those bills include legislation to ensure prompt pay of workers, protection for nurses being forced into excessive overtime, and a reform to make it easier for our students to transfer college credits between schools, helping our kids earn a degree and incur less student debt. Representative Sweeney has been selected by Cleveland.com as its "Democratic Rising Star" for three consecutive years. In 2022, she was recognized by the Ohio Election Officials Association as a leading voice for democracy and voting rights.
Representative Sweeney is determined to use her legislative experience to do the real and challenging work of state government. Two different Minority Leaders selected her to lead the powerful Ohio House Finance Committee, which crafts our $70 billion operating budget. She also serves as our fiscal watchdog on the State Controlling Board, overseeing millions in state contracts, and she is the only woman currently appointed to that body.
As the lead sponsor of the Fair School Funding Plan, Representative Sweeney built on a five-year bipartisan effort and succeeded in finally overhauling Ohio’s broken and unconstitutional school funding formula. Once it is fully funded, the plan will provide nearly $2 billion for public education and job training. This is a historic step toward putting the needs of our children first and reducing the state’s over-reliance on property taxes that hurts our seniors the most.
From her time at the Statehouse, Representative Sweeney understands that working together is the best way to deliver for working people and families. Serving different parts of the state has given her a unique perspective on the different challenges facing urban, suburban, and rural communities. As a result, she is committed to offering excellent constituent service and to passing innovative, community-driven legislation that creates good-paying jobs and ensures an affordable, quality education for every Ohioan regardless of where they live.
Bride is named after her Irish-American grandmother Bride Ann Sweeney. She attended Saint Joseph Academy and then John Carroll University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts and studied political science, business, and leadership. After college, Bride joined Ohio’s Legislative Service Commission Fellowship, a competitive public service program that prepares the state’s next generation of leaders. Before her election to the Ohio House, she worked in a variety of roles in the Ohio Senate, including as a senior advisor to the Minority Leader and a legislative aide to Senator Lou Gentile, an Appalachian Democrat.