David Pepper (politician)

David Andrew Pepper (born June 7, 1971) is an American politician, former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, a former councilman for the city of Cincinnati and former member of the Hamilton County, Ohio Board of Commissioners.[1]

David Pepper
Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party
In office
January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2020
Preceded byChris Redfern
Succeeded byLiz Walters
Member of the Hamilton County Commission
from the 1st district
In office
January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011
Preceded byPhil Heimlich
Succeeded byChris Monzel
Personal details
Born
David Andrew Pepper

(1971-06-07) June 7, 1971 (age 53)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseAlana
RelativesJohn E. Pepper Jr. (father)
EducationYale University (BA, JD)
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life

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Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Pepper is the son of former Procter & Gamble CEO John Pepper.[2] Pepper graduated from Cincinnati Country Day School, earned his B.A. at Yale University, and his J.D. from Yale Law School.[1][3] He specialized in commercial litigation for the Blank Rome firm.[4]

Career

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Political career

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In 2001, Pepper was elected to the Cincinnati City Council and served as the Chairman of Council's Law and Public Safety Committee.[5] Pepper was defeated in his run for mayor in 2005.[6]

Pepper was elected to the Hamilton County's Board of Commissioners in November 2006.[4] In 2010, Pepper was a candidate for Ohio Auditor, and in April 2013, Pepper said he would run for state Attorney General in the 2014 election.[1] In 2014, Pepper ran unsuccessfully for Ohio Attorney General. He was elected Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party in 2015.[7] He has taught voting rights at University of Cincinnati School of Law.[8]

After the 2020 elections, Pepper announced that he would step down as Ohio Democratic Party Chairman at the end of the year.[9]

Writing career

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Pepper is the author of The People's House, a political thriller.[10] The book centers around a Russian scheme to help elect Republican candidates.[7] The Wall Street Journal wrote that Pepper "writes with flair and insider knowledge of everything from gerrymandering to arrogant D.C. press aides." and "With speed and savvy, 'The People's House' emerges as a sleeper candidate for political thriller of the year."[11] Bill Clinton said of The Voter File: "Pepper comes through again with this clever tale of how cyber sabotage of elections, coupled with highly concentrated ownership of traditional media operations, can undermine American democracy."[12]

Paul Rosenberg, writing for Salon, called Pepper's 2021 work Laboratories of Autocracy "arguably the most important [book]" among the "booming literature on the erosion of democracy in America".[13]

Works

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  • The People's House. St. Helena Press. 2016. ISBN 978-1619845121.
  • The Wingman. St. Helena Press. 2018. ISBN 978-1619848719.
  • The Voter File. G.P. Putnam's Sons. 2020. ISBN 978-0593083932.
  • Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call from Behind the Lines. 2021. ISBN 978-1662919572.

Electoral history

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Date Position Status Opponent Result Vote share Opponent vote share
2014 Attorney General Challenger Mike DeWine Defeated 38.5% 61.5%
2010 Auditor Open-Seat Dave Yost Defeated 44.9% 50.2%
2006 County Commissioner Phil Heimlich Elected 53.0% 47.0%
2005 Mayor Open-Seat Mark Mallory Defeated 47.9% 52.0%
2001 City Council Elected

References

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  1. ^ a b c Borchardt, Jackie (April 16, 2013). "Democrat Will Enter Race for Ohio Attorney General ; David Pepper to Run against Mike DeWine. - Former Hamilton County Commissioner Lost Race for Auditor in 2010". Dayton Daily News. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved Oct 18, 2014.
  2. ^ Wessels, Joe (Oct 4, 2006). "Heckler peppers Pepper with curses". The Cincinnati Post. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved Oct 17, 2014.
  3. ^ Dunlap, Stephanie. "Cover Story: Swimming Against The Tide". Cincinnati CityBeat. Retrieved 2022-08-10.
  4. ^ a b Gomez, Henry (April 15, 2015). "Democrat David Pepper launches campaign to unseat Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine". Cleveland.com. Retrieved Feb 24, 2018.
  5. ^ Coolridge, Sharon (2016-07-25). "Ohio Dem party leader writes political thriller". cincinnati.com. Cincinnati.com. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  6. ^ Kinny, Terry. "Mark Mallory narrowly wins Cincy race". The BG News. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
  7. ^ a b Debenedetti, Gabriele (2018-02-17). "The Thriller That Predicted the Russia Scandal". Politico.com. Politico.com. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  8. ^ "David Pepper". Bookshop.org. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  9. ^ Balmert, Jessie. "Ohio Democratic Party chairman David Pepper stepping down at end of year". The Enquirer. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  10. ^ Skolnick, David (2016-08-14). "Ohio Dem Party Chair Pens Novel About Vindy Reporter Who Uncovers National Political Scandal". Vindy.com. Vindy.com. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  11. ^ "A Sleeper Candidate". The Wall Street Journal. November 4, 2016.
  12. ^ "The Voter File by David Pepper". Goodreads.com. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  13. ^ Rosenberg, Paul (15 January 2022). "How the states have become "Laboratories of Autocracy" — and why it's worse than you think". Salon. Retrieved 9 August 2024. There's a booming literature on the erosion of democracy in America, as well as around the world, but David Pepper's book 'Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call From Behind the Lines' stands out as arguably the most important for three reasons: It brings the subject down to earth, connects democratic erosion to corruption and the decline in America's quality of life, and provides a wealth of ideas about how to fight back to protect democracy.
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Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Auditor of Ohio
2010
Succeeded by
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Ohio
2014
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party
2015–2020
Succeeded by