REP. JOYCE BEATTY (D-OH)
Joyce Birdsong Beatty ( née Hannah, March 12, 1950) is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Ohio’s 3rd congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously was the Senior Vice-President for Outreach and Engagement at Ohio State University. Beatty was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1999 to 2008, representing the 27th district; during her tenure, she served for a time as minority leader. Her husband is Otto Beatty Jr., who is also a former Ohio State Representative.
In 2012, she ran for the newly redrawn Ohio’s 3rd congressional district, based in the City of Columbus, and won the Democratic primary by defeating former U.S. Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy. Beatty went on to win the general election against Republican Chris Long.
Beatty was born in Dayton, Ohio. She has a B.A. in speech from Central State University, an M.S. in counseling psychology from Wright State University in 1975, and has studied at the doctoral level at the University of Cincinnati. Beatty served as the Montgomery County Health and Human Services Director responsible for administering the county’s health levy and area public nursing homes, including Stillwater Nursing Home. In 2003, she received an honorary doctorate from the Ohio Dominican University. Beatty served as a delegate for John Kerry on the Ohio delegation to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Beatty is married to attorney and former State Representative Otto Beatty Jr. She has been a national spokesperson for the American Heart Association. She served on the Columbus American Heart Association Board, Ohio Democratic Committee, Women’s Fund, NAACP, and Delta Sigma Theta sorority. In addition, she was a legislative chair of The Links and was a chairwoman of the Columbus Urban League Board. She won the 2002 YWCA Woman of Achievement Award, the Ohio Health Speaking of Women Health Award, NAACP Freedom Award, Woman of Courage Award, and the Urban League Leadership Recognition Award.
