Cupcakes and Courage
Jennifer Brunner is an attorney and partner at the Columbus, Ohio USA law firm of Brunner Quinn, which she founded in 1988. She served in elective office as Ohio’s first woman Secretary of State from 2007-2011. Her work in improving Ohio’s elections received national recognition, including the nation’s most prestigious award for elected public servants, the bipartisan John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, for what Caroline Kennedy called, “her dauntless commitment to the enfranchisement of every Ohio voter.” Before serving as Ohio’s 52nd Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner was elected twice judge of the Franklin County Common Pleas Court where she pioneered the practice of allowing jurors to ask questions and started the county’s first adult felony drug court. She did not run for reelection as Secretary of State in 2010, instead running to be Ohio’s first woman U.S. Senator in a primary election where she was defeated after being outspent nearly 4 to 1 but garnered 45% of the vote with no television advertising. Jennifer Brunner’s return to her law practice allows her to manage the work of associates in litigation and legal research and writing while she represents and advises clients on legal, campaign finance and government affairs matters. She formed Courage PAC in 2011, a grassroots advocacy organization focused on election and campaign reforms, financial reform and better government. Brunner has served as an expert for USAID funded projects in Serbia in 2012 on political finance and public outreach in anti-corruption and judicial reform. She is a mother of three adult children and a grandmother. She and her husband, Rick, also an attorney, have been married since 1978. This is her first book.