residence predecessor party birth_date order term_start article_title name
cincinnati , ohio , u.s. eric kearney democrat 21 october 1952 member of the ohio senate from the 9th district january 6 , 2015 cecil thomas
 cecil thomas
cecil thomas

cecil l. thomas -lrb- born october 21 , 1952 -rrb- is the senator of the 9th district of the ohio senate .
thomas was born in rural northern alabama and moved to cincinnati , ohio at a young age .
after high school , he joined the cincinnati police cadet program , and served the city of cincinnati as a police officer for the next 27 years .
in 2005 , following his retirement from the police force , thomas ran and won election to cincinnati city council , where he would serve for the next 8 years .
in 2014 , thomas decided to make a run for the ohio senate , where senator eric kearney was term-limited and could not run for another term .
he was one of numerous democrats to vie for the nomination , including dale mallory , who many saw as a frontrunner .
he won the primary , and go on to face charlie winburn , another viable opponent , however this time republican .
however , thomas defeated winburn 56 % -44 % .
