MANSFIELD — The Richland County Democratic Party has scheduled its annual Joseph H. Mudra Legacy Dinner on Saturday, May 2, at the Wappner Life Celebration Center at 129 S. Main St.
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner will be the keynote speaker.
Brunner serves as one of seven justices of the Ohio Supreme Court. She was elected in 2020 and began her term Jan. 2, 2021.
From 2014 through 2020, Justice Brunner served as an elected state appeals court judge of the 10th District Court of Appeals in Franklin County. She previously served as a Franklin County Common Pleas judge from 2000 through 2005, founding its adult felony drug court, the TIES Program (Treatment is Essential to Success), still in operation today.
Brunner served as Ohio’s first female Secretary of State from 2007 to 2011. In 2008, then-Secretary Brunner received the bipartisan John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for her public service.
This dinner honors the longest-serving chairman of the Richland County Democratic Party, Joe Mudra, “who will always be remembered as a strong advocate for social justice and a leading voice of integrity, transparency and accuracy in our election system,” according to a press release from the party.
Mudra died in 2021 at the age of 71.
Crystal Davis Weese, who represents the 3rd Ward on Mansfield City Council, will emcee the dinner.
A social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m.
The cost of the dinner is $50 for a reserved seat, $500 for a reserved table of eight, or $250 for a reserved table of four. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door Saturday evening.
Contact Richland County Democratic Party Vice-Chair Venita Shoulders at 419-564-0486 or venitashoulders@gmail.com or Executive Committee Secretary Paulette Hankins at 419-545-1587 or paulettehankins@gmail.com for reservations or more information.
According to local party Chairman Larry Weirich, awards to be presented at the dinner include the Democrat of the Year Award, the Emily Campbell Brown Young Democrat of the Year Award and the John J. Rinehardt Lifetime Achievement Award.
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