113th Congress: Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio (3rd District)

By Stacey Skotzko, CQ Staff

Joyce Beatty is a seasoned legislator and counts House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California among her political inspirations.

She was the first female Democratic leader in the Ohio House and her professional background is indicative of a nurturing role — she was an administrator of outreach at Ohio State University, owned a consulting firm focused on diversity training, operated a county-level health department and has a background in counseling.

She also owns a clothing boutique in downtown Columbus; it started as a hobby, but now keeps her tapped into small-business concerns, she says.

Beatty prefers a seat on the Financial Services Committee, with placement on a housing-focused subcommittee. She will work for more financial literacy training, ideally as a required middle or high school course. Young people, she says, need more guidance: “If you take their calculator away, if the cash register doesn’t tell you the change,” she says, “they are lost.”

Beatty, who suffered a cerebral brain stem stroke in 2000, also says she wants to address health care issues.

She will represent much of downtown Columbus, a district redrawn to be Democrat-friendly; the needs of college students, higher education funding and financial institutions are important to her. Beatty has long-standing roots in her area: Born in Dayton, she attended Ohio universities and was appointed, then later re-elected, to the state House seat previously held by her husband.