Ann Womer Benjamin, JD

Ann Womer Benjamin was elected Mayor of the City of Aurora in a ​six-way race in November 2013, following two years as an At-Large Member of Aurora City Council. An attorney by profession, Womer Benjamin practiced law for 24 years and was the Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education (NOCHE) from 2007 to 2013, leading the organization in its mission to bring higher education and business together to advance economic development in the region.

Womer Benjamin brings many years of public service to the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority. A longtime Aurora resident, she served as State Representative in the Ohio House of Representatives for Aurora and most of Portage County from 1995-2002. While in the Ohio House, Womer Benjamin saw twenty of her bills become law, was a member of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee for eight years, and chaired the Criminal Justice Committee for more than four years. Following her service in the Ohio House, Womer Benjamin served four years in the Governor’s Cabinet as Director of the Ohio Department of Insurance. While there, the Department stabilized Ohio’s medical malpractice market, for which she received Ohio University’s Phillips Medal of Public Service in 2004, and led implementation of Medicare Part D in Ohio, receiving a commendation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2006. She continued her public service as a member of the State Board of Education from 2007-2010, where she served as Vice President.

Womer Benjamin received her Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and received her Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, practicing law with law firms in Canton and Cleveland. Active in the Aurora community, Womer Benjamin recently completed a two-year term as Moderator of The Church in Aurora and is a trustee of the Aurora Community Theatre. She is a member of her law school’s honor society, Society of Benchers; she was the Ohio Nurses Association’s Legislator of the Year in 2001; and she has been inducted into the Shaker Heights High School Hall of Fame. She and her husband, David Benjamin, have two daughters, and a granddaughter.