Eric Fingerhut was re-elected on November 5, 2002 to represent Ohio’s 25th
Senate District, which is located in the eastern half of Cuyahoga County. Senator Fingerhut
currently serves as the Ranking Minority Member of the Finance and Financial Institutions
Committee, on the Judiciary Committee on Civil Justice, on the Ways and Means and Economic
Development Committee, and on the Energy, Natural Resources & Environment Committee.
Eric Fingerhut previously served in the Ohio Senate from 1991-92 and in the United
States House of Representatives from 1993-94. From 1995-2001, Senator Fingerhut served
as Senior Fellow at the Federation for Community Planning, a non-profit organization that
takes the lead in planning and advocacy on health and human services issues in Greater
Cleveland. Fingerhut led the organization’s efforts in support of the Cleveland Public
Schools reform, and in linking the health and human services community to the schools.
Fingerhut also served as a Senior Lecturer at Case Western Reserve University, where he
taught in the law school, the political science department, and the Weatherhead School
of Management.
Prior to serving in elected office, Eric Fingerhut served as an attorney in the Older
Person’s Law Office of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, as an attorney with the Cleveland
firm of Hahn, Loeser & Parks, and as the Associate Director of Cleveland Works, a nationally
recognized, innovative welfare-to-work program. Fingerhut also managed the campaign of future
Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White and then served as a Special Assistant to the Mayor.
Eric Fingerhut attended the Cleveland Heights/University Heights public schools and
graduated from Cleveland Heights High School in 1977. Fingerhut earned a Bachelor of
Science degree with highest honors from Northwestern University in 1981 and received a
law degree from the Stanford University School of Law in 1984.
Senator Fingerhut currently teaches religious school at his synagogue and is a frequent
lecturer on public policy at area schools and civic organizations. He lives in Shaker Heights
with his wife, Amy, a second grade teacher, and their son, Sam.
