About Callender

Lake County is home for Jamie Callender.

When he was in seventh grade, Callender’s family moved to Concord Township, where Jamie grew up. He attended Mentor Memorial Junior High School and graduated Mentor High School. He often says one of his proudest moments was watching his own children, Jay and Ashley, attend his alma mater.

Callender later graduated from Cleveland State University and earned his law degree at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He later opened a small law office in Lake County.

During his college and law school years, Jamie served as a member of the Lake County Republican Central Committee, the Lake County Republican Executive Committee, and as an officer of the Lake County Young Republicans, including serving as Chairman of that organization in the late 1980s.  

Callender has an extensive record of service to Lake County, volunteering with a variety of organizations and serving on several boards, including the Lake County Historical Society. He served as a trustee on the Mentor Public Library Board, where he worked to improve the library, making it more efficient and increasing circulation.

Callender served four two-year terms in the Ohio House of Representatives, earning accolades for his work ethic, his Republican leadership and his advocacy for Lake County. He received the NRA’s Defender of the 2nd Amendment Award for his efforts to protect our constitutional rights and was a two-time winner of the Watchdog of the Treasury Award.

He was also widely regarded for his leadership for Ohio’s schools. His efforts included work to improve academic achievement and improve school accountability while lessoning the reliance on property taxes. He worked to increase parental involvement in the education of their children and worked to give low income families more options in the education of their children.

Since leaving the legislature, Callender has continued to practice law and work on public policy, and he has taught at Kent State University for more than 12 years.