Bennett was elected chairman of the Ohio Republican Party in 1988, and remained until 2009. Following the resignation of then party chairman Kevin DeWine, Bennett resumed his position as chairman in 2012 and remained until May 2013. At the time of his election in 1988 the party held no statewide offices or legislative majorities; within a decade it had control of all three branches of the Ohio government. During his tenure, Republicans held the Ohio governor's office for 16 years, won every statewide office, held majorities in the Ohio House and Senate, won unanimous control of the Ohio Supreme Court, and won more than 63 percent of all county elective offices in the state. Bennett qualified as a Certified Public Accountant and an attorney specializing in tax and business law. He was a member of the American Bar Association, the Cleveland Bar Association, the Ohio Bar Association, and the American Society of Attorney-Certified Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the Cleveland Chapter of the Ohio CPA's American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He wrote several publications on tax law and was a guest lecturer to various professional and political organizations on the issues of state and federal tax law and campaign management. Bennett was a member of the boards of trustees and a director of Ohio business and civic organizations, including University Hospital Case Medical Center Board and Southwest General Health Center of Cleveland, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, where he served as chairman of the board. Bennett resided in Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife Ruth Ann. He is survived by two adult children. He was born and raised in Columbus, where he graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas High School and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the Ohio State University in December 1960. He earned his Juris Doctor Degree from Cleveland Marshall Law School of Baldwin Wallace College.
Political Success
A Party in Distress
Before Bennett's election as Chairman the Ohio Republican Party in 1988, Democrats ruled the roost in Ohio. With a Democratic Governor, a Democratic majority in the state legislature, and the majority of county positions being held by democrats, the Ohio GOP was on the ropes.
Death
Bennett, who had triple bypass surgery in 1996 after a mild heart attack, had been in declining health since 2012, when he was afflicted by a lingering and baffling respiratory problem that doctors finally traced to an infection he contracted during a visit to Moscow. Bennett passed on December 6, 2014 at his home in Cleveland, Ohio.
