Jeannette Mary Schmidt (née Hoffman; born November 29, 1951) is an American politician who is a state representative in Ohio's 62nd district.

[15] In 2000, Schmidt ran for the Ohio House of Representatives seat being vacated by Sam Bateman, who was prevented by term limits from running again.

She also pushed legislation on the health of women, suicide prevention, abstinence education, and to "lock killers away for good" by making it easier for judges to sentence murderers to life terms.

[20] In the House she served on the Finance and Appropriations; Human Services and Aging; Banking, Pensions and Securities; and Public Utilities Committees.

The Enquirer was dismayed by advertisements from the Ohio Taxpayers Association "twisting the two candidates' voting records to Schmidt's advantage" and endorsed Niehaus.

[28] Schmidt's campaign literature noted her anti-abortion voting record, her opposition to same-sex marriage, and her high rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund.

In her stump speech, Schmidt made it a point to emphasize the duration of her own marriage, stating, "I am a woman of character who has been married for twenty-nine years.

[33] Hackett criticized Schmidt as a "rubber stamp" for Governor Bob Taft's "failed policies", and claimed she would continue in that role for George W. Bush if elected.

On July 29, the Toledo Blade reported on a 2001 e-mail from Taft's assistant Jon Allison complaining Schmidt was "bugging" him about setting up an Internet lottery for Cincinnati businessman Roger Ach, who gave her a $1,000 contribution the next year.

On April 27, five days before the May 2 primary, the Ohio Elections Commission voted 7-0 to issue Schmidt a public reprimand for "false statements" for her claiming to have that second degree.

[53] The Schmidt campaign sent out a fundraising letter[54] accusing her Democratic opponent, Victoria Wells Wulsin, of harboring a "contempt for the culture of life" that led her to "participate in grotesque medical experiments" involving injections of "malaria virus" into AIDS patients in Africa and China without their consent.

She examined data that was supplied to her as part of a literature review, taken from ongoing studies, of experimental AIDS therapies that Wulsin concluded had potential.

However, the week following the accident she was embarking on a weekend fact-finding visit to Afghanistan when severe pain caused her to pass out while landing at a U.S. Air Force Base in Germany.

Walking in each other's shoes takes effort and pause; however, it is my sincere hope that I never lose the patience to view each of you as human beings first, God's creatures, and foremost.

Schmidt told The Cincinnati Post "What's really important is to adopt an environmental policy that advances the American economy and national security.

[70] Schmidt appeared in public with a button in her lapel containing a photograph of Keith Matthew Maupin, who was at the time the only prisoner of war of the Iraq campaign who had not been freed and who was a native of Clermont County.

563 Archived 2016-01-11 at the Wayback Machine, Schmidt said: Yesterday I stood at Arlington National Cemetery attending the funeral of a young Marine in my district.

Under this disciplinary procedure, the House clerk would have re-read Schmidt's words and the presiding officer (at the time, Michael K. Simpson of Idaho) would have ruled whether they were parliamentary.

After a review, the Ohio Elections Commission found that the Tancredo and Family Research Council endorsement claims were false but did not warrant any reprimand.

Schmidt had previously listed two degrees on candidate guides, her official Ohio House bio, and past campaign websites.

[78] On April 27, five days before the May 2 primary against McEwen, the Ohio Elections Commission voted 7–0 to issue Schmidt a public reprimand for "false statements" for her claiming to have a second undergraduate degree from the University of Cincinnati that she was not awarded.

"[49] At the Voice of America Tea Party on September 5, 2009, Schmidt, in response to a woman who said that Barack Obama "cannot be a president by our constitution," replied, "I agree with you, but the courts don't.

[83] The Ohio Elections Commission issued a split decision on the case, failing to find that all of the preceding three remarks had been published in violation of ORC 3517.21(B)(10) by clear and convincing evidence.

[85] The votes were taken after a panel decision to disregard testimony provided regarding the Armenian genocide and its denial, which was criticized by David Krikorian's party and supporters.

[84] Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator, testified on behalf of Krikorian during the Ohio Elections Commission hearing[86] and spoke about Turkey's connections to Schmidt.

[89][90] In July 2011, the House Ethics Committee announced that it was investigating accusations that Schmidt had accepted roughly $500,000 in free legal services from a Turkish-American interest group (the Turkish Coalition of America).

[94] On September 21, 2011, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington added Schmidt to its "most corrupt" list for "accept[ing] hundreds of thousands of dollars in free legal services from lawyers hired by an interest group that appreciated her legislative assistance" as well as "fail[ure] to report the free legal services as gifts in her disclosure forms.

[96] As part of the Ethics Committee ruling, Schmidt was given permission to establish a legal expense fund to help refund the illegal gifts from the Turkish Coalition of America.

Through September 30, 2012—approximately one year after establishing the fund—Schmidt has raised a total of $5000 and made no payments from the legal expense fund to repay the illegal gifts.

She failed to do so, but on March 1, 2013, she finally filed that form disclosing that she left Congress owing the Turkish Coalition of America a debt in the range between $515,000 and $1.05 million.