A native of Plymouth, Ohio, Heydinger served in the Vietnam War, where he flew helicopters for the United States Army.
In 1975, Heydinger was appointed by Ohio Governor John Gilligan to the Huron County Common Pleas Court, Probate Division, a controversial decision at the time because of the issue of whether he had actually practiced law the requisite number of years to qualify for judicial office.
[1] In early 2008, freshman representative Matt Barrett ran into ethics trouble after mistakenly showing pornographic content to high school students during a presentation.
He subsequently resigned, leaving House Democrats to appoint a replacement to the seat.
However, Heydinger dropped out of the race, citing mounting health problems and influences from within the Ohio Democratic Party.