She’s part of central Ohio’s Democratic Beatty dynasty, with both her and her husband, Otto, having served in the Ohio General Assembly. She’s a former minority leader of the General Assembly. As a longtime member of the central Ohio party, she knows everyone and seems to have done business with everyone.
But it’s only in recent months that her influence has become known.
She was among the Ohio Democratic leaders pushing Democratic National Committee Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to select Columbus for the 2016 Democratic National Convention, convincing Wasserman Schultz effectively enough that the city was the runner-up only to Philadelphia.
“Debbie Wasserman Schultz trusts Joyce, has a very good relationship with her,” said Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles.
When David Pepper decided to run for Ohio Democratic Party chairman, Beatty joined two other lawmakers to endorse him over Sharen Neuhardt, Sen. Sherrod Brown’s pick for chairman. Neuhardt, a Yellow Springs attorney, ran for lieutenant governor last year with Democrat Ed FitzGerald.
Pepper said Beatty is the cornerstone to rebuilding a state party that suffered significant embarrassment in the last election.
“The best way to build a party is put forward true public servants, people who get things done. That’s who she is. If Joyce Beatty is the face of who we are, then we have a much stronger party,” Pepper said.
When deciding to not seek re-election, Coleman confided in Beatty to ensure he was making the right decision. Coleman, 60, said their ties are bound by 30 years of friendship.
“I told my family, and then I talked to her,” Coleman said. “She is like my sister.”
Coleman’s political family has also become intertwined with Beatty’s over the years. Her husband, Otto Beatty Jr., is a Coleman-appointed member of the Downtown Commission, which recommends zoning and development policy Downtown.
Coleman’s deputy chief of staff, Christie Angel, is married to Otto Beatty III, Joyce Beatty’s stepson.
With Coleman retiring, U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington said, “There’s a void, and she’s one of the natural people to fill it because everyone has been working with her for 20 years.”
Local Democrats think that Beatty is building for a statewide office. They expect she soon will step into Coleman’s role as the most powerful elected Democrat of the region.
Even as Beatty becomes more influential in local politics, she is also trying to become a go-to person in Congress.
She has a knack for building relationships with important people. One of her mentors is Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Cleveland, former chairwoman of the influential Congressional Black Caucus and, like her, a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
She quickly became close to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, even though Pelosi endorsed Beatty’s primary rival, former Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, in 2012.
“My father always taught me that when you win, you don’t have to get even,” Beatty said. “I didn’t come here with any thoughts of who’s with me and who’s against me. Now obviously, you always remember who’s with you.”
Her relationships aren’t just with Democrats. She has introduced a series of bills on issues — concussions, preventing human sex trafficking — with Republicans. And she’s close with Columbus-are Republicans Stivers and Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Twp., partnering with them on Ohio-specific bills including one to award pro-golfer Jack Nicklaus the Congressional Gold Medal.
Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., heard about Beatty from some of his Republican colleagues from Ohio. “I didn’t know her, and she didn’t know me,” he said.
“Steve Stivers and Pat Tiberi had really high praise for her. So I went over and said hello.”
The two partnered on a multipart bill aimed at reforming the NCAA. Beatty, who, like Dent, has an interest in concussions, pushed for measures that would force the NCAA to address the issue. The bill hasn’t moved, but, he said, “it’s already having an impact.” The Big Ten Conference adopted one such measure — to allow athletes to keep their scholarships even if they are injured or can’t play for some reason.
Beatty also saw success this year when she shepherded a bill that would make it easier to report child sex trafficking to the national Center for Missing and Exploited Children Cyber Tipline. Before Beatty became involved, the law did not define child sex trafficking as one of the types of sexual exploitation that should be reported to the tip line. The bill was included with a handful of Republican-sponsored bills on the issue and passed the House in January.
With the talent for making the right friends comes a particular genius for being in the right place at the right time.
When President Barack Obama gave his 2013 State of the Union address, Beatty had an aisle seat, and a photo of her wiping lipstick from another lawmaker off Obama’s cheek ran on the Associated Press wire.
And when the Ohio State University football team was honored at the White House, there was Beatty, seated prominently, posing doing the ‘O’ from the ‘O-H-I-O’ cheer for this newspaper. Later that day, when the team visited the Capitol steps, she scooted herself in between two players to pose for a photo.
“I was thinking, ‘This is a good photo op,’” she said, laughing.
She figures it’s good for her constituents to see what she’s doing and to see her in action. She’s here, she says, to be a leader.
‘Her influence is only going to grow,’ Ryan said.
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