Geauga County Republican Party Chairman, Ed Ryder, has been a conservative Republican activist since he was a student at St. Joseph High School, Cleveland, in 1964, when he chaired the Goldwater campaign. He led the CSU Conservative Union (formerly Young Americans for Freedom) as a student at Cleveland State University, which included breaking up leftist anti-war demonstrations on campus and picketing American companies that sold technology to Communist countries. He was one of the original workers in the Reagan campaign beginning in 1967, and criss-crossed the state of Ohio working for many conservative candidates. In 1971, he was appointed to complete George Voinovich’s term as State Representative from the Euclid area. When he was defeated the following year, he returned to law school at Cleveland State. He has been an attorney since 1977 and is a senior partner in the law firm of Mazanec, Raskin, Ryder and Keller. As a litigator, he defends police departments, fire departments, municipalities, and individuals who are sued. During the last 46 years, he has worked in or managed dozens  of  campaigns, including for former Geauga County Sheriff Jim Todd and other conservative candidates. He and his wife, Diane, have been married since 1971 and have two married daughters and one grandchild. Their daughters and sons-in-law are all conservative Republicans. Ed is strongly pro-life and pro-gun, and is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.