Blackwell, J. Kenneth, 1948-

John Kenneth Blackwell (born February 28, 1948) is an American politician, author, and conservative activist who served as the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio (1979–80), the Ohio State Treasurer (1994–99), and Ohio Secretary of State (1999–2007). He was the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio in 2006, the first African-American major-party candidate for governor of Ohio.

Born in Alliance, Ohio, Blackwell earned B.S. and M.Ed. degrees from Xavier University. After college, he was invited to the Dallas Cowboys' training camp; he gave up football when told he would have to convert from linebacker to offensive lineman. He taught at Xavier from 1974 to 1991. In 1978, he was elected as Mayor of Cincinnati as a member of the Charter Party, serving into 1980. One of his first priorities was to establish a crowd control task force, to study better methods of crowd control and injury prevention. When Blackwell began to consider statewide and national offices, he became a Republican. He was appointed to serve in the administration of President George H. W. Bush, as undersecretary in the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1989 to 1990. He returned to Cincinnati to run for the first district seat in the United States House of Representatives which was being vacated by Tom Luken. Blackwell lost to Luken's son, Charlie Luken, by a narrow 51% to 49% margin. Following his close defeat, Blackwell was appointed by President Bush as US ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Blackwell served in that post from 1992 to 1993.

In 1994 Gov. George Voinovich appointed Blackwell as Ohio State Treasurer to complete the term of Mary Ellen Withrow. She had been appointed as U.S. treasurer by President Bill Clinton. Blackwell was elected treasurer in 1994 and was elected Ohio Secretary of State in 1998. That year, Blackwell considered a run for governor, but Ohio Republican Party chairman Robert T. Bennett persuaded Blackwell to run for secretary of state instead, leaving the governorship open to Bob Taft. Blackwell was national chairman of longtime friend Steve Forbes' presidential campaign in 2000. Blackwell was re-elected secretary of state in 2002. Blackwell was the Republican nominee for Governor of Ohio in 2006, losing to Democrat Ted Strickland.

On May 14, 2007, Blackwell was appointed a senior fellow at the well-known conservative religious, political group Family Research Council. Blackwell announced his intentions to run in the 2009 RNC Chairmanship Election, but withdrew after the 4th round of voting. In October 2011, the National Federation of Republican Assemblies elected Blackwell their Executive Vice President at their Des Moines, Iowa Presidential Preference Convention. Blackwell was re-elected in September 2013. During the presidential transition of Donald Trump, Blackwell led appointment selections for positions involving domestic issues.