Rhine McLin

Rhine Lana McLin (born October, 1948) is an American Democratic politician from Ohio, currently serving as mayor of Dayton, Ohio.

McLin received a bachelor of arts degree in sociology and secondary education from Parsons College (Iowa) and a master's degree in education (guidance counseling) from Xavier University (Cincinnati, Ohio). She holds an associate's degree in mortuary science.

In 1988, when McLin's father, Ohio state Rep. C. J. McLin Jr., died, Rhine McLin was appointed to serve the remainder of his term. She was then elected to the seat in 1990. She was re-elected in 1992. She then ran for the Ohio Senate in 1994 and was elected. She was re-elected to the senate in 1998. McLin served as an Ohio state representative from 1989 to 1995 and as an Ohio state senator from 1995 to 2002. In 1999, the Democratic caucus of the Ohio Senate named her minority whip.

In 2001, McLin was named minority leader (completing the term of state Sen. Ben Espy). She served in that post until she left the Senate in 2002, barred by term limits from running for re-election again that year. She ran for the office of mayor of Dayton.

McLin was elected mayor of Dayton in 2001, defeating incumbent Republican Michael R. Turner and began serving her term in 2002. She was re-elected in 2005, defeating opponent David R. Bohardt. McLin was an Ohio delegate to the 2000 Democratic National Convention.

Rhine McLin's political career has been full of firsts. In 1994, McLin became the first African-American woman elected to the Ohio State Senate. She was the first African-American woman to serve as Ohio Senate minority leader. Upon leaving the Senate, she became the first woman to serve as mayor of Dayton. She is the third African-American Dayton mayor. Finally, in late 2005 she was the first African-American woman to serve as head of the Ohio Democratic Party.

McLin is a licensed funeral director and an embalmer at the McLin Funeral Home (Dayton, Ohio) and taught criminology (juvenile delinquency) and race relations at Central State University (Wilberforce, Ohio), from 1982 to 1997.

McLin is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.