A former Toledo and Perrysburg resident has entered the contest for Ohio Democratic Party chairman, claiming a successful record of getting Democrats elected.

Antoinette Wilson, a Columbus political consultant and former Ohio assistant secretary of state who got her start working on the 1988 campaign of Ohio Supreme Court Justice Alice Robie Resnick, joins an already crowded field.

“This has been my career for 25 years,” Ms. Wilson told The Blade. “I’ve always had an interest in being state party chairman, but there never was an opportunity.”

The opportunity follows the announced resignation of Chris Redfern, chairman since 2005. After losing his re-election bid to the state House of Representatives, he said he would step down in December, but his departure could be delayed into January.

State party Secretary Bill DeMora is responsible for calling a meeting, but he has not done so yet.

Ms. Wilson, 49, is chief executive officer and founder of Triumph Communications, Inc. She lived in Toledo until she was 10, then moved with her family to Perrysburg.

Her late father, pediatrician Dr. Antonio Yap, ran unsuccessfully in 1996 for the state House of Representatives against Republican Randy Gardner. Her mother, Nilza Yap, still lives in Perrysburg.

She is one of at least seven people who have indicated strong interest in running.

Other candidates include David Pepper, the party’s unsuccessful candidate for Ohio attorney general on Nov. 4; Janet Carson, Geauga County Democratic chairman and chairman of the state association of Democratic chairmen; state Rep. Robert Hagan (D., Youngstown); Sharen Neuhardt, the unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor on Nov. 4; Mark Mallory, the former mayor of Cincinnati, and Todd Portune, a Hamilton County commissioner.

She said she discussed her candidacy on Monday with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio), considered the unofficial leader of the Ohio Democratic Party as its highest-ranking elected official.

Senator Brown was not immediately available for comment. A spokesman said he has tried to have conversations with all of the candidates but has not endorsed anyone yet. The senator is said to have made more than 150 phone calls to party chairmen and activists to help him make up his mind about who should be chairman.

The candidate must make it a full-time job, agree not to run for office, be a good listener, and permit inclusiveness and diversity, the spokesman said.

Early on, Mr. Brown supported Dennis Wojtanowski, a longtime Democratic activist, but he withdrew because of opposition to the sometime-support of Republican candidates by members of his Columbus lobbying firm.

Ms. Wilson graduated from Notre Dame Academy in Toledo and Bowling Green State University. Former Justice Resnick said Wednesday that then-Ms. Yap was recommended to her by Julia Bates, later to become Lucas County prosecutor, to help with her first Supreme Court campaign.

“She was my driver in 1988, and as she progressed, she learned things about politics, etc., and then she continued on over all these years. She’s a really wonderful human being — honest and very intelligent. She would make a good chairman,” Justice Resnick said.

She said they keep in touch with Christmas cards but did not know of her interest in the chairmanship.

Ms. Wilson’s political background includes helping administer the 2008 election in Ohio under then-Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and serving as general consultant on more than 50 campaigns. Those include Richard Cordray’s successful bid for state treasurer and Ms. Brunner’s campaign for secretary of state in 2006, serving as John Kerry’s 2004 Ohio primary director and as the 1996 Ohio political director of the Clinton/​Gore campaign.

Her jobs have included director of training and talent for the Democratic National Committee in Washington and development/​political director of the Ohio Democratic Party.

Contact Tom Troy: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058 or on Twitter @TomFTroy.

First Published November 28, 2014, 5:00 a.m.