 Before becoming party chairman, he was the Minority Leader in the Ohio House of Representatives.During Redfern's term as Minority Leader, he was the first Democratic Leader to oversee multiple gains in the Ohio House of Representatives (during the 2004 election) since former Speaker of the Ohio House Vern Riffe.Redfern was also an Ottawa County commissioner from 1993 to 1999 - the youngest in the state when his term began in 1993.