In 2000, Schmidt ran for the Ohio House of Representatives seat being vacated by Sam Bateman, who was prevented by term limits from running again.
She told The Cincinnati Post that before Bateman had been appointed to the seat in the early 1980s, Clermont County Republican leaders "offered me the job on a silver platter" but she turned them down because her daughter was only four years old at the time.
But in 2000, her daughter was in college and she decided to run.
Unopposed in the March primary, The Cincinnati Enquirer endorsed her in the general election, writing "Seldom has a choice been more obvious than that between Republican Jean Schmidt and Democrat Sherrill Callahan."
Schmidt was easily elected to the 124th Ohio General Assembly from the 71st House District by defeating Callahan, a retired high school principal from Pierce Township.
Schmidt received 36,433 votes (70.4 percent) to Callahan's 15,327 (29.6 percent).

Her district was entirely within Clermont County, containing Miami Township as well as Batavia, Goshen, Pierce, Stonelick and Union Townships, plus the villages of Amelia, Batavia and the city of Milford, and the Clermont County part of the city of Loveland.
After the redistricting necessitated by the 2000 census, her district became the 66th and contained the same territory minus Pierce and Stonelick Townships."
In 2000, Schmidt ran for the Ohio House of Representatives seat being vacated by Sam Bateman, who was prevented by term limits from running again. She told The Cincinnati Post that before Bateman had been appointed to the seat in the early 1980s, Clermont County Republican leaders "offered me the job on a silver platter" but she turned them down because her daughter was only four years old at the time. But in 2000, her daughter was in college and she decided to run. Unopposed in the March primary, The Cincinnati Enquirer endorsed her in the general election, writing "Seldom has a choice been more obvious than that between Republican Jean Schmidt and Democrat Sherrill Callahan." Schmidt was easily elected to the 124th Ohio General Assembly from the 71st House District by defeating Callahan, a retired high school principal from Pierce Township. Schmidt received 36,433 votes (70.4 percent) to Callahan's 15,327 (29.6 percent).
Her district was entirely within Clermont County, containing Miami Township as well as Batavia, Goshen, Pierce, Stonelick and Union Townships, plus the villages of Amelia, Batavia and the city of Milford, and the Clermont County part of the city of Loveland. After the redistricting necessitated by the 2000 census, her district became the 66th and contained the same territory minus Pierce and Stonelick Townships."
Jean Schmidt