Brett Buerck began his political career as a campaign operative for the Ohio Republican Party. He went on to be the general consultant to Larry Householder

Larry Householder

Larry Householder of Glenford, Ohio, is an American politician of the Republican party who served as speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives from 2001 to 2005....

, former member of the Ohio House of Representatives

Ohio House of Representatives

The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate....

, prior to Householder's election to Speaker of the House.

Buerck served as Householder's chief of staff while Householder was speaker, from 2001 to 2004.

Buerck was mired in controversy after being caught on tape in March 2002 in conversation with Doug Mink, when he said "because of the changes that we've made in redistricting

Redistricting

Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...

 to help Jim Raussen

Jim Raussen

Jim Raussen is a former Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 29th District from 2003 to 2008.-External links:*...

, we essentially took 13,000 African Americans out of the Raussen district and put 14,000 Republicans in." The tape was aired by news station WCPO-TV

WCPO-TV

WCPO-TV, virtual channel 9 , is an ABC-affiliated television station in Cincinnati, Ohio. WCPO's studio is located in the Mount Adams neighborhood of Cincinnati, just outside of Eden Park. Its transmitter is located along Symmes Street, just south of East McMillan Street in Cincinnati.The station...

 (Channel 9). http://www.wcpo.com/wcpo/localshows/iteam/1cddbbe.html.

Governor Bob Taft

Bob Taft

Robert Alphonso "Bob" Taft II is an Ohio Republican Party politician. He was elected to two terms of office as the 67th Governor of the U.S. state of Ohio between 1999-2007. After leaving office, Taft started working for the University of Dayton beginning August 15, 2007.-Personal background:Taft...

, and Speaker Larry Householder

Larry Householder

Larry Householder of Glenford, Ohio, is an American politician of the Republican party who served as speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives from 2001 to 2005....

 (both Republicans who sat on the committee to redraw House and Senate districts) were named in a lawsuit by Ohio Democrats who claim redistricting of Hamilton County

Hamilton County, Ohio

As of 2000, there were 845,303 people, 346,790 households, and 212,582 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,075 people per square mile . There were 373,393 housing units at an average density of 917 per square mile...

 House district and other areas violates the Voting Rights Act

Voting Rights Act

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S....

. The lawsuit was subsequently dismissed.

Buerk now attends The Ohio State University

Ohio State University

The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...

 Moritz College of Law

Moritz College of Law

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law is a public law school and charter member of the Association of American Law Schools. According to the 2010 U.S. News & World Report rankings, the Moritz College of Law is 35th in the nation overall and is in the top ten among public law schools. The...

. Buerck is married to former Blackwell fundraiser Scottie May.