| Jim Heath | |
|---|---|
Jim Heath |
|
| Born | April 20, 1966 Van Wert, Ohio |
| Occupation | TV news journalist |
| Parents | Rolden L Heath, Jr. (deceased) Doris J. Heath |
This article is about an anchorman, for the article on musician Jim Heath, see The Reverend Horton Heat.
Jim Heath (born April 20, 1966, in Van Wert, Ohio) is a Statehouse Correspondent and Political Analyst in Columbus, Ohio. He is also the Moderator of the weekly political program Capitol Square, aired statewide on the Ohio News Network.
During the 2008 presidential primary cycle, Heath was the only television anchor in South Carolina who landed interviews with all the presidential candidates. He was invited on board the campaign bus of Senator Fred Thompson during his first campaign trip to South Carolina. He interviewed Senator Barack Obama from J.V. Martin Middle School, one of the oldest and poorest schools in the south. He spent an inning at the ballpark interviewing former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He interviewed John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth Edwards as they walked into the South Carolina Democratic Convention. He interviewed former Governor Mitt Romney during his first campaign trip to Myrtle Beach. Heath was the only local journalist invited to interview Senator Hillary Clinton from Florence, South Carolina, as she began her presidential bid.[1]
Heath has known and covered Senator John McCain for over twenty years. In 2002, Heath and McCain won an award from the Arizona Associated Press for a live interview. When McCain returned to Greenville, South Carolina in January, 2006, for the first time since his defeat in the 2000 South Carolina primary, Heath was granted the first interview.[2] Heath also landed a rare interview with Cindy McCain.[3]
On May 9, 2008, Heath was nominated for an EMMY award for writing, producing and anchoring a one hour special "South Carolina on the Road to the White House."[4]
Before moving to Ohio in 2009, Heath worked for six years as an anchor and reporter in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Prior to 2003, he was an anchor and reporter in Yuma, Arizona.
Prior to television, Heath spent a decade in the political arena, including serving as a congressional press secretary, aide to a corporation commissioner, and a candidate for statewide public office in Arizona.[5]
Although born in Ohio, Heath grew up in Lake Havasu City, Arizona and was a communications major at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. He completed his broadcasting internship at KTSP TV (CBS) in Phoenix.