Vernon Sykes has always been interested in public affairs. He served on the Akron City Council prior to his election to the Ohio House of Representatives where he served from 1983 to 2000. In the House, he sponsored legislation to toughen child abuse laws, to compensate wrongly imprisoned individuals, and to prevent railroad crossing fatalities. He championed the strongest fair housing law in the nation during his service.

Vernon Sykes attended the Ohio State University, where he received a BBA in Organizational Behavior. He earned an MS in Economics from Wright State University, an MPA from Harvard’s JFK School of Government and a PhD in Urban Studies from the University of Akron.

Vernon Sykes has been president of the Black Elected Democrats of Ohio, which became the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus in 1995. He is currently a member of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. He is currently the Director of the Columbus Program in Intergovernmental Issues and Assistant Professor of Political Science at Kent State University.

Vernon Sykes returned to represent the 44^th District of Ohio in 2006.