The Democratic candidate for Franklin County Treasurer has filed for bankruptcy three times and was convicted of passing bad checks and purchasing cocaine nearly 20 years ago. Cheryl Brooks Sullivan, a local real estate agent, had never appeared on a ballot before the March primary, when she pulled a major upset by defeating incumbent Treasurer Ed Leonard. Now she'll have to overcome her past if she wants to win the general election and take office to oversee Franklin County's finances.

The Democratic candidate for Franklin County Treasurer has filed for bankruptcy three times and was convicted of passing a bad check and for purchasing cocaine nearly 20 years ago.

Cheryl Brooks Sullivan, a local real estate agent, had never appeared on a ballot before the March primary, when she pulled a major upset by defeating incumbent Treasurer Ed Leonard.

Now she�ll have to overcome her past if she wants to win the general election and take office to oversee Franklin County's finances.

�My past does not absolutely define who I am today or what I�m capable of today,� Sullivan said. �If anything I would hope that my experience would motivate or encourage people.�

Public records show that Sullivan, 58, filed for bankruptcy twice in Florida in 1996 and again in Ohio in 2011.

She also has a criminal history in Florida. She was convicted in Duval County, Florida, of purchasing cocaine, a second-degree felony, in 1997 and of passing a bad check, a first-degree misdemeanor, in 1999.

Sullivan was sentenced to six months in jail in 1999 after violating her probation in the cocaine case, according to court records. She was sentenced to 31 days in jail for passing the bad check.

�I accept full responsibility for it. It has nothing to do with who I am now,� she said. �I�ve lived an exemplary life since then.�

Sullivan said her bankruptcies stemmed from multiple failed marriages. In one instance, she said her husband disappeared for six years while her family was in financial trouble. In the other, she said her husband filed without her knowing.

�I made some bad choices in husbands and relationships but it was all about learning how to re-establish my life,� she said.

Court records show that Sullivan had more than $52,000 in debt, including $11,000 in taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service, when she filed for bankruptcy in 2011 in Ohio. She also had about $6,500 in credit card debt.

She said her financial troubles don�t disqualify her from becoming treasurer, which oversees the county ledgers.

�The treasurer themself doesn�t balance the checkbook,� she said. �The county treasurer is in charge of personnel. He or she oversees personnel whose expertise and specific skillset handle those different multiple activities and duties.�

Sullivan already faced an uphill climb to win support from her own party. She unseated an endorsed incumbent as part of a slate that included Sheriff Zach Scott, Commissioner Paula Brooks and Treasurer Terry �TJ� Brown.

Those three incumbent candidates and political consultant Melissa Barnhart were behind an attempted takeover of the Franklin County Democratic Party, which endorsed all of their challengers in the primary. None of them won on Election Day.

Sullivan has been meeting with party leaders to get their backing, but chairman William A. Anthony Jr. said it would be difficult for the party to support a candidate with a troubled past.

�It�s kind of hard to explain those kinds of things away,� he said. �I know the Republican party will probably do even more exhaustive research� Those are all things you can find in a TV ad against her.�

Sullivan will face Republican Ted Berry, a Grove City councilman, in the general election in November. A felony conviction does not disqualify a candidate from running for office, but it generally prevents the felon from holding elected office, a spokesman for Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted wrote in an email. The county prosecutor would determine whether a felon who won is eligible to hold the office.

Leonard said the treasurer�s financial history is factored into whether he or she can get the appropriate insurance to run the office.

�I would expect that would be something that the insurance entity that�s bonding would have to look into,� he said.