A graduate of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Lehner was a three-term city councilwoman in Kettering, sat on the Ohio Ethics Commission from 1991 to 1997, served as a board member for the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority and has been active in efforts to address issues facing Dayton-area suburbs for decades.
While Lehner was originally elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 2008, she came first to the Statehouse as a member of the Ohio Senate.