Republicans how have a record number elected seats in the Ohio House, winning at least 65 districts. The GOP has held 60 seats in the current General Assembly. Since a constitutional amendment established the 99-member House in 1967, the most seats the party had won was 64.
This means the Republicans will have enough members next year to more easily place constitutional amendments before the voters. Democrats were outnumbered in both the House and Senate headed into Election Day, and they needed to pick up one House seat to block the GOP from holding such legislative power. But Democrats lagged behind in campaign fundraising and struggled with a weak gubernatorial candidate.
Republicans will have enough members next year to more easily place constitutional amendments before the voters.
The Democrats had another upset as Chris Redfern, the chair of Ohio's Democratic Party, lost his seat in the Ohio House of Representatives Tuesday and announced his intention to resign as party chair. He represented the Port Clinton area, and lost by a slim margin to Tea Party-backed Republican Steve Kraus.
Locally, Democratic House incumbent Fred Strahorn kept his seat in the 39th district, while Democrat Roland Winburn in the 43rd lost to Republican Jeff Rezabek 58 to 42 percent. Republican Rick Perales in Greene County kept his seat by a wide margin. In Clark County’s 79th district, Republican Kyle Koehler beat Democrat Darrell Jackson. And State Senator Bill Beagle, in Ohio’s 5th District, has been re-elected with 57 percent of the vote over Democratic challenger Dee Gillis. A full rundown of results for the Ohio Statehouse is available here.
