Ohio Republican Party

Ohio Republican Party
Chairman	Kevin DeWine
Senate leader	President of the Senate Tom Niehaus
House leader	Speaker of the House Bill Batchelder
Founded	February 13, 1852
Headquarters	211 South Fifth Street Columbus, OH 43215
Ideology	Right Conservatism Neo-liberalism
National affiliation	Republican Party
Official colors	Maroon and Tan (unofficial)
Seats in the Upper House	23 / 33
Seats in the Lower House	58 / 99
Website
www.rpof.org
Politics of the United States Political parties Elections

The Ohio Republican Party is the Ohio state affiliate of the United States Republican Party. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio on February 13, 1854.^[1] Kevin DeWine has been chairman of the Ohio GOP since 2009. DeWine set a ten point plan to help restore the Republican Party prominence in the state of Ohio.^[2]

History

From the Civil War era, Ohio politics was dominated by the Republican Party, with Ohio Republicans playing key roles in the national party.

The Republican National Convention at Cincinnati 1876

Early years

Early Ohio Republicans such as Salmon P. Chase staffed many important national offices. Chase coined the phrase "Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men"^[3] Starting in the 1880s, Ohio's Marcus A. Hanna was a significant power in the back rooms of the national Republican party. In the 1890s, Hanna led the conservative wing of the party against Theodore Roosevelt's progressive movement.

In the 60 years from 1860 to 1920, Ohioans headed the Republican presidential ticket nine times, losing only twice. In 1912 Democrat candidate Woodrow Wilson won with 40.96% of the vote, the Republican ticket was split, with Teddy Roosevelt leaving to start the Bull-Moose Party. In the 1916 election, Wilson won again with 49.24% of the vote.

During the next three presidential elections the Republican candidate won Ohio, until 1932 when won the state.^[4]

Post New Deal

The national political upheaval that ushered in the New Deal era in the 1930s benefited the Ohio Democratic Party and party politics in Ohio became very competitive, with Republicans and Democrats trading victories at all levels. However, on a national level, Ohio Democrats did not play a key role, while Ohio Republicans still cut national figures. The prime example of such a figure was Robert Taft, known as "Mr. Republican," the leader of the conservative wing of the Republican party during a time when liberals controlled both major parties.

From the 1930s to the 1970s, Republicans still won the larger share of elective offices in Ohio. However, another national liberalizing trend in the 1960s gave the Ohio Democrats another boost. In addition, a series of rulings by the United States Supreme Court required state legislatures to end the practice of giving disproportionate electoral power to rural areas. The equalization of legislative districts shifted the advantage to the Ohio Democrats, who were strong in Ohio's many large urban centers. By the mid-1980s, Ohio government at all levels was dominated by Democrats.

However, just as Democrats were reaching their peak, the Ohio Republican Party was staging a comeback, and by 1990, the Republicans had won a majority on the Ohio Apportionment Board, which draws district lines for federal and state legislative seats. The 1992 adoption of term limits by referendum further strengthened the party's hand and 1992 marked the last victory by a Democrat (John Glenn) in a statewide race until 2006.

By 2004, Republicans hold all six statewide executive offices (governor/lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, and treasurer), a two-thirds majority in the state senate and house, a 5-2 majority on the Supreme Court, both seats in the U.S. Senate, and 12 of Ohio's 18 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. However, in 2006, Democrats began to retake some statewide offices. These include all of the executive offices except State Auditor (including the governorship going to Ted Strickland over Republican challenger J. Kenneth Blackwell) and one of the seats in the U.S. Senate (Sherrod Brown defeating incumbent Mike DeWine). Ohio Republicans still hold a 10 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, one seat in the U.S. Senate and a majority in both houses of the Ohio General Assembly. In addition, between the election of Robert Cupp in 2007 and the death of Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and the appointment of Democrat Eric Brown in 2010, Republicans controlled all seven seats on the Ohio Supreme Court.

In 2010, Republicans regained all of the statewide elected executive offices, including the governorship with the election of John Kasich, and regained the majority in the state House of Representatives and retaining the state Senate. Republicans also retained their seat in the U.S. Senate with the election of Rob Portman and retained a majority of the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition, 8th District Representative John Boehner was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, making him third in line of succession (and the highest ranking Republican) to the Presidency of the United States.

Current state of the party

Redistricting after the 2000 census combined with Ohio's term limits laws had Republican officeholders at the federal and state levels struggling with each other to draw federal congressional districts to create safe seats, with the interests of incumbent U.S. representatives clashing with the interests of state legislators facing term limits looking to Congress for their next jobs. About 43 percent of the voters voted for Democrats in 2000.

Joe Hallett wrote in the Columbus Dispatch (January 13, 2002):

"Redistricting should be a happy process for Republicans.... But the task has hardly been gleeful. Contrarily, it has turned into an embarrassment for Republicans.... Eight-year term limits, more than the state budget, are to blame. These days, state lawmakers constantly are scouting their next jobs.... [V]isions of Congress dance in their heads. They want districts ready-made for their ascensions. Meanwhile, congressional incumbents constantly angle for districts they can't possibly lose."

Although term limits were pushed by conservative Republican activists in the 1980s, they forced the retirement of Republican Speaker Jo Ann Davidson (R-Columbus) from the House of Representatives in 2001 as well as the leader of the conservative wing of the party, Deputy Speaker William G. Batchelder (R-Medina).

In 2001 Republicans sought U.S. House of Representatives seats held by Democrats Sherrod Brown and Ted Strickland. The state legislature considered redrawing their districts. Critics allege the motivation was to aid in Republican victories. When Democrat Brown threatened to run for governor in 2002 if he lost his seat through redistricting, the legislature scrapped redistricting plans. Republican Governor Taft won re-election. Taft was challenged by Cuyahoga County commissioner Tim Hagan. Both Brown and Strickland held onto their congressional seats.

The Republican Party domination of the general election has caused the real competition to be among the Republican primaries (as was once the case for the Democrats' primaries in the solid South). Special interest groups, such as the Ohio Taxpayers Association, have attempted to influence Republican primary voters through campaigning and electioneering.

The state of the party had prompted some to conclude that the party organization's ability to help the Bush re-election campaign in 2004 might be hampered, but after a contentious election, the Bush campaign came out ahead.

Taft Famil political power

Controversies

Current elected officials

The Ohio Republican Party controls all six statewide constitutional offices, holds a supermajority in the Ohio Senate and a majority in the Ohio House of Representatives. Republicans also have a 6-1 majority on the Ohio Supreme Court. The party holds one of the state's U.S. Senate seats and 13 of the state's 18 U.S. House seats.

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

• Rob Portman

U.S. House of Representatives

• Steve Chabot, 1st District
• Jean Schmidt, 2nd District
• Mike Turner, 3rd District
• Jim Jordan, 4th District
• Bob Latta, 5th District
• Bill Johnson, 6th District
• Steve Austria, 7th District
• John Boehner, 8th District, Speaker of the House of Representatives during the 112th Congress.
• Pat Tiberi, 12th District
• Steve LaTourette, 14th District
• Steve Stivers, 15th District
• Jim Renacci, 16th District
• Bob Gibbs, 18th District

Statewide offices

• Governor:
  • John Kasich
• Lieutenant Governor:
  • Mary Taylor
• Secretary of State:
  • Jon A. Husted
• Attorney General:
  • Mike DeWine
• State Auditor:
  • David Yost
• State Treasurer:
  • Josh Mandel

Legislative leaders

Ohio Senate

• President of the Senate:
  • Tom Niehaus
• President pro tempore of the Senate:
  • Keith Faber
• Floor Leader: Jimmy Stewart
• Whip:
  • Shannon Jones

Ohio House of Representatives

• Speaker of the House:
  • William G. Batchelder
• Speaker pro tempore:
  • Lou Blessing
• Majority Floor Leader:
  • Matt Huffman
• Assistant Majority Floor Leader:
  • Barbara Sears
• Majority Whip:
  • John Adams
• Assistant Majority Whip:
  • Cheryl Grossman

Supreme Court

• Chief Justice
  • Maureen O'Connor
• Associate Justices
  • Paul E. Pfeifer,
  • Terrence O'Donnell
  • Judith Ann Lanzinger
  • Evelyn Lundberg Stratton
  • Robert R. Cupp

Party Leadership

• Party Chairman
  • Kevin DeWine
• Vice Chairman
  • Kay Ayres
• National Committeemen
  • Bob Bennett
• National Committeewoman
  • Jo Ann Davidson

Prominent Ohio Republicans in the past

• Salmon P. Chase: U.S. senator, Governor of Ohio, United States Secretary of the Treasury, Chief Justice of the United States
• Charles William Foster, Jr.: U.S. representative, Governor of Ohio, United States Secretary of the Treasury
• Rutherford B. Hayes: U.S. representative, Governor of Ohio, President of the United States
• William McKinley: U.S. representative, Governor of Ohio, President of the United States
• William Dennison: Governor of Ohio, United States Postmaster General
• David Tod: Governor of Ohio, Ambassador to Brazil
• Jacob Dolson Cox: Governor of Ohio, United States Secretary of the Interior
• John W. Bricker: Ohio Attorney General, Governor of Ohio, U.S. senator, Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States
• Edward F. Noyes: Governor of Ohio, Ambassador to France
• Thomas L. Young: Governor of Ohio, U.S. Representative
• Joseph B. Foraker: Governor of Ohio, U.S. Senator
• George K. Nash: Ohio Attorney General, Governor of Ohio
• Frank B. Willis: Governor of Ohio, U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator
• C. William O'Neill: Ohio Attorney General, Governor of Ohio, Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
• James A. Rhodes: mayor of Columbus, Ohio, Ohio State Auditor, Governor of Ohio, candidate for Republican nomination for President of the United States (1964, 1968), candidate for Republican nomination to the United States Senate
• Warren G. Harding: U.S. senator, Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, President of the United States
• Benjamin F. Wade: U.S. senator, a Radical Republican, President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate
• James A. Garfield: U.S. representative, President of the United States
• James Rudolph Garfield: United States Secretary of the Interior
• Ulysses S. Grant: commander of Union forces in the Civil War; President of the United States
• Benjamin Harrison: U.S. Senator, President of the United States
• William H. Taft I: United States Secretary of War, President of the United States, Chief Justice of the United States
• William B. Saxbe: U.S. senator, U.S. attorney general, Ambassador to India
• John Sherman: U.S. representative, United States Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. senator, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, United States Secretary of State, author of the Sherman Antitrust Act
• Robert A. Taft I: Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, U.S. Senator, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, candidate for Republican nomination for President of the United States (1940, 1948, 1952)
• Harold H. Burton: Ohio state representative, mayor of Cleveland, U.S. Senator, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Simeon D. Fess: U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator
• Nicholas Longworth: Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Potter Stewart: Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
• Kingsley A. Taft: U.S. Senator, Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
• Bob Taft: Governor of Ohio
• George Voinovich: U.S. Senator, Governor of Ohio, Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, Mayor of Cleveland

Party symbols

Ohio Republicans use the same symbols used by the national Republican Party, such as the elephant. The Ohio Republican party is tan in color, with its ear being the shape of the state of Ohio in maroon.

See also

• Political party strength in Ohio
• Politics of Ohio

References

1. ^ Smith, Joseph Patterson (1898). History of the Republican party in Ohio. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 1. http://books.google.com/ebooks/reader?id=eaAFAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=GBS.PR1. 
2. ^ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.ohiogop.org/index.php/learn/. Retrieved 10/31/2011. 
3. ^ Blue, Frederick. Salmon P. Chase A Life in Politics. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=22807164. 
4. ^ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/index.html. 

External links

• Ohio Republican Party
• Ohio College Republican Federation
• Butler County Republican Party in Butler County, Ohio