2022 General Election Update

Ohio Republicans enjoyed another strong night, sweeping all the statewide races, including all three Ohio Supreme Court races, and increasing the veto-proof majorities in the General Assembly. However, Democrats won two swing congressional districts. Overall, the Buckeye State, once considered a swing state, remains a reliable Republican stronghold continuing a trend stretching back to 2010.

Leading the Ohio statewide ticket, Governor Mike DeWine handily won re-election with 62.8 percent of the electorate.

Below is Bricker & Eckler’s Government Relations Practice Group’s overview of the preliminary 2022 General Election results and details on races of particular interest.

I. OHIO STATEWIDE RACES

A. Governor and Lt. Governor

As mentioned above, Governor Mike DeWine (R) easily won his reelection campaign, alongside Lt. Governor Husted, against former Dayton mayor Nan Whaley (D).  Ohio and national media outlets called the race shortly after the polls closed at 7:30 p.m.. Governor DeWine now turns to preparing his next state budget proposal, which will be unveiled early in 2023.

B. Ohio Supreme Court

The 2022 election is the first General Election where Ohio Supreme Court candidates appeared on the ballot with their partisan affiliation. Justice Sharon Kennedy (R) and Justice Jennifer Brunner (D) squared off for the Chief Justice role on the Ohio Supreme Court. Current Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor could not run for re-election due to the judicial age limit in Ohio’s Constitution. Justice Pat DeWine (R) ran for re-election against First District Court of Appeals Judge Marilyn Zayas (D) and Justice Pat Fischer (R) sought re-election to the court against Tenth District Court of Appeals Judge Terri Jamison (D). In the end, all three Republican Justices prevailed.

When Justice Kennedy becomes Chief Justice in January 2023, Governor DeWine will appoint a replacement to finish her current term. With the sweep, Republicans continue holding their majority on the state’s high court.

C. Other Statewide Races

Republican statewide elected officials all cruised to re-election over their Democratic challengers. Auditor of State Keith Faber (R), Attorney General Dave Yost (R), Treasurer of State Robert Sprague (R), and Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) all earned second four-year terms with strong showings on Tuesday.

II. FEDERAL RACES

A. U.S. Senate

Due to Senator Rob Portman’s (R) retirement announcement, both parties viewed Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat as critical to control of the U.S. Senate. J.D. Vance (R) defeated Congressman Tim Ryan (D) 53.3 percent to 46.7 percent holding the seat for national Republicans. As of the writing of this memorandum, several U.S. races in other states remain uncalled and partisan control of the U.S. Senate stays undecided.

B. U.S. House of Representatives

Most of Ohio’s incumbent Members of Congress were successful in their re-election campaigns. Ohio’s Congressional races provided one of the bright spots for the state’s Democrats. Congresswoman Mary Kaptur (D-Toledo) survived a challenge to her seat in Ohio’s 9^th Congressional district, becoming the longest-serving female member of Congress in history.

The 9^th Congressional District saw some of the highest outside spending in the country, reflecting the importance of Ohio’s congressional races for both national parties and overall control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Former Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes (D- Akron) defeated Madison Gesiotto Gilbert (R- North Canton), capturing the Akron area seat.  
Finally, Cincinnati City Council Member Greg Landsman (D-Cincinnati) pulled off an upset, defeating incumbent Congressman Steve Chabot (R-Cincinnati) in Ohio’s 1^st Congressional District. Nationally, it appears Republicans may earn enough seats to flip the chamber to their control, but with a smaller margin than originally forecasted, and votes are still being counted nationally in a variety of U.S. House races in other states.

United State House of Representatives Preliminary Results:[1](Preliminary election winners are in bold.)

District Number	Republican	Democrat
1	Steve Chabot*	Greg Landsman
2	Brad Wenstrup*	Samantha Meadows
3	Lee Stahley	Joyce Beatty*
4	Jim Jordan*	Tamie Wilson
5	Bob Latta*	Craig Swartz
6	Bill Johnson*	Lou Lyras
7	Max Miller	Matthew Diemer
8	Warren Davidson*	Vanessa Enoch
9	J.R. Majewski	Marcy Kaptur*
10	Michael Turner*	David Esrati
11	Eric Brewer	Shontel Brown*
12	Troy Balderson*	Amy Rippel-Elton
13	Madison Gesiotto Gilbert	Emilia Sykes
14	David Joyce*	Matt Kilboy
15	Mike Carey*	Gary Josephson

 

III. OHIO GENERAL ASSEMBLY RACES

A. Ohio House of Representatives: Overview

With both Democrat and Republican incumbent members running in new districts than in 2020 due to recent Ohio redistricting efforts, election watchers were ready for the possibility of some surprise results. However, it appears only two incumbents were defeated. As of the writing of this memo, House Assistant Minority Leader Thomas West (D-Canton) appeared headed for defeat, losing to Republican Jim Thomas.

In Franklin County, Minority Whip Richard Brown (D-Canal Winchester) was also losing to Republican Ronald Beach IV by less than 100 votes, but that race appears headed to an automatic recount.  In several other races, Representative Andrea White (R- Kettering) and Democrat Addison Caruso, Republican Nick Santucci and Democrat Vince Peterson II, and Republican Josh Williams and Nancy Larson, results remain close and likely won’t be official until after the official canvass in Ohio.

If Santucci’s lead holds, he will flip the 64^th District in Mahoning County, a seat currently held by term-limited Democrat Rep. Michael O’Brien.  Pending recounts and the official canvass, it appears Republicans might hold 68 of the chamber’s 99 seats, increasing their veto-proof supermajority.  Two Senate members will become members of the House in 2023 – Senators Bob Peterson (R-Washington Court House) and Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati).

The Ohio House majority caucus now shifts its focus to selecting a new Speaker of the House. Current House Speaker Bob Cupp (R- Lima) is term-limited. The Republican caucus will select its new leader, who will ascend to the dais in January 2023, in a closed caucus meeting on November 17, 2022.

Ohio House of Representatives Preliminary Results:[2]

(Preliminary election winners are in bold. Races that are too close to call are marked in Italics.)

District Number	Republican	Democrat
1		Dontavius Jarrells*
2		Latyna Humphrey*
3	Josiah Lanning	Ismail Mohamed
4	Jill Rudler	Mary Lightbody*
5	Ronald Beach IV	Richard Brown*
6	Joe Wharton	Adam Miller *
7		Allison Russo*
8	Zulley Truemper	Beth Liston*
9		Munira Abdullahi
10	David Dobos	Russell Harris
11	Omar Tarazi	Anita Somani
12	Brian Stewart*
13	Keith Davey	Michael Skindell*
14	Jolene Austin	Sean Brennan
15		Richard Dell’Aquila
16	Michael Lamb	Bride Rose Sweeney*
17	Tom Patton*	Troy Greenfield
18	Shalira Taylor	Darnell Brewer
19	Ron Brough	Phillip Robinson Jr.*
20		Terrence Upchurch*
21	Kelly Powell	Elliot Forhan
22		Juanita Brent*
23	George Phillips	Daniel Troy*
24	Adam Koehler	Dani Isaacsohn
25	John Breadon III	Cecil Thomas*
26		Sedrick Denson*
27	Jenn Giroux	Rachel Baker
28	Chris Monzel	Jessica Miranda*
29	Cindy Abrams*	Juan Valle
30	Bill Seitz*	Alissa Mayhaus
31	Bill Roemer*	Rita Darrow
32	Bob Young*	Matt Shaughnessy
33	Kristopher Anderson	Tavia Galonski*
34	Beth Bigham	Casey Weinstein*
35	Steve Demetriou	Lori O’Neill
36	Andrea White*	Addison Caruso
37	Tom Young*
38		Willis Blackshear Jr. *
39	Phil Plummer*	Leronda Jackson
40	Rodney Creech*	Amy Cox
41	Josh Williams	Nancy Larson
42	Derek Merrin*	Erika White
43	Wendi Hendricks	Michele Grim
44	Roy Palmer III	Elgin Rogers Jr.
45	Jennifer Gross*	Chuck Horn
46	Thomas Hall*	Lawrence Mulligan
47	Sara Carruthers*	Sam Lawrence
48	Scott Oelslager*	David Smith
49	Jim Thomas	Thomas West*
50	Reggie Stoltzfus*
51	Brett Hillyer*
52	Gayle Manning*	Regan Phillips
53	Marty Gallagher	Joe Miller*
54	Dick Stein*	Bryan Burgess
55	Scott Lipps*	Paul Zorn
56	Adam Mathews	Joy Bennett
57	Jamie Callendar*	Evan Rosborough
58	Al Cutrona*	Bruce Neff
59		Lauren McNally
60	Kris Jordan*
61	Beth Lear	Louise Valentine
62	Jean Schmidt*	Brian Flick
63	Adam Bird*	Richard Perry
64	Nick Santucci	Vincent Peterson II
65	Mike Loychik*
66	Sharon Ray*	Christina Collins
67	Melanie Miller	Drew Burge
68	Thad Claggett*
69	Kevin Miller*
70	Brian Lampton*	Eric Price
71	Bill Dean*	Jame Duffee
72	Gail Pavliga*	Kathleen Clyde
73	Jeffrey LaRe*
74	Bernard Willis	Dan Saks
75	Haraz Ghanbari*	Jan Materni
76	Marilyn John*
77	Scott Wiggam*	Mark Gooch
78	Susan Manchester*
79	Monica Robb Blasdel	Taylor Eastham
80	Jena Powell*
81	Jim Hoops*
82	Roy Klopfenstein	Magdalene Markward
83	Jon Cross*	Claire Osborne
84	Angela King	Sophia Rodriguez
85	Tim Barhorst
86	Tracy Richardson*	Barbara Luke
87	Riordan McClain*
88	Gary Click*	Dianne Selvey
89	D.J. Swearingen*	Jim Obergefell
90	Brian Baldridge*	Andrew Dodson
91	Bob Peterson	Christina Schnetzer
92	Mark Johnson*
93	Jason Stephens*
94	Jay Edwards*	Tanya Conrath
95	Don Jones*	William Ryan
96	Ron Ferguson*	Charlie DiPalma
97	Adam Holmes*
98	Darrell Kick*
99	Sarah Fowler Arthur*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ohio Senate

Senate Republicans increased their supermajority after defeating incumbent Tina Maharath (D-Canal Winchester) when Michele Reynolds (R- Canal Winchester) won with 53 percent of the vote. With the victory, Republicans now hold a record-setting 26-7 majority in the chamber. Senators Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson), Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville), and Michael Rulli (R-Salem) all fended off strong challenges.

Several House members changed chambers, including Representatives Shane Wilkin (R-Hilsboro), Kent Smith (D-Euclid), Catherine Ingram (D-Cincinnati), and Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) all of whom easily won election to the Ohio Senate

Ohio Senate Preliminary Results:[3]

(Preliminary election winners are in bold.)

District Number	Republican	Democrat
1	Rob McColley*
3	Michele Reynolds	Tina Maharath*
5	Steve Huffman*
7	Steve Wilson*	David Dallas
9	Orlando Sonza Jr.	Catherine Ingram
11	Tony Dia	Paula Hicks- Hudson
13	Nathan Manning*	Anthony Elipoulos
15		Hearcel Craig*
17	Shane Wilkin	Garry Boone
19	Andy Brenner*	Heather Swiger
21	Mikhail Alterman	Kent Smith
23	Landry Simmons Jr.	Nickie Antonio*
25	Chandler Wysocki	William DeMora
27	Kristina Roegner*	Patricia Goetz
29	Kirk Schuring*
31	Al Landis
33	Michael Rulli*	Robert Hagan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IV. OHIO COURTS OF APPEALS

2022 also marked the first time Courts of Appeals candidates appeared on the ballot with a partisan political affiliation after their names on the ballot. While Ohio Democrats had an off night in legislative races, they made a few electoral gains in several Courts of Appeals races, including a clean sweep of four seats in the Tenth District in Franklin County. The Tenth District Court of Appeals is one of the most important intermediate appellate districts as appeals of all state government agency decisions go through review at the Tenth District. However, results were mixed in other appellate districts, with several incumbent Democrat judges losing their seats in the Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh District Courts of Appeals.

(Preliminary election winners are in bold.)

District Number	Incumbent	Republican	Democrat
1	Robert Winkler	Robert Winkler	Jennifer Kinsley
2		Mary Kate Huffman
2	Ronald Lewis	Ronald Lewis
2	Mike Tucker	Mike Tucker
3	William Zimmerman	William Zimmerman
3	Juergen Waldick	Juergen Waldick
4	Kristy Wilkin	Kristy Wilkin
5	Earle Wise Jr.	Andrew King	Earle Wise Jr.
5	Craig Baldwin	Craig Baldwin	David Bell
6	Christine Mayle	Christine Mayle
6	Mark Pietrykowski	Charles Sulek	Tom Puffenberger
7	Gene Donofrio	Mark Hanni	Gene Donofrio
8	Mary Eileen Kilbane		Mary Eileen Kilbane
8	Lisa Forbes		Lisa Forbes
8	Kathleen Ann Keough		Kathleen Ann Keough
8	Eileen Gallagher		Eileen Gallagher
8	Cornelius O’Sullivan	Cornelius O’Sullivan	Michael Ryan
9	Thomas Teodosio	Scot Stevenson	Thomas Teodosio
9	Donna Carr	Donna Carr	Erica Voorhees
9	Lynne Callahan	Jill Flagg Lanzinger	Amber Crowe
10		Laura Nesbitt	Kristin Boggs
10	Julia Dorrian		Julia Dorrian
10	Keith McGrath	Keith McGrath	Carly Edelstein
10			David Leland
11	Thomas Wright	Eugene Lucci	Thomas Wright
11	John Eklund		John Eklund
12	Robin Piper	Robin Piper
12	Mike Powell	Mike Powell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

V. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION CANDIDATES

Five of eleven seats on the State Board of Education were up in the 2022 general election.

District Number	Candidate #1	Candidate #2	Candidate #3
2	Teresa Fedor	Sarah McGervey
3	Charlotte McGuire
4	Jenny Kilgore	Katie Hofmann
9	John Hagan	Robert Fulton
10	Tim Miller	Tom Jackson	Cierra Lynch Shehorn

 

 

 

 

 

VI. STATEWIDE BALLOT ISSUES

Two provisions were added to Ohio’s Constitution Tuesday – with both proposals garnering around 77 percent support. Issue 1 requires judges to consider public safety when establishing monetary bail. Issue 1 became a significant statewide ballot issue following an Ohio Supreme Court decision that ruled that trial court judges could not consider certain public safety and community safety issues when setting bail for certain violent offenders. The Ohio General Assembly disagreed with the 2021 court decision and offered a joint resolution to the contrary which became Issue 1.

Similarly, the Ohio House and Ohio Senate took exception with some Ohio municipalities that attempted to allow non-U.S. citizens to vote on certain local-level election matters. Issue 2 enshrines in the Ohio Constitution a prohibition on local government from enabling non-citizens to vote in municipal elections.

VII. LOCAL RACES OF NOTE

A. Cuyahoga County Executive

The race to succeed Cuyahoga County (Cleveland, Ohio) Executive Armond Budish ended with Chris Ronayne (D) defeating challenger Lee Weingart (R). Ronayne previously served as Chief of Staff and Chief Development Officer in the City of Cleveland, and most recently was the President of University Circle Inc., which is a nonprofit community service corporation.

B. School Levies

Ohio’s school districts saw an increase in the percentage of school levies passing. Overall, 87 of 120  (73 percent) passed. In 2020, 67 percent of K-12 tax levies passed. For ballot measures seeking new funding the results were more mixed, with only 46 percent passing. Renewal levies passed at a 91 percent clip. Levies and bond issues in Columbus, Worthington City Schools, Kettering and Pickerington passed, while a levy in Parma failed and Xenia is too close to call.

C. Crawford County Wind Energy Referendum

On Tuesday, citizens of Crawford County rejected a referendum of their county commissioners’ vote to restrict wind development in unincorporated portions of the county. Crawford County commissioners voted to restrict wind development after the enactment of Senate Bill 52 (McColley), which granted counties the capability to exclude all or parts of the unincorporated areas of a county from renewable energy development.  Crawford County voters overwhelmingly supported the Commissioners’ decision to exclude wind development in the County, with the “Yes” vote carrying just under 75 percent of the vote. 

VIII.CONCLUSION

Overall, November 8, 2022, was a very strong night for Ohio Republicans who continue control of Executive and Administrative branches, the Ohio General Assembly, and the Ohio Supreme Court.  Now, all eyes will focus on the Ohio legislature which returns soon for “lame duck” session and to close out the 134th General Assembly.  “Lame duck” usually features a flourish of activity as legislators attempt to finish final legislative work before the General Assembly ends just before Christmas.  Given the large legislative majorities returning in January 2023 for the 135^th General Assembly and the overall “clean sweep” by Ohio Republicans in the statewide election, it will be interesting to watch what legislative priorities rise to the level of demanding completion in 2022 or those that will simply be held over and introduced again once the new General Assembly begins next year.

As mentioned above, the Ohio House will have new leadership in 2023 when current Speaker Bob Cupp (R- Lima) leaves due to term limits. Governor DeWine and legislators are already beginning planning for the state’s next two-year state budget, expending additional federal ARPA and infrastructure funding, while possibly considering spending constraints due to inflation-fueled worries about a recession. All in all, 2023 is already appearing to have a full agenda.

As results of the November 8, 2022, general election are finalized, we will update you with developments and final results. Until then, if you have questions or would like more information on any of the races outlined above, please feel free to reach out to any member of our Government Relations group.