How Ohio races in the 2024 elections affected Statehouse GOP supermajority

The Ohio Statehouse remained in Republican hands as the final results came in Wednesday morning, but a few Democratic hopefuls boosted their party’s numbers and changed the Legislature’s power plays, if only slightly.

Democrats gained two seats in the Senate and had to flip two seats to take the House of Representatives away from the GOP’s two-thirds majority, which allows them certain privileges without having to consider the opposing party. This was achieved, partly thanks to most recent iteration of the always messy redistricting saga in ohio creating a few new districts in the Buckeye State, some in central Ohio.

The bulk of the seat flips occurred in central Ohio.

Former Rep. Beth Liston (D-Dublin), a physician, defeated Republican consultant owner Besa Sharrah in what was one of the most contested seats in 2020. But Liston opened the door Senate District 16by obtaining 60% of the votes.

Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R-Dublin), who holds Liston’s new seat until January, lost to Crystal Lett, a Democrat and former social worker, in House District 11. The race was a rematch of a 2020 Senate race in which Lett lost with just over 100 votes.

Mark Sigrist, a Democratic Grove City Council member, defeated Republican Brian Garvine, a Grove City attorney for House District 10, a very blue seat in Franklin County. The seat is held by Rep. Dave Dobos, a Republican from Columbus, who did not seek re-election this year.

Just west of central Ohio, Rep. Willis Blackshear (D-Dayton) won in Senate District 6 of State Council for Education member Charlotte McGuire in the seat of Senator Niraj Antani (R-Miamisburg). Antani did not seek re-election this cycle after failing to run for U.S. Congress.

Why a supermajority matters

Republicans now hold 65 of the 99 seats in the Ohio House and 24 of the 33 seats in the Senate, each above the simple majorities of 50 members of the House of Representatives and 17 members of the Senate, giving the party a supermajority some powers gets.

The composition of the Ohio Senate changed somewhat, thanks to Liston and Blackshear’s victories for the Democrats, but very little.

In the House of Representatives, Democrats have not gained the eight seats needed to break the 3/5 supermajority, or 59 seats, which gives Republicans the power to override a governor’s veto without support from the other side from the aisle.

But the two seats Democrats won in the House of Representatives cracked the two-thirds supermajority, or 66 seats, in the House of Representatives, eliminating some of the privileges the supermajority gives to Republicans, such as emergency clauses on bills or ignoring certain state spending limits.

Samantha Hendrickson is the Dispatch’s medical affairs and healthcare reporter, but she’s putting her political reporting hat back on to help with the election. She can be reached at [email protected]

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