On paper, the state of Ohio appears to be as red as they come. Per ballotopedia.org, “Ohio has a Republican trifecta and a Republican triplex,” meaning Republicans hold the offices of governor, secretary of state and attorney general (triplex), and they also control both chambers of the state legislature (a trifecta when the governor is of the same party).
This is not a new development. The Ohio Senate has been controlled by Republicans exclusively since 1992; the Ohio House has been controlled by Republicans for 26 of the last 31 years; and a Republican has been governor of Ohio for 27 of the past 31 years as well (Democrat Ted Strickland’s tenure was the only exception, from 2007-2010).
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Ohio Speaker Jason Stephens
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Ohio Representative Tom Patton who first denied saying that he opposed Rep. Derek Merrin due to his positions on right to work and fair wage legislation but later recanted after he was confronted with text messages obtained by The Ohio Press Network.
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Ohio Representative Bill Seitz
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State Representative Jay Edwards at a Statehouse press conference in 2017 to the right of then-Secretary of State Jon Husted (at the microphone). Larry Householder is on the on the far left.
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Ohio Representative Derek Merrin
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Ohio Representative Sara Carruthers
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