Ohio House
Filing Deadline: Jan. 4, 2008 • Primary Date: March 4, 2008 • General Election: Nov. 4, 2008District Profile: The 1st, which includes almost all of Cincinnati, is a closely divided district, one that George W. Bush carried with just 51% of the vote in 2000 and 2004. Full Profile
2006 results: Steve Chabot (R) defeated John Cranley (D) by 52-48%.
Incumbent
Steve Chabot (R)Elected in 1994; Seeking eighth term; Chabot was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Steve Driehaus (D)
Driehaus, a state minority whip, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: Even many of the Appalachians here are Republicans, from Civil War Republican counties in the hills. Democratic constituencies here never got very large. Full Profile
2006 results: Jean Schmidt (R) defeated Victoria Wulsin (D) by 50-49%.
Incumbent
Jean Schmidt (R)
Elected in Aug. 2005; Seeking second full term; Schmidt was nominated with 57% in a three-way primary.
Challenger
Victoria Wulsin (D)Wulsin, a physician, was nominated with 58% in a three-way primary.
District Profile: Redistricting in 2002 made the district distinctly more Republican; George W. Bush won 54 percent here in 2004. Full Profile
2006 results: Mike Turner (R) defeated Richard Chema (D) by 59-41%.
Incumbent
Mike Turner (R)
Elected in 2002; Seeking fourth term; Turner was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Jane Mitakides (D)Mitakides, a political consultant, was nominated with 54% in a three-way primary.
District Profile: This has been a GOP stronghold since the Civil War, industrial since the late 19th century, quietly prosperous since World War II but hurt by recent manufacturing job losses. Full Profile
2006 results: Jim Jordan (R) defeated Richard Siferd (D) by 60-40%.
Incumbent
Jim Jordan (R)
Elected in 2006; Seeking second term; Jordan was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: Historically, this has been a solidly GOP district; as part of his big push in western Ohio, George W. Bush increased his lead here from 59-37% in 2000 to 61-39% in 2004. Full Profile
2006 results: Paul Gillmor (R) defeated Robin Weirauch (D) by 57-43%.
Incumbent
Bob Latta (R)
Gillmor died in Sept. 2007; Latta won the seat in a special election in Dec. 2007; Latta was nominated with 75% in a three-way primary.
District Profile: This district was designed by incumbent-protection-minded redistricters to re-elect a Democratic congressman, but its cultural conservatism put it narrowly in George W. Bush's column. Full Profile
2006 results: Charlie Wilson (D) defeated Chuck Blasdel (R) by 62-38%.
Incumbent
Charlie Wilson (D)
Elected in 2006; Seeking second term; Wilson was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Rich Stobbs (R)Stobbs, a former Belmont County sheriff, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: The 7th, shaped like a horseshoe south of Columbus, is culturally conservative and has given healthy margins to recent Republican presidential contenders. Full Profile
2006 results: David Hobson (R) defeated William Conner (D) by 61-39%.
Republican
Steve Austria (R)
Austria, the state senate majority whip, was nominated with 55% in a four-way primary.
Democrat
Sharen Neuhardt (D)Neuhardt, an attorney, was nominated with 37% in a six-way primary.
District Profile: In September 2004, George W. Bush appeared at a rally in the district that attracted 50,000 people; some called it the largest political rally in Ohio history. Full Profile
2006 results: John Boehner (R) defeated Morton Meier (D) by 64-36%.
Incumbent
John Boehner (R)
Elected in 1990; Seeking tenth term; Boehner was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Nick von Stein (D)Von Stein, a political organizer, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: The suburbs and countryside around are mostly GOP, and one survey showed that the Toledo media market had more campaign ads than anywhere else in the nation in '04. Full Profile
2006 results: Marcy Kaptur (D) defeated Bradley Leavitt (R) by 74-26%.
Incumbent
Marcy Kaptur (D)
Elected in 1982; Seeking fourteenth term; Kaptur was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Bradley Leavitt (R)Leavitt, a steelworker, was nominated with 56% in a two-way primary.
District Profile: The 10th includes most of the west side of Cleveland. Excluded is one salient of mostly black Cleveland precincts attached to the 11th District across the river. Full Profile
2006 results: Dennis Kucinich (D) defeated Mike Dovilla (R) by 66-34%.
Incumbent
Dennis Kucinich (D)
Elected in 1996; Seeking seventh term; Kucinich was nominated with 50% in a five-way primary.
Challenger
Jim Trakas (R)Trakas, a former state representative, was nominated with 80% in a two-way primary.
District Profile: Overall, 56 percent of the people in the 11th District are black. Politically, this is by far the most Democratic district in Ohio. Full Profile
2006 results: Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D) defeated Lindsey String (R) by 83-17%.
Democrat
Marcia Fudge
Fudge, the Warrensville Heights mayor, was selected by party leaders to replace incumbent Stephanie Tubbs Jones on the ballot after her death on August 20, 2008.
Republican
Thomas PekarekPekarek, an engineer, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: This is one of two districts dominated by Columbus and Franklin County. It includes 39 percent of the city, plus the affluent suburb of Bexley, home of the governor's mansion. Full Profile
2006 results: Pat Tiberi (R) defeated Bob Shamansky (D) by 57-43%.
Incumbent
Pat Tiberi (R)
Elected in 2000; Seeking fifth term; Tiberi was nominated with 91% in a two-way primary.
Challenger
David Robinson (D)Robinson, a manufacturing executive, was nominated with 51% in a three-way primary.
District Profile: Fifty years ago this would have been a GOP area. Today, the area is Democratic, though not overwhelmingly so: George W. Bush got 44 percent of the vote here in 2000 and 2004. Full Profile
2006 results: Betty Sutton (D) defeated Craig Foltin (R) by 61-39%.
Incumbent
Betty Sutton (D)
Elected in 2006; Seeking second term; Sutton was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
David Potter (R)Potter, a sales executive, was nominated with 40% in a three-way primary.
District Profile: This district was designed, in an incumbent-protection redistricting plan, to gather together GOP territory in the Western Reserve. Full Profile
2006 results: Steve LaTourette (R) defeated Lewis Katz (D) by 58-39%.
Incumbent
Steve LaTourette (R)
Elected in 1994; Seeking eighth term; LaTourette was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Bill O'Neill (D)O'Neill, a former state appeals court judge, was nominated with 63% in a three-way primary.
District Profile: Columbus was the scene of a highly successful registration and turnout drive by Democrats in '04. The 15th as a whole gave George W. Bush only a 50.3% majority. Full Profile
2006 results: Deborah Pryce (R) defeated Mary Jo Kilroy (D) by 110,714 votes to 109,659 votes.
Republican
Steve Stivers (R)Stivers, a state senator, was nominated with 66% in a two-way primary.
Democrat
Mary Jo Kilroy (D)
Kilroy, a Franklin County commissioner, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: Stark County was something like ground zero in the 2004 presidential campaign, and it was the only Ohio county which George W. Bush carried in 2000 but lost in 2004. Full Profile
2006 results: Ralph Regula (R) defeated Thomas Shaw (D) by 58-42%.
Republican
Kirk Schuring (R)Schuring, a state senator, was nominated with 47% in a three-way primary.
Democrat
John Boccieri (D)
Boccieri, a state senator, was nominated with 64% in a two-way primary.
District Profile: This is a Democratic district: 63% for John Kerry in '04, his second best district in Ohio, even though the Democratic mayor of Youngstown endorsed George W. Bush. Full Profile
2006 results: Tim Ryan (D) defeated Don Manning (R) by 80-20%.
Incumbent
Tim Ryan (D)
Elected in 2002; Seeking fourth term; Ryan was unopposed in the primary.
Challenger
Duane Grassell (R)Grassell, a teacher, was unopposed in the primary.
District Profile: Politically, much of this area was ancestrally Democratic, but in the last two decades it has become more Republican. Full Profile
2006 results: Zack Space (D) defeated Joy Padgett (R) by 62-38%.
Incumbent
Zack Space (D)
Elected in 2006; Seeking second term; Space was nominated with 85% in a two-way primary.
Challenger
Fred Dailey (R)Dailey, a former state agricultural director, was nominated with 39% in a four-way primary.
Please send comments or corrections to AlmanacEditorial@nationaljournal.com.
Race Rankings
Based on likelihood of seat switching party control
1.
N.Y.-13
(Open-R)2.
N.Y.-25
(Open-R)3.
Ariz.-01
(Open-R)4.
Va.-11
(Open-R)5.
Fla.-16
(Mahoney-D)6.
Ill.-11
(Open-R)7.
Ohio-16
(Open-R)8.
Texas-22
(Lampson-D)9.
Alaska-AL
(Young-R)10.
Fla.-24
(Feeney-R)11.
N.J.-03
(Open-R)12.
Colo.-04
(Musgrave-R)13.
Mich.-09
(Knollenberg-R)14.
N.J.-07
(Open-R)15.
Minn.-06
(Bachmann-R)Previous Coverage
Check out National Journal's coverage of previous Ohio house races.
