Politics of Ohio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Although historically control of Ohio has oscillated between the two major parties, Republicans currently dominate state government. The governor, Bob Taft, is a Republican, as are all other non-judicial statewide elected officials: Lieutenant Governor of Ohio Bruce Johnson, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, Ohio State Auditor Betty Montgomery, Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, and Ohio State Treasurer Jennette Bradley. Both houses of the Ohio General Assembly are also firmly in Republican control, 12 of 18 representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives are Republicans, and both U.S. senators, R. Michael DeWine and George V. Voinovich, are members of the GOP. However, all of the mayors of the six largest cities in the state (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron, and Dayton) are Democrats.
Due to a close split in party registration and historical electoral importance, Ohio was considered a key battleground state in the 2004 U.S. Presidential election. The state was vital to President George W. Bush's election chances, as it is a state he won by nearly 4 points in 2000 and by the fact that no Republican has ever been elected President without winning Ohio. In the election, the President won the state with 51% of the vote, giving him its 20 electoral votes and the margin he needed in the electoral college for re-election.
However, Ohio's status as a bellwether state may soon end, as its electoral vote total has been declining for decades. For the 2004 election, it has 20 electoral votes, down from 21 in 2000 and down from a peak of 26 in 1968. It is the fewest electoral votes for Ohio since 1828, when it cast 16 electoral votes. Ohio will cast 3.71 percent of the total electoral votes in 2004, the smallest percentage since it cast 3.40 percent of the votes in 1820.
