Ohio State Senate elections, 2012
 Ohio's 2012 elections: • U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State Senate • State House • Ballot measures |
Ohio State Senate will be held in Ohio on November 6, 2012. A total of 16 seats will be up for election.
The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was December 7, 2011. The primary election day will be March 6, 2012.
Majority control
- See also: Partisan composition of state senates
Heading into the November 6 election, the Republican Party holds the majority in the Ohio State Senate:
| Ohio State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 10 | 10 | |
| Republican Party | 23 | 23 | |
| Total | 33 | 33 | |
Incumbents retiring
A total of 2 incumbents are not running for re-election in 2012. Those incumbents are:
| Name: | Party: | Current office: |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Wagoner |  Republican
| Ohio State Senate District 2 |
| Tom Niehaus | Republican
| Ohio State Senate District 14 |
Term limits
The Ohio State Senate has been a term-limited state senate since Ohio voters approved Ballot Issue 4, an initiated constitutional amendment, in 1992. This amendment became part of Section 2 of Article II of the Ohio Constitution and limits the amount of time that an Ohio State Senator can stay in office to two 4-year terms, saying, "No person shall hold the office of State Senator for a period longer than two successive terms of four years." Senators can run for office again after being out-of-office for at least a four-year period.
There are 33 Ohio State Senators. In 2012, 1 of them who is a current member, or 3.03% of the total senate seats, will be ineligible to run for the senate again in November. Of them, none are Democratic state senators and 1 is a Republican state senator.
In addition to the 1 state senator who is leaving office because of term limits, 7 state representatives are also termed-out.
The 1 current member of the state senate who will be ineligible to run in November is:
Democrats (0):
There are no Democratic senators termed-out in 2012.
Republicans (1):
Campaign contributions
The expenditures from a candidate's personal funds, or the funds of his or her spouse, parents, children, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, brothers, sisters, grandparents, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, or grandparents by marriage, in connection with his or her campaign for nomination for election to office may exceed one hundred thousand dollars during a primary election period in the aggregate or one hundred fifty thousand dollars during the general election period in the aggregate, in the case of statewide candidates, and twenty five thousand dollars during a primary election period in the aggregate or twenty-five thousand dollars during the general election period in the aggregate. [1]
This chart shows how many candidates ran for state senate in Ohio in past years and the cumulative amount of campaign contributions in state senate races, including contributions in both primary and general election contests. All figures come from Follow The Money. [2]
| Year | Number of candidates | Total contributions |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 57 | $10,478,510 |
| 2008 | 44 | $10,659,072 |
| 2006 | 48 | $11,477,877 |
| 2004 | 48 | $11,477,877 |
| 2002 | 40 | $8,461,690 |
In 2010, the candidates for state senate raised a total of $10,478,510 in campaign contributions. The top 10 donors were:[3]
| Donor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Republican Senate Campaign Cmte of Ohio | $2,463,124 |
| Ohio Republican Party | $1,246,811 |
| Ohio Republican State Senate Campaign Cmte | $482,625 |
| Republican Senate Campaign Cmte | $325,958 |
| Ohio Democratic Party | $213,780 |
| Schneider, Michelle G | $151,000 |
| Wholesale Beer & Wine Association of Ohio | $146,030 |
| Ohio Senate Democrats | $145,500 |
| SEIU Health Care District 1199 | $125,451 |
| Ohio Dental Association | $122,600 |
Qualifications
Article 2, Section 3 of the Ohio Constitution states: Senators and representatives shall have resided in their respective districts one year next preceding their election, unless they shall have been absent on the public business of the United States, or of this state.
Article 2, Section 5 of the Ohio Constitution states: No person hereafter convicted of an embezzlement of the public funds, shall hold any office in this state; nor shall any person, holding public money for disbursement, or otherwise, have a seat in the General Assembly, until he shall have accounted for, and paid such money into the treasury.
List of candidates
District 1
March 6 Democratic primary:
- Note: Ruby Weadock was included on preliminary candidate lists, but did not appear on the official candidate list.[4]
March 6 Republican primary:
- Cliff Hite
- Incumbent Hite was appointed to District 1 in 2011.
- Cliff Hite
District 2
Note: Incumbent Mark Wagoner (R) is not running for re-election.
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- March 6 Republican primary:
District 4
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- No Democratic candidates have filed to run for this seat.
- March 6 Republican primary:
- Bill Coley - Incumbent Coley was appointed to District 4 in 2011.
- Bill Coley
District 6
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- March 6 Republican primary:
- Paul R. Isaacs II
- Peggy Lehner - Incumbent Lehner was appointed to District 6 in 2011.
District 8
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- March 6 Republican primary:
- Bill Seitz - Incumbent Seitz was first elected to District 8 in 2008.
- Bill Seitz
District 10
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- March 6 Republican primary:
- Chris Widener - Incumbent Widener was first elected to District 10 in 2008.
- Chris Widener
District 12
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- No Democratic candidates have filed to run for this seat.
- March 6 Republican primary:
- Keith Faber - Incumbent Faber was appointed to District 12 in 2008.
- Keith Faber
March 6 Libertarian primary:
District 14
Note: Incumbent Tom Niehaus (R) was ineligible for re-election due to term limits.
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- No Democratic candidates have filed to run for this seat.
- March 6 Republican primary:
District 16
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- No Democratic candidates have filed to run for this seat.
- March 6 Republican primary:
- Jim Hughes - Incumbent Hughes was first elected to District 16 in 2008.
- Jim Hughes
- Note: Nathan Larger was running but withdrew from the race.
District 18
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- March 6 Republican primary:
- John Eklund - Incumbent Eklund was appointed to District 18 in 2011.
- John Eklund
District 20
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- March 6 Republican primary:
- Troy Balderson - Incumbent Balderson was appointed to District 20 in 2011.
- Troy Balderson
District 22
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- Note: Ellen Kay Haring was included on preliminary candidate lists, but did not appear on the official candidate list.[5]
- March 6 Republican primary:
- Larry Obhof Jr. - Incumbent Obhof was appointed to District 22 in 2011.
- Larry Obhof Jr.
District 24
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- March 6 Republican primary:
- Thomas Patton - Incumbent Patton was first elected to District 24 in 2008.
- Thomas Patton
District 26
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- March 6 Republican primary:
- Dave Burke - Incumbent Burke was appointed to District 26 in 2011.
- Dave Burke
District 28
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- Thomas Sawyer - Incumbent Sawyer was appointed to District 28 in 2007.
- Thomas Sawyer
- March 6 Republican primary:
District 30
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- Lou Gentile - Incumbent Gentile was appointed to District 30 in 2011.
- Lou Gentile
- March 6 Republican primary:
District 32
- March 6 Democratic primary:
- Capri Cafaro - Incumbent Cafaro was appointed to District 32 in 2008.
- Capri Cafaro
- March 6 Republican primary:
See also
References
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