Ohio House of Representatives District 61

Ohio House of Representatives District 61 is represented by Beth Lear (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Ohio state representatives represented an average of 119,281 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 116,853 residents.

About the office

Members of the Ohio House of Representatives serve two-year terms with term limits.^[1] Representatives may serve no more than four consecutive terms. Ohio legislators assume office the first day of January after a general election.^[2]^[3]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

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."^[4]

Article 15, Section 4 of the Ohio Constitution states: "No person shall be elected or appointed to any office in this state unless possessed of the qualifications of an elector."^[5]

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."^[6]

Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

State legislative salaries, 2024^[7]
Salary	Per diem
$71,099/year	No per diem is paid.

Term limits

See also: State legislatures with term limits

The Ohio legislature is one of 16 state legislatures with term limits. Voters enacted the Ohio Term Limits Act in 1992. That initiative limited Ohio representatives to no more than four two-year terms, or a total of eight years.^[8]

The first year that term limits were enacted was in 1992, and the first year that term limits impacted the ability of incumbents to run for office was in 2000.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the Ohio General Assembly, the vacancy must be filled by an election conducted by the members of the legislative house where the vacancy happened who are members of the party that last held the seat. A simple majority vote is needed in order to approve a replacement.^[9]

See sources: Ohio Const. Art. 2, Sec. 11

District map

Redistricting

2020 redistricting cycle

See also: Redistricting in Ohio after the 2020 census

Due to a 2022 Ohio Supreme Court ruling, the Ohio Redistricting Commission was required to draw new state legislative maps following the 2022 elections.^[10]

On September 26, 2023, the Ohio Redistricting Commission voted 6-0 (with one member absent) to adopt new state legislative maps.^[11]^[12] On October 5, the ACLU of Ohio filed a motion on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Ohio and other plaintiffs asking the Ohio Supreme Court to invalidate the new state legislative maps on the grounds that they violated the state constitution.^[13]

On November 27, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld the maps and dismissed the following cases: League of Women Voters of Ohio et al. v. Ohio Redistricting Commission et al., Bennett et al. v. Ohio Redistricting Commission et al., and Ohio Organizing Collaborative et al. v. Ohio Redistricting Commission et al.^[14] Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy wrote for the majority: "The bipartisan adoption of the September 2023 plan is a changed circumstance that makes it appropriate to relinquish our continuing jurisdiction over these cases.^[15]

The majority was composed of the court's four Republicans.

Justice Jennifer L. Brunner wrote a dissent on behalf of the court's other two Democrats, saying, "It is illusory to suggest that a bipartisan vote to adopt the September 2023 plan constitutes a change in circumstances that somehow diminishes our review power or renders a unanimous redistricting plan constitutionally compliant. There is nothing in Article XI, Section 6 that suggests that bipartisan agreement on a plan renders it presumptively constitutional, and we have flatly rejected that idea."^[16]

How does redistricting in Ohio work? In Ohio, the state legislature or a commission may have the opportunity to draw congressional maps. A bipartisan state legislative commission draws state legislative maps. A six-member advisory commission is involved in both the congressional and state legislative redistricting processes.

Ohio House of Representatives District 61
before 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Ohio House of Representatives District 61
after 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 61

Incumbent Beth Lear defeated David Hogan in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 61 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Beth Lear (R)	61.8	44,808
	David Hogan (D)	38.2	27,698

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 72,506
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 61

David Hogan defeated Christian Smith in the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 61 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Hogan	67.1	3,374
	Submit photo	Christian Smith	32.9	1,658

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,032
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 61

Incumbent Beth Lear defeated Michael Holt in the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 61 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Beth Lear	73.2	12,834
	Submit photo	Michael Holt	26.8	4,697

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 17,531
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Kurt Keyser (R)