Ohio State Senate District 3

Ohio State Senate District 3 is represented by Michele Reynolds (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Ohio state senators represented an average of 357,844 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 350,560 residents.

About the office

Members of the Ohio State Senate serve four-year terms with term limits.^[1] Half of the Senate is up for re-election every two years. 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 senators to no more than two four-year terms, or a total of eight years.^[8]

The first year that the term limits enacted in 1992 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

2020-2023

See also: Redistricting in Ohio after the 2020 census

State legislative maps enacted in 2023

See also: State legislative district maps implemented 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]

State Senate

Below is the state Senate map in effect before and after the 2020 redistricting cycle. The map on the right was in effect for Ohio’s 2024 state legislative elections.

Ohio State Senate Districts
before 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Ohio State Senate Districts
after 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

State House of Representatives

Below is the state House map in effect before and after the 2020 redistricting cycle. The map on the right was in effect for Ohio’s 2024 state legislative elections.

Ohio State House Districts
before 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Ohio State House Districts
after 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

State legislative maps enacted in 2021-2022

A federal court ruling on Ohio's legislative maps took effect on May 28, 2022, which ordered maps drawn by the Ohio Redistricting Commission in February be used for the 2022 elections and set a legislative primary date of August 2.^[17] These maps took effect for Ohio's 2022 state legislative elections.

The Ohio Redistricting Commission approved new state legislative district maps by a 5-2 vote on September 16, 2021. The two Democratic members of the commission, state Rep. Emilia Sykes (D) and state Sen. Vernon Sykes (D), dissented.^[18] Senate President Matt Huffman (R), a member of the commission, estimated that the new maps would create 62 Republican seats and 37 Democratic seats in the House, and 23 Republican seats and 10 Democratic seats in the Senate. Cleveland.com reported that Democrats on the commission agreed with Huffman's Senate estimates, but said the new House map would create 65 Republican seats and 34 Democratic seats.^[18] Thus, under the terms of the state's 2015 constitutional amendment, since the legislative district boundaries were passed strictly along partisan lines, they would only allowed to be used for elections in 2022 and 2024, and the commission was required to enact a new map by 2026.^[19]

However, on January 12, 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled against the state's enacted legislative maps, ordering the Ohio Redistricting Commission to redraw them within 10 days.^[20] The commission voted to approve a new set of maps in a 5-2 vote on January 22. Click here to view the House map, and click here to view the Senate map.

On February 7, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected the state's redrawn legislative maps and ordered the Ohio Redistricting Commission to submit new maps.^[21]^[22] The commission did not meet the February 17 deadline.^[23] On February 24, the Ohio Redistricting Commission voted 4-3 to approve new legislative maps. State Auditor Keith Faber (R) joined the two Democratic members of the commission in voting against the maps.^[24]

On March 16, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected the redrawn legislative maps and ordered the Ohio Redistricting Commission to draw new maps by March 28.^[25] On March 22, the commission agreed to appoint two independent consultants to assist in the map-making process.^[26] State Sen. Vernon Sykes (D) nominated University of Florida political science professor Michael McDonald and state Rep. Bob Cupp (R) nominated National Demographics Corporation president Douglas Johnson.^[27]

On March 28, the Ohio Redistricting Commission approved new state legislative district boundaries in a 4-3 vote. DeWine, La Rose, Huffman, and Cupp voted to approve the new boundaries, and Russo, Sykes, and Faber voted against.^[28] The commission approved maps it had drawn, since the Senate map drawn by the independent consultants was not complete at the time of the vote.^[29]

On April 14, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected the Ohio Redistricting Commission's legislative maps for the fourth time and ordered the commission to redraw the maps by May 6.^[30] On April 20, in a 2-1 decision, a panel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio issued an order saying it would not intervene to decide a primary date or map until May 28. If the state court proceedings did not produce a map by May 28, the court said it would order the primary to take place on August 2 using the third set of maps adopted by the Ohio Redistricting Commission.^[31] The state court proceedings did not produce a map by May 28, so the order took effect.^[17]

On May 5, the commission voted 4-3 to resubmit legislative maps it had previously submitted to the court on February 24.^[32] DeWine, La Rose, Huffman, and Cupp voted to approve the boundaries, and Russo, Sykes, and Faber voted against.^[33] The Ohio Supreme Court struck down the maps on May 25 and ordered the commission to redraw them by June 3.^[34]

On May 27, in a 2-1 decision, a federal panel ordered the maps to be implemented for the 2022 election.^[35]

How does redistricting in Ohio work? On November 3, 2015, voters in Ohio approved a constitutional amendment to create a bipartisan state legislative redistricting commission. The commission comprises seven members: the governor, state auditor, secretary of state, one person appointed by the speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, one person appointed by the House leader of the largest political party of which the speaker is not a member, one person appointed by the President of the Ohio State Senate, and one person appointed by the Senate leader of the largest political party of which the president is not a member.^[36]^[37]

Maps drawn by the commission are valid for 10 years if at least two commissioners from each major political party vote for them. Should the maps be passed along strictly partisan lines, the maps are valid for four years.^[36]^[37]

A six-member advisory commission is also involved in the congressional and state legislative redistricting processes. The majority leaders of the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio State Senate each appoint three members, "at least one of whom must be from a different party, and at least one of whom must not be a legislator."^[38]

All legislative districts are required to be compact and made of "contiguous territory." Also, the "boundary of each district [must] be a single nonintersecting continuous line." The amendment forbids district plans from favoring or disfavoring either political party.^[36]^[37]

Below are the maps in effect before and after the 2020 redistricting cycle. The map on the right was in effect for Ohio’s 2024 state legislative elections.

Ohio State Senate District 3
before 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Ohio State Senate District 3
after 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2022

See also: Ohio State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Ohio State Senate District 3

Michele Reynolds defeated incumbent Tina Maharath in the general election for Ohio State Senate District 3 on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Michele Reynolds (R)	52.4	61,723
	Tina Maharath (D)	47.6	56,023

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 117,746
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Ohio State Senate District 3

Incumbent Tina Maharath advanced from the Democratic primary for Ohio State Senate District 3 on August 2, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tina Maharath	100.0	6,848

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,848
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Ohio State Senate District 3

Michele Reynolds advanced from the Republican primary for Ohio State Senate District 3 on August 2, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Michele Reynolds	100.0	6,327

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,327
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