Your monthly support provides voters the knowledge they need to make confident decisions at the polls. Donate today.

Governor of Ohio

From Ballotpedia
Revision as of 12:01, 17 January 2019 by Sara Reynolds (contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search
Ohio Governor

OH Gov logo.JPG

General information
Office Type:  Partisan
Office website:  Official Link
Compensation:  $148,304
2013 FY Budget:  $3,216,701
Term limits:  Two consecutive terms
Structure
Length of term:   4 years
Authority:  Ohio Constitution, Article III, Section 5
Selection Method:  Elected
Current Officeholder(s)
Mike DeWine
Elections
Next election:  November 8, 2022
Last election:  November 6, 2018
Other Ohio Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission

The Governor of the State of Ohio is an elected constitutional officer, the head of the executive branch and the highest state office in Ohio. The governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and is limited to two consecutive terms.[1]

Prior to 1963, the term of office was two years and, prior to 1995, term limits were not in place.[2][3]

Ohio has a Republican state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers. As of October 27, 2025, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 14 Democratic trifectas, and 13 divided governments where neither party holds trifecta control.

In the 2020 election, Republicans had a net gain of two trifectas and two states under divided government became trifectas. Prior to that election, Ohio had a Republican trifecta. There were 21 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 14 divided governments.

See also: Ohio State Legislature, Ohio House of Representatives, Ohio State Senate

Current officer

The 70th and current governor is Mike DeWine (R). He was first elected in 2018.

Authority

The state Constitution addresses the office of the governor in Article III, the Executive Department.

Under Article III, Section 5:

The supreme executive power of this state shall be vested in the governor.[4]

Qualifications

State Executives
StateExecLogo.png
Current Governors
Gubernatorial Elections
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
Current Lt. Governors
Lt. Governor Elections
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014

A candidate for the governor's office may not hold any congressional or federal office or any other state office.[4]

Vacancies

See also: How gubernatorial vacancies are filled


Details of vacancy appointments are addressed under Article III, Sections 15, 17, and 22.

If the governor dies, resigns, is removed or is convicted on impeachment, the lieutenant governor succeeds.

The lieutenant governor also serves as the acting governor in the event of any temporary disability of the governor.

After the lieutenant governor, the line of succession goes to the President Pro Tem of the Ohio State Senate and then to the Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives. Whoever serves as the acting governor has the full duties, powers, and emoluments of the elected governor.

Of the four offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, President Pro Tem of the Senate, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, no person may hold two of them simultaneously or receive the compensation and emoluments of more than one office simultaneously.

If both the offices of the governor and the lieutenant governor are vacant and there are more than 20 months remaining in the current term, a special election for both offices shall be held at the next general election. The highest officer in the line of succession serves as an acting governor until the election.

If a governor-elect is unable to take office, the lieutenant governor-elect takes office and serves as the governor. If the governor-elect is only temporarily unable to take office, the lieutenant governor-elect serves as acting governor until the elected governor's disability is removed.

If, by a joint resolution, the legislature presents the case for the governor's removal on grounds of mental disability to discharge the office, the Supreme Court of Ohio shall have "original, exclusive, and final, jurisdiction" in the case. Within 21 days of receipt of such a resolution, the court shall give notice to the governor, hold a public hearing and render a decision.

If the office is vacated in such a manner, the court also has "original, exclusive, and final, jurisdiction" in choosing the manner of succession to the office.

Elections

Ohio state government organizational chart

Ohio elects governors in the midterm elections, that is, even years that are not presidential election years. For Ohio, 2018, 2022, 2026, 2030 and 2034 are all gubernatorial election years. Legally, the gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the second Monday in the January following an election.

If two candidates are tied, the joint session of the legislature shall cast votes to choose among the top two vote getters.[4]

Term limits

See also: States with gubernatorial term limits

Ohio governors are restricted to two consecutive terms in office, after which they must wait one term before being eligible to run again.

Ohio Constitution, Article III, Section 2

No person shall hold the office of governor for a period longer than two successive terms of four years.[4]

Partisan composition

The chart below shows the partisan breakdown of Ohio governors from 1992 to 2013.
Governor of Ohio Partisanship.PNG

2018

See also: Ohio gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

General election for Governor of Ohio

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Richard Michael DeWine
Richard Michael DeWine (R)
 
50.4
 
2,231,917
Image of Richard Cordray
Richard Cordray (D)
 
46.7
 
2,067,847
Image of Travis Irvine
Travis Irvine (L) Candidate Connection
 
1.8
 
79,985
Image of Constance Gadell-Newton
Constance Gadell-Newton (G)
 
1.1
 
49,475
Image of Renea Turner
Renea Turner (Independent) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
185
Image of Richard Duncan
Richard Duncan (Independent) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
132
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Rebecca Ayres (Independent) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
41

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 4,429,582
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2014

See also: Ohio gubernatorial election, 2014

Republican incumbent John Kasich won re-election on November 4, 2014.

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Kasich/Mary Taylor Incumbent 63.6% 1,944,848
     Democratic Ed FitzGerald/Sharen Neuhardt 33% 1,009,359
     Green Anita Rios/Bob Fitrakis 3.3% 101,706
Total Votes 3,055,913
Election results via Ohio Secretary of State


Duties

Ohio

The governor is the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces (§ 10). The governor has a duty to enforce state laws; the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Ohio State Legislature; the power to convene the legislature; and the power to grant pardons, except in cases of treason and impeachment (§ 11).[4]

Other duties and privileges of the office include:[4]

  • Executing all laws and requiring written information on any office from the head of that office (§ 6)
  • Making an annual address to the General Assembly, with recommendation for legislation (§ 7)
  • Convening extraordinary sessions of the legislature with limited purposes (§ 8)
  • Adjourning the legislature when the two chambers cannot agree to do so themselves, not to include the privilege of adjourning the legislature past the sine die set for the regular session (§ 9)
  • Keeping and using "The Great Seal of the State of Ohio" (§ 12)
  • Signing and sealing all commissions granted in the name of the state of Ohio (§ 13)
  • Nominating, in the event of a vacancy in the Lieutenant Governor's office, a new officer, subject to a confirmatory vote of both chambers of the legislature (§ 17a)
  • Making vacancy appointments for all "key state officers" (the Auditor, the Treasurer, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General. Such appointments are for the remainder of the term when the next general election is less than 40 days away and until the next general election otherwise (§ 18)
  • Accepting a report from the head of each executive department at least once a year, not later than five days before the regular session of the legislature convenes, and including the substance of those reports in her annual address to the legislature (§ 20)
  • Making all appointments not otherwise provided for, with the advice and consent of the Senate, unless the Senate refuses to act, in which case the Governor's appointee takes offices by default (§ 21)

Divisions

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for information that describes the divisions (if any exist) of a state executive office. That information for the Governor of Ohio has not yet been added. After extensive research we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

State budget

Role in state budget

See also: Ohio state budget and finances

The state operates on a biennial budget cycle. The sequence of key events in the budget process is as follows:[5]

  1. Budget instructions are sent to state agencies in July of the year preceding the start of the new biennium.
  2. State agencies submit their requests to the governor between September and October.
  3. The governor submits his or her proposed budget to the state legislature in February (the deadline is extended to March 15 for a newly elected governor).
  4. The legislature typically adopts a budget in June. A simple majority is required to pass a budget. The biennium begins July 1 of odd-numbered years.

Ohio is one of 44 states in which the governor has line item veto authority.[5][6]

The governor is legally required to submit a balanced budget proposal. Likewise, the state legislature is legally required to pass a balanced budget.[5]

Governor's office budget

The budget for the governor's office in Fiscal Year 2013 was $3,216,701.[7]

Compensation

See also: Comparison of gubernatorial salaries and Compensation of state executive officers

As established in Article III, Section 19 of the Ohio Constitution, the governor's annual salary is legally fixed and may not be raised or decreased effective during the current term. The governor's salary is set by Title 1, Chapter 141 of the Ohio Revised Code.[8]

2016

In 2016, the governor’s salary was decreased to $148,304, according to the Council of State Governments.[9]

2015

In 2015, the governor received a salary of $148,886, according to the Council of State Governments.[10]

2014

In 2014, the governor received a salary of $148,886, according to the Council of State Governments.[11]

2013

In 2013, the governor's salary remained at $148,886.[12]

2010

In 2010, the governor was paid $144,269 a year, the 14th highest gubernatorial salary in America.[13]

Historical officeholders

There have been 70 governors of Ohio since 1803. Of the 70 officeholders, 28 were Republican, 23 were Democratic, 10 were Democratic-Republican, five were Whig, three were Union and one was a National Republican.[14]

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

Who Runs the States Project
See also: Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States and Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Ohio
Partisan breakdown of the Ohio governorship from 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, in Ohio there were Democratic governors in office for four years while there were Republican governors in office for 18 years, including the last three. Ohio is one of eight states that were run by a Republican governor for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. Ohio was under Republican trifectas for the last three years of the study period.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states had divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Ohio, the Ohio State Senate and the Ohio House of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

Partisan composition of Ohio state government(1992-2013).PNG

SQLI and partisanship

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Ohio state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. Ohio had Republican trifectas during most of the years of the study, from 1995-2006 and from 2011-2013. The state's highest SQLI ranking, finishing 20th, occurred in 1997 during a Republican trifecta. Its lowest ranking, finishing 38th, occurred from 2008-2010 during a divided government.

Chart displaying the partisanship of Ohio government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Ohio Governor. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Governor of Ohio - Google News

Contact information

Governor's Office
Riffe Center, 30th Floor
77 South High Street
Columbus, OH 43215-6108
Phone:614-466-3555
Fax:614-466-9354

See also

Ohio State Executive Elections News and Analysis
Seal of Ohio.png
StateExecLogo.png
Ballotpedia RSS.jpg
Ohio State Executive Offices
Ohio State Legislature
Ohio Courts
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
Ohio elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
Party control of state government
State government trifectas
State of the state addresses
Partisan composition of governors

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Governor of Ohio, " Homepage," accessed April 9, 2013
  2. ↑ Ballotpedia, "States with gubernatorial term limits," accessed Oct. 4, 2015
  3. ↑ Ballotpedia, "Ohio Gubernatorial Term Limits Amendment 1 (1954)," accessed Oct. 4, 2015
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Ohio Secretary of State, "Constitution of the State of Ohio," accessed Oct. 4, 2015
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 National Association of State Budget Officers, "Budget Processes in the States, Spring 2021," accessed January 24, 2023
  6. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Separation of Powers: Executive Veto Powers," accessed January 26, 2024
  7. ↑ Ohio Office of Budget and Management, "FY 2012-2013 - Enacted," accessed April 12, 2013
  8. ↑ LAWriter Ohio Laws and Rules, "Ohio Revised Code Title 1, Chapter 141: Salaries of State Officers," accessed February 18, 2015
  9. ↑ Council of State Governments, "Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries, 2016," accessed August 27, 2016
  10. ↑ Council of State Governments, "Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries, 2015," accessed August 27, 2016
  11. ↑ Council of State Governments, "Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries," accessed December 4, 2014
  12. ↑ Council of State Governments, "CSG Releases 2013 Governor Salaries," June 25, 2013
  13. ↑ [1]
  14. ↑ National Governors Association, " Former governors of Ohio," accessed June 20, 2013
v • e
Governors
Current Governors
GovernorsLogo.jpg
Elections
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010
Features


Flag of Ohio
v • e
State of Ohio
Columbus (capital)
Elections

What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

Government

Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Governor_of_Ohio&oldid=7663989"