Ohio State Senate elections, 2010

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Ohio State Senate elections, 2010

Majority control • Campaign contributions

Qualifications • Competitiveness analysis

State Legislative Election Results

List of candidates District 1 • District 3 • District 5 • District 7 • District 9 • District 11 • District 13 • District 15 • District 17 • District 19 • District 21 • District 23 • District 25 • District 27 • District 29 • District 31 • District 33

Ohio State Senate

Elections for the office of Ohio's State Senate were held in Ohio on November 2, 2010.

The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was February 18, 2010 (May 3 for independents). The primary Election Day was May 4, 2010.

In Ohio, senators serve four-year terms with a limit of two consecutive terms. Senators assume office on the first day of January following their election.

There were 17 seats up for re-election in the Ohio Senate. Incumbents ran for re-election in 9 of those seats. Of the remaining 8 districts, 7 incumbents were ineligible to run because of term limits.

In the 2010 election, Republicans gained two seats and retained a majority in the chamber.

See also: Ohio State Senate and State legislative elections, 2010

November 2 General Election Results

The following candidates won election on November 2, 2010:

Term limits

See also: State legislatures with term limits and Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2010

The Ohio State Senate has been a term-limited state senate in 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.

In 2010, voters will elected Ohio State Senators. 7 incumbents (41.2% of all incumbents) were term-limited in 2010. Of the 7 term-limited incumbents, 5 are Republicans and 2 are Democrats. These incumbents are as follows:

Democrats (2):

• Teresa Fedor
• Ray Miller (Ohio)

Republicans (5):

• David Goodman (Ohio)
• Kevin Coughlin
• Bill Harris (Ohio)
• Kirk Schuring

Majority control

See also: Partisan composition of state senates

Heading into the November 2 election, the Republican Party held the majority in the Ohio State Senate:

Campaign contributions

See also: State-by-state comparison of donations to state senate campaigns

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]

During the 2010 election, the total contributions to the 57 Senate candidates was $10,478,510. The top 10 contributors were:^[3]

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.

Incumbency

Unopposed incumbents

There were 9 incumbents seeking re-election. 1 incumbent (11.1% of those seeking re-election) faced no competition in the November 2 general election.

• 1 Democratic incumbent faced no November challenger.
• All GOP incumbents faced a November challenger.

Primary challenges

One incumbent (11.1% of those seeking re-election) faced competition in the July 27 primary. Incumbent Shannon Jones (R) defeated her primary opponent for District 7.

Retiring incumbents

1 incumbent senator (5.9% of all incumbents) chose not to run for re-election, while 9 incumbents (52.9% of all incumbents) ran for re-election. Dale Miller (D) was the sole incumbent retiring.

List of candidates

Partisan dominance in state senates heading into the 2010 state legislative elections

District 1

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Erik Cranmer: 8,302 a

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Stephen Buehrer: 29,409 a Incumbent Republican Buehrer first assumed office for the Ohio Senate in 2006.

November 2 General election candidates:

Erik Cranmer 30,138

Stephen Buehrer 85,798

District 3

Note: Incumbent Republican David Goodman was not eligible to run for another four-year term.

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Mark Pfeifer: 7,963 a
• Ben Kessler: 6,443
• Bev Campbell: 3,044
• Roxyanne Burrus: 2,193
• Star Johnson: 1,498
• Jim Wiley: 1,058
• Cortez Bogard: 863

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Kevin Bacon: 25,301 a

May 4 Libertarian primary result:

• William Yarbrough: 381 a

November 2 General election candidates:

Mark Pfeifer 63,844

Kevin Bacon 72,337

William Yarbrough 5,849

District 5

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Fred Strahorn: 11,936 a Incumbent Strahorn first assumed office for the 5th District in 2009.

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Bill Beagle: 8,437 a
• Joe LeMaster: 6,971

November 2 General election candidates:

Fred Strahorn 47,681

Bill Beagle 49,339

District 7

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Sam Pettinichi: 9,215 a

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Shannon Jones: 23,316 a Incumbent Jones first assumed office for the 7th District in 2009.
• Michelle Schneider: 14,986

November 2 General election candidates:

Sam Pettinichi 40,250

Shannon Jones 102,759

District 9

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Eric Kearney: 9,941 a Incumbent Kearney first assumed office for the 9th District in 2005.

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Deborah M. McKinney: 5,311 a

May 4 Libertarian primary result:

• Jessica L. Mears: 87 a

November 2 General election candidates:

Eric Kearney 54,430

Deborah M. McKinney 22,842

Jessica L. Mears 2,677

District 11

Note: Incumbent Democrat Teresa Fedor was not eligible to run for another four-year term.

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Edna Brown: 10,688 a
• Joe McNamara: 8,385

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Tom Waniewski: 8,271 a

November 2 General election candidates:

Edna Brown 53,547

Tom Waniewski 35,766

District 13

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Sue Morano: 19,299 a Incumbent Morano first assumed office for the 13th District in 2007.

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Gayle L. Manning: 14,482 a

November 2 General election candidates:

Sue Morano 55,023

Gayle L. Manning 60,298

District 15

Note: Incumbent Democrat Ray Miller was not eligible to run for another four-year term.

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Charleta B. Tavares: 12,861 a
• Dan Stewart: 8,529
• Oyango Snell: 3,159

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Alicia Healy: 7,599 a

November 2 General election candidates:

Charleta B. Tavares 64,771

Alicia Healy 24,199

District 17

Note: Incumbent Republican John Carey was not eligible to run for another four-year term.

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Justin Fallon: 10,053 a

May 4 GOP primary result:

• David T. Daniels: 13,656 a
• Clyde Evans: 12,797

November 2 General election candidates:

Justin Fallon 36,868

David T. Daniels 63,830

District 19

Note: Incumbent Republican Bill Harris was not eligible to run for another four-year term.

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Neil Patel: 12,174 a

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Kris Jordan: 21,538 a
• Thom Collier: 14,843
• Louis G. Petros: 3,575

November 2 General election candidates:

Neil Patel 43,562

Kris Jordan 97,307

District 21

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Shirley A. Smith: 16,131 a Incumbent Smith first assumed office for the 21st District in 2007.

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Burrell Jackson: 2,207 a

November 2 General election candidates:

Shirley A. Smith 55,836

Burrell Jackson 10,321

District 23

Note: Incumbent Democrat Dale Miller will not be seeking re-election in 2010.

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Michael Skindell: 13,724 a
• Ron Mottl: 8,293
• Nicholas Celebrezze: 7,293

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Dave Morris: 7,861 a

November 2 General election candidates:

Michael Skindell 49,404

Dave Morris 31,891

District 25

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Nina Turner: 26,665 a Incumbent Turner first assumed office for the 25th District in 2008.

May 4 GOP primary result:

• No Republican ran for election.

November 2 General election candidates:

Nina Turner 77,987

District 27

Note: Incumbent Republican Kevin Coughlin was not eligible for another four-year term.

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Frank Comunale: 13,500 a
• Tamela Lee: 7,248

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Frank LaRose: 15,279

November 2 General election candidates:

Frank Comunale 51,386

Frank LaRose 66,742

District 29

Note: Incumbent Republican Kirk Schuring was not eligible for another four-year term.

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Richard Reinbold Jr.: 17,580 a

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Scott Oelslager: 25,086 a

November 2 General election candidates:

Richard Reinbold Jr. 47,440

Scott Oelslager 68,481

District 31

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Dennis Lupher: 16,695 a Lupher replaced Chelsea Black on the Democratic ticket after her withdrawal.^[4]

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Tim Schaffer: 31,379 a Incumbent Shaffer first assumed office for the 31st District in 2007.

November 2 General election candidates:

Dennis Lupher 43,110

Tim Schaffer 88,694

District 33

May 4 Democratic primary result:

• Joe Schiavoni: 22,635 a Incumbent Schiavoni first assumed office for the 33rd District in his appointment in 2009
• Kathleen Purdy: 11,983

May 4 GOP primary result:

• Matt Lewis: 5,764 a
• Gary Tweeter: 5,143
• Adam L. Rutushin: 2,799

May 4 Libertarian primary result:

• John Fockler Jr.: 100 a

November 2 General election candidates:

Joe Schiavoni 75,350

Matt Lewis 52,476

John Fockler Jr. 5,019

External links

• Official Ohio State Senate elections results
• Ohio official list of state senate candidates, 2010
• Democratic primary results
• GOP primary results
• Libertarian primary results
• Project Vote Smart list of candidates for Ohio State Senate in the November 2, 2010 election

See also

• Ohio State Senate
• Ohio State Legislature
• State legislative elections, 2010
• Primary election dates in 2010

Footnotes