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The Ohio Democratic Party is the Ohio affiliate to the national Democratic party. Its current chairman is Dennis L. White. Its previous chairman was Harry Meshel.
Although considered a competetive two-party state, Ohio politics had been largely dominated by the Ohio Republican Party since the Civil War era. However, national trends towards liberalization and swings towards the Democratic party in the 1930s and 1960s brought benefits to the Ohio Democrats. The Ohio Democratic Party reached the peak of its success in the mid-1980s, when Democrats held the following offices:
State Executive
U.S. Congress
State Legislative
State Judicial
Even with its successes, Ohio Democrats did not fare well on a national level. John Glenn, a popular U.S. senator from Ohio and a national hero, ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 1984, ending up with a huge campaign debt. Howard Metzenbaum, Ohio's other U.S. senator, although a powerful force in the Senate, never achieved national name recognition.
In the 1980s, the tide began to turn away from Ohio Democrats, with Republicans winning more and more races. The last statewide race won by a Democrat was the 1992 re-election campaign of John Glenn. As Democratic incumbents have retired, they have largely been replaced by Republicans. Gerrymandering in favor of Republicans has played a large part in Republicans' capitalizing on the Democratic party's weaknesses.
In 2004, Republicans hold all six of the statewide executive offices in Ohio, both U.S. Senate seats, a 12-6 majority in the U.S. House delegation, majorities of 62-37 in the Ohio House and 22-11 in the Ohio Senate, and a 5-2 majority on the supreme court.
The Ohio Democratic Party is fractured and demoralized, with extensive infighting and bad blood amongst its most prominent members. Recent statewide campaigns have been disorganized and underfunded (See Tim Hagan, Lee Fisher, Rob Burch, Ted Celeste, Joel Hyatt, Mary Boyle, Eric Fingerhut).
Current Democratic strength lies mainly in the northeastern part of the state, the traditional pro-union, Democratic bastion, dominated by manufacturing and the cities of Cleveland, Youngstown, Akron, and Canton. Democrats are in the majority in the cities of Toledo, Dayton, and Cincinnati, but those majorities are often offset by conservative strength in the surrounding suburbs. The impoverished Appalachian region of Ohio is traditionally Democratic and sometimes swings for the Democrats. Elective strength is reflected in the mayoral offices of Ohio's major cities (which formed the heart of the Ohio Delegation to the 2004 Democratic National Convention), with the following Democrats in the most prominent mayoralties:
(The mayors of the two remaining of the 10 largest Ohio cities -- Canton and Lorain -- are Republicans. These cities, like the other major cities, hold Democratic majorities.)
Six of the 18 members of Ohio's delegation to the United States House of Representatives are Democrats:
Democrats are a minority in the Ohio State Senate and the Ohio House of Representatives. The party's leaders in these chambers are:
Senate
Former Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher, whose wife served on the Ohio delegation to the Boston convention, lost the attorney general's office in 1994. In 1998, he was nominated for governor, but lost that race as well. He has hinted that he might be interested in re-entering statewide electoral politics. It has been surmised that he is referring to the 2006 gubernatorial race.
Some Ohio Democrats are hoping that popular talk-show host Gerald N. "Jerry" Springer will come to their aid in coming years. Before becoming a television personality, Springer was a politician, having held office in his home town of Cincinnati. He also made unsuccessful attempts at the governorship and a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
After serving as mayor and a city councilman, Springer turned to broadcasting and became the principal anchorman of the No. 1 local newscast in Cincinnati and was a popular news commentator. After his stint in serious news, Springer started his talk show, which has become notorious as a kind of freak show of dysfunction and misbehavior on the part of Springer's guests. Even while playing host to such a spectacle in his day job, Springer has always stayed interested in serious politics and has often impressed Ohio Democrats with his depth of knowledge and thinking on the issues.
However, Springer remains a controversial figure in a state like Ohio, which has fallen under the control of a conservative Republican party. Even years before Springer has officially announced any concrete intention to re-enter electoral politics, Republican operatives have publicly denounced the Democratic party for even considering such a scandalous standard-bearer and have made statements to the effect that a Springer candidacy would be a boon for the Republicans. Such sentiments are apparently shared by some Democrats, such as U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, who has also expressed interest in the 2006 gubernatorial race.
Springer declined to enter the 2004 race for the United States Senate against incumbent George Voinovich, saying that his television contract would interfere with campaigning. He still expresses interest in the 2006 race for the governorship and has stated that if he chooses to run, he will quit his television show at least 18 months before the general election.
Springer has contributed large sums to the 2004 Democratic effort and was named 2004's Democrat of the Year by the Ohio Democratic Party.
The Ohio Democrats use the same symbols as the national Democratic party, such as the donkey. However, the traditional symbol of the party in local and state politics is the rooster.
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