Ohio Voters Elect Members of the 136th Ohio General Assembly

Ohioans went to the polls on November 5 and elected the members of the 136th Ohio General Assembly which will take office in early January. These lawmakers will help to shape the direction of our state for the next two years.

In the Ohio House of Representatives, Republicans will retain their supermajority status. However, they will be down two seats from the record number of 67 they have held for the past two years. House Democrats picked up two seats in Franklin County, near Columbus, raising their number from 32 to 34 members. Both seats were open contests without an incumbent seeking re-election. In fact, all members of the legislature were re-elected during the 2024 General Election (though a number of incumbents were defeated back during the March partisan primary election).

Once again in 2025, there is expected to be a contested election for Speaker of the House. Though incumbent House Speaker Rep. Jason Stephens is not term-limited and was re-elected without opposition, he is expected to face a challenger to lead the chamber next year. Current Ohio Senate President Sen. Matt Huffman, who was term-limited in the Senate, was elected on November 5 to a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives, where he previously served from 2007-2014. President Huffman has publicly stated that he is planning to challenge Speaker Stephens for the leadership of the House, in a contest that will be decided between now and when the new General Assembly is sworn in on January 6, 2025.

Over in the Ohio Senate, Republicans will continue to be the majority party, as they have been since 1985. They too will retain a super majority of seats, however like their House counterparts, Senate Democrats did pick-up two open seats, raising their number from 7 to 9 in the next General Assembly. Like the House, no incumbent Senator was defeated for re-election in 2024.

Because of term limits, Senate President Matt Huffman will be leaving the upper chamber next year. Sen. Rob McColley, a Republican from Napolean, who has served in both the Ohio House and Ohio Senate since 2017, is expected to be the next Senate President.

Also on the ballot last week was a proposal which sought to change the way Ohio's state legislative and congressional districts are drawn every ten years as part of the redistricting process. State Issue 1 would replace the current redistricting commission, which is made up of statewide elected officials and members of the Ohio General Assembly, with a 15-person citizens' commission. Voters soundly rejected the proposal 54%-46%.

The current legislative session, the 135th General Assembly, remains in session. Members of the General Assembly returned to work this week and are expected to wrap-up work around mid-December. The schedule for this "lame duck" session is lighter than in previous years, and not expected to result in major legislative changes over the next 6 weeks. We will have a full recap of the end of the legislative session in a future blog post. You can also see updates on current legislation on our bill tracker, here on our website.