A night of state Democratic gains

In addition to winning four of five executive branch jobs and a U.S. Senate seat, Democrats picked up at least seven seats in the Ohio House of Representatives, their political party's best gain in 34 years. Even so, the House currently would retain a Republican majority of 53 to 46 seats during the next two-year session that begins in January. Democrats also reported their first net gain in the Ohio Senate in 14 years where the GOP lost one seat, retaining a 21-to-12 majority.

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern, who won re-election to the House, said 46 seats is enough to sustain any vetoes by incoming Gov. Ted Strickland. "We will be able to carry Ted Strickland's agenda," Redfern said at a morning news conference.

Democrats successfully defended all but one of the 39 Ohio House seats they held heading into Tuesday’s election. And House Democrats produced historic gains despite spending less than 25 cents for every $1 spent by Republicans, according to House Democratic spokesman John Kohlstrand. The House Republican caucus raised $7.8 million through Oct. 18, according to campaign finance reports. House Democrats had raised $1.7 million – the most in at least 12 years for the caucus.

House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus, said she’s pleased by the results, and optimistic that House Democrats will play a strong role in working with Gov.-elect Strickland to turn around Ohio.

"Government of, by and for one political party at the Statehouse is now over," Beatty said. "The voters sent a clear message Tuesday. They want leaders who will chart a new course that moves all Ohioans forward."

Redfern also bragged about David Pepper's win as Hamilton County commissioner, saying that was a race the state Democratic Party helped finance.

With the election of two Republican justices Tuesday, the seven-member Ohio Supreme Court becomes all Republican for the first time since 1921. Redfern said he sent a letter to Justice Paul E. Pfeifer today inviting him to join the Democratic Party. Pfeifer often joins the lone Democrat, Alice Robie Resnick, in key votes on labor, school-funding and insurance cases. But Resnick is retiring Dec. 31.

Redfern also said Democrats are not conceding congressional seats held by Republican incumbents Jean Schmidt of Miami Township and Deborah Pryce of Upper Arlington.

Meanwhile, Redfern boasted that Democrats benefited from the culture of corruption that soured voters in Ohio yet their campaign were outspent 2-to-1 by the state Republican Party. The politics of division and distortion by Ken Blackwell and other Republican officeholders "has soundly been rejected," Redfern said.

The state chairman promised sweeping reforms in the first 100 days of office by newly-elected Democrats within the offices of Secretary of State, Attorney General and Ohio Treasurer. "We understood that reform was desperately needed," he said.