Each state senator and representative in Ohio represents a specific district or area of the state. However, each lawmaker votes on a complex and wide variety of issues that touch virtually all 11.7 million residents of the Buckeye State.
In other words, state legislators representing rural districts vote on issues that concern mostly cities and vice versa. If you’re interested in a wide range of topics, then you’ll want to get elected to the Ohio Legislature. The requirements to be a candidate are simple. You have to be registered to vote and be a resident of your district for at least a year.
After your first year in either the Ohio Senate or Ohio House of Representatives, you’ll know at least something about scores of issues – everything from hot-button concerns like a woman’s right to choose and gun control to highways, taxes and schools. Almost any issue you can imagine comes before the Ohio General Assembly at one time or another.
Your first weeks in the Ohio General Assembly probably will feel overwhelming – a multitude of issues coming at you at the same time. But you’ll have plenty of help. Veteran legislators, especially fellow Democrats, will help you navigate. Also, the Legislative Service Commission, a nonpartisan arm of the General Assembly, will help you write bills. The LSC also writes easy-to-understand synopses of each bill that comes up for a vote.
Statehouse lobbyists representing a multitude of different special interest groups will be more than willing to explain bills that affect their specific areas of concerns. Of course, you must remember that lobbyists are not impartial. They represent a specific special interest. However, competing special interest groups often are interested in the same bill. Smart legislators ask both sides for their views.
Also, before votes on major bills, both Democratic and Republican caucuses adjourn into private sessions. In separate rooms and behind closed doors, each side discusses the upcoming bill. These sessions are where many rank-and-file state lawmakers learn the details of major legislation.
Ohio is split into 99 House districts and 33 Senate districts. Each Senate district consists of three House districts. One legislator represents each district. The shape of each district is determined every 10 years, following the national census, by the Ohio Apportionment Board. This board for decades has been controlled by Republicans, so the GOP has controlled the gerrymandering of both Senate and House districts.
Some state legislators, especially those from inner cities, represent compact districts. Other state legislators, mostly from suburban and rural areas, represent districts that are more stretched out. More than a few districts zig-zag in bizarre shapes. Although you’ll be voting on a wide range of issues, you never want to forget the constituents in your district. Their every-day concerns – their wants and needs – should be your concerns.
Because Ohio Senate and Ohio House districts often extend across city and township lines and even cross county boundaries, getting elected as a state senator or representative can be challenging. And here’s where PAR Associates team of experts can be especially helpful.
PAR Associates will break down voting patterns in each precinct and ward of your district, whether your district is compact or spread out. We will inform you in which neighborhoods you should concentrate your time and money. Through weekly training sessions will be teach you the tricks of the trade that only insiders know – how to plan a campaign, how to assemble a campaign team, how to raise money and many more techniques.
Let PAR Associates help you get elected as a state senator or representative.