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The math on six seats

Why a handful of local races decide what happens in Columbus for the next two years.

Where Ohio voters stand

In recent elections, Ohio has voted about 55–45, Republican to Democrat.

In the 2024 Ohio House elections, Republican candidates won about 56 percent of the statewide vote and Democratic candidates about 43 percent. That produced a chamber of 65 Republicans and 34 Democrats — roughly two-thirds of the seats from 56 percent of the votes.

That gap is not an accident. It is the result of how gerrymandering has been used to draw district lines, and it has a specific consequence.

Sixty is the number that matters

Sixty seats in the Ohio House is a supermajority. At 60 — three-fifths of the chamber — the majority party can override a governor’s veto on its own. With 66 seats, two-thirds, it could also pass laws with emergency clauses, which take effect immediately and cannot be challenged by citizen referendum. At 65, House Republicans are one seat short of that.

• In the Ohio House, six seats must change hands to eliminate the supermajority. Republicans hold 65 of 99 seats; losing six leaves them at 59.
• In the Ohio Senate, five seats must change hands to eliminate the supermajority. Republicans hold 24 of 33 seats; the three-fifths line is 20, so losing five leaves them at 19.

Why it matters

Eliminating the supermajority matters most to Ohio’s independent voters. A legislature that has to negotiate is a legislature that has to listen to everyone — and that is true no matter which party holds the majority.