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Incumbent Rep. Bob Gibbs (R) defeated Ken Harbaugh (D) in the November 6, 2018, general election to represent Ohio's 7th Congressional District.
All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were up for election in 2018. The Democratic Party gained a net total of 40 seats, winning control of the chamber. This race was identified as a 2018 battleground that might have affected partisan control of the U.S. House in the 116th Congress. Heading into the election, the Republican Party was in the majority holding 235 seats to Democrats' 193 seats, with seven vacant seats. Democrats needed to win 23 GOP-held seats in 2018 to win control of the House. From 1918 to 2016, the president’s party lost an average of 29 seats in midterm elections.
Gibbs was first elected in 2010. In 2016, he was re-elected with 64 percent of the vote.
Though Pres. Donald Trump won Ohio's 7th District by almost 30 points in 2016, the district was targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in 2018. DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján compared Harbaugh to Conor Lamb (D), who in March 2018 won a special election for Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District. Pennsylvania's 18th went for Trump by almost 20 percentage points in 2016.
Ohio's 7th Congressional District, Gibbs (R) v. Harbaugh (D)
| Poll | Gibbs (R) | Harbaugh (D) | Undecided | Margin of Error | Sample Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimus Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2018 | 55% | 36% | 8% | +/-3.5 | 800 |
The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Harbaugh | Democratic Party | $3,059,076 | $3,039,510 | $19,566 | As of December 31, 2018 |
| Bob Gibbs | Republican Party | $1,055,994 | $1,842,914 | $153,614 | As of December 31, 2018 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018.
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Ohio from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Ohio Secretary of State.
This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Ohio every year from 2000 to 2016.
Election results (President of the United States), Ohio 2000-2016
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 |  Donald Trump |
52.1% |  Hillary Clinton |
43.5% | 8.6% |
| 2012 | Barack Obama |
50.7% | Mitt Romney |
47.7% | 3.0% |
| 2008 | Barack Obama |
51.5% | John McCain |
46.9% | 4.6% |
| 2004 | George W. Bush |
50.8% | John Kerry |
48.7% | 2.1% |
| 2000 | George W. Bush |
50.0% | Al Gore |
46.5% | 3.5% |
This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Ohio from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.
Election results (U.S. Senator), Ohio 2000-2016
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Rob Portman |
58.0% | Ted Strickland |
37.2% | 20.8% |
| 2012 | Sherrod Brown |
50.7% | Josh Mandel |
44.7% | 6.0% |
| 2010 | Rob Portman |
56.8% | Lee Fisher |
39.4% | 17.4% |
| 2006 | Sherrod Brown |
56.2% | Mike DeWine |
43.8% | 12.4% |
| 2004 | George Voinovich |
63.9% | Eric Fingerhut |
36.1% | 27.8% |
| 2000 | Mike DeWine |
59.9% | Ted Celeste |
35.9% | 24.0% |
This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Ohio.
Election results (Governor), Ohio 2000-2016
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | John Kasich |
63.6% | Ed Fitzgerald |
33.0% | 30.6% |
| 2010 | John Kasich |
49.0% | Ted Strickland |
47.0% | 2.0% |
| 2006 | Ted Strickland |
60.5% | Ken Blackwell |
36.6% | 23.9% |
| 2002 | Robert Taft |
57.8% | Tim Hagan |
38.3% | 19.5% |
This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Ohio in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.
Congressional delegation, Ohio 2000-2016
| Year | Republicans | Republicans (%) | Democrats | Democrats (%) | Balance of power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 12 |
75.0% | 4 |
25.0% | R+8 |
| 2014 | 12 |
75.0% | 4 |
25.0% | R+8 |
| 2012 | 12 |
75.0% | 4 |
25.0% | R+8 |
| 2010 | 13 |
72.2% | 5 |
27.8% | R+8 |
| 2008 | 8 |
44.4% | 10 |
55.6% | D+2 |
| 2006 | 11 |
61.1% | 7 |
38.9% | R+4 |
| 2004 | 12 |
66.7% | 6 |
33.3% | R+6 |
| 2002 | 12 |
66.7% | 6 |
33.3% | R+6 |
| 2000 | 11 |
57.9% | 8 |
42.1% | R+3 |
A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.
Ohio Party Control: 1992-2019
No Democratic trifectas • 21 years of Republican trifectas
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Demographic data for Ohio
| Ohio | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|
| Total population: | 11,605,090 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 40,861 | 3,531,905 |
| Gender | ||
| Female: | 51.1% | 50.8% |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 82.4% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 12.2% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 1.9% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.5% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 3.4% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 89.1% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 26.1% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $49,429 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 19.6% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Ohio. | ||
As of July 2017, Ohio had a population of 11,700,000 people, with its three largest cities being Columbus (pop. est. 860,000), Cleveland (pop. est. 390,000), and Cincinnati (pop. est. 300,000).
