2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio


The 2008 congressional elections in Ohio were held on November 4, 2008 and determined who will represent the state of Ohio in the United States House of Representatives. The primary election was held on March 4, 2008.
Ohio has eighteen seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States Census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected in November 2008 served in the 111th Congress from January 4, 2009 until January 3, 2011. The election coincided with the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
Districts 1, 15 and 16 changed party, although CQ Politics had forecasted districts 1, 2, 14, 15, 16 and 18 to be at some risk for the incumbent party. District 15 was not decided until December 8, 2008. As of 2018, this is the last time that Democrats won a majority of congressional districts from Ohio.

Overview

Match-up summary

District 1

Democratic nominee Steve Driehaus won against Republican incumbent Steve Chabot. CQ Politics rated the race as 'No Clear Favorite'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Steve DriehausDemocratic155,08952.45%
Steve ChabotRepublicanIncumbent140,46947.5%
Rich Stevenson Independent67.02%
Eric Wilson Independent84.03%

Republican incumbent Jean Schmidt won against Democratic nominee Victoria Wulsin and Independent candidate David Krikorian. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Leans Republican'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Jean SchmidtRepublicanIncumbent148,67144.83%
Victoria WulsinDemocratic124,21337.46%
David KrikorianIndependentEndorsed by the Libertarian Party of Ohio58,71017.70%
James Condit Independent30.01%

Republican incumbent Mike Turner won against Democratic nominee Jane Mitakides. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Safe Republican'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Mike TurnerRepublicanIncumbent200,20463.32%
Jane MitakidesDemocratic115,97636.68%

Republican incumbent Jim Jordan won against Democratic nominee Mike Carroll. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Safe Republican'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentages
Jim JordanRepublicanIncumbent186,14065.17%
Mike CarrollDemocratic99,49134.83%

Republican incumbent Bob Latta won against Democratic nominee George Mays. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Safe Republican'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Bob LattaRepublicanIncumbent188,90564.09%
George MaysDemocratic105,84035.91%

Democratic incumbent Charlie Wilson won against Republican nominee Richard Stobbs. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Safe Democrat'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Charlie WilsonDemocraticIncumbent176,33062.28%
Richard StobbsRepublican92,96832.84%
Dennis SpisakGreen13,8124.88%

Republican incumbent David Hobson did not run for reelection in 2008.
Republican nominee Steve Austria won against Democratic nominee Sharen Neuhardt. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Republican Favored'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Steve AustriaRepublican174,91558.22%
Sharen Swartz NeuhardtDemocratic125,54741.78%

Republican incumbent John Boehner won against Democratic nominee Nicholas Von Stein. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Safe Republican'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
John BoehnerRepublicanIncumbent202,06367.9%
Nicholas Von SteinDemocratic95,51032.1%

Democratic incumbent Marcy Kaptur won against Republican nominee Bradley S. Leavitt. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Safe Democrat'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Marcy KapturDemocraticIncumbent222,05474.37%
Bradley S. LeavittRepublican76,51225.63%

The Democratic primary was held March 4, 2008, the same day as the Texas and Ohio presidential primaries. The candidates were Cleveland city councilman Joe Cimperman, North Olmsted mayor Thomas O'Grady, Barbra Ferris and Rosemary Palmer.
Kucinich previously stated that he would run again for Congress in 2008 if his bid for President were unsuccessful.
For 2008, however, Kucinich is facing four challengers in the Democratic primary scheduled for March 4, which prompted him to abandon his run for president. Opponents include Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman and North Olmsted Mayor Thomas O'Grady. Having only raised around $50,000 so far compared to Cimperman's $228,000, Kucinich has since been putting out appeals for campaign funding on YouTube. Since then, he has managed to raise $700,000, surpassing Cimperman's $487,000.
Cimperman, who is endorsed by the Mayor of Cleveland and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, criticized Kucinich for focusing too much on campaigning for president and not on the district. Kucinich accused Cimperman of representing corporate and real estate interests. Cimperman described Kucinich as an absentee congressman who failed to pass any major legislative initiatives in his 12-year House career. In an interview, Cimperman said he was tired of Kucinich and Cleveland being joke fodder for late-night talk-show hosts, saying "It's time for him to go home". An ad paid for by Cimperman's campaign claimed that Kucinich has missed over 300 votes, but by checking the ad's source the actual number is 139.
A report suggested that representatives of Nancy Pelosi and American Israel Public Affairs Committee would "guarantee" Kucinich's re-election if he dropped his bid to impeach Cheney and Bush, though Kucinich denies the meeting happened. It was also suggested that Kucinich's calls for universal health care and an immediate withdrawal from Iraq made him a thorn in the side of the Democrats' congressional leadership, as well as his refusal to pledge to support the eventual presidential nominee.
At last minute, Kucinich took part in a debate with the other primary challengers. Barbara Ferris criticized him for not bringing as much money back to the district as other area legislators and authoring just one bill that passed during his 12 years in Congress. Kucinich responded

"It was a Republican Congress and there weren't many Democrats passing meaningful legislation during a Republican Congress."

Kucinich easily won the primary by a 15-point-margin over his nearest opponent Joe Cimperman.
Kucinich then beat Republican nominee Jim Trakas. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Safe Democrat'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Dennis KucinichDemocraticIncumbent157,26857.02%
Jim TrakasRepublican107,91839.13%
Paul ConroyLibertarian10,6233.85%

Democratic nominee Marcia Fudge won against Republican nominee Thomas Pekarek. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Safe Democrat'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Marcia L. FudgeDemocraticIncumbent Stephanie Tubbs Jones died.212,48585.21%
Thomas PekarekRepublican36,70514.72%
Craig Willis Independent144.06%
Eric Johnson Independent23.01%
Robert Reed Independent0.00%

A special election was held on November 18, 2008 to fill Jones's seat for the remainder of the 110th Congress, until January 3, 2009, which Fudge won with 100% of the vote. See Ohio's 11th congressional district special election, 2008.

District 12

Republican incumbent Pat Tiberi won against Democratic nominee David Robinson. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Republican Favored'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Pat TiberiRepublicanIncumbent197,44754.79%
David RobinsonDemocratic152,23442.24%
Steve LinnabaryLibertarian10,7072.97%

Democratic incumbent Betty Sutton won against Republican nominee David Potter. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Safe Democrat'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Betty SuttonDemocraticIncumbent189,54264.55%
David PotterRepublican104,06635.44%
Robert Crow Independent37.01%

Republican incumbent Steve LaTourette won against Democratic nominee Bill O'Neill. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Republican Favored'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Steve LaTouretteRepublicanIncumbent188,48858.32%
Bill O'NeillDemocratic125,21438.74%
David MackoLibertarian9,5112.94%

The election results were essentially tied, requiring an automatic recount.
CQ Politics rated the race as 'Leans Democratic'. Republican incumbent Deborah Pryce did not run for reelection in 2008, leaving this an open seat. Kilroy defeated Stivers by 2,311 votes in a race not decided until the final ballots were counted on December 7, 2008.
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Steve StiversRepublican137,27245.18%
Mary Jo KilroyDemocratic139,58445.94%
Mark M. NobleLibertarian14,0614.63%
Don Elijah EckhartIndependent12,9154.25%
Travis Casper Independent60%

Democratic nominee John Boccieri won against Republican nominee Kirk Schuring. Republican incumbent Ralph Regula did not run for reelection. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Leans Democratic'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
John BoccieriDemocratic169,04455.36%
Kirk SchuringRepublican136,29344.64%

Democratic incumbent Tim Ryan won against Republican nominee Duane Grassell. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Safe Democrat'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Tim RyanDemocraticIncumbent217,55678.17%
Duane GrassellRepublican60,76021.83%

Democratic incumbent Zack Space won against Republican nominee Fred Dailey. CQ Politics rated the race as 'Democrat Favored'. The following candidates ran in the general election:
CandidatePartyNotesVotesPercentage
Zack SpaceDemocraticIncumbent164,15059.88%
Fred DaileyRepublican110,00140.12%