Ohio's 12th congressional district

Ohio's 12th congressional district is a United States congressional district in central Ohio, covering Delaware County, Morrow County, and Licking County, along with parts of Franklin, Marion, Muskingum, and Richland counties.[3] The district includes communities north and east of Columbus including Zanesville, Mansfield, and Dublin. It is currently represented by Troy Balderson, a member of the Republican Party. Balderson took office following a special election held on August 7, 2018, to replace Rep. Pat Tiberi, who had resigned on January 15, 2018. Balderson was then re-elected in the 2018 general election two months later.[4][5]

Ohio's 12th congressional district
Ohio's 12th congressional district – since January 3, 2013.
Representative	Troy Balderson R–Zanesville
Population (2019)	788,335[1]
Median household income	$76,631[1]
Ethnicity	89.62% White 4.83% Black 4.83% Asian 2.62% Hispanic 0.49% other 0.23% Native American
Cook PVI	R+7[2]

From 2003 to 2013 the district included eastern Columbus, including most of its heavily African-American neighborhoods. The district also took in most of its northern suburbs, including Westerville. It was one of two districts that split the state's capital city, the other being the 15th District. For most of the time from the 1980s to the 2000s, it was considered to be less Republican than the 15th, in part due to its large black population. However, redistricting after the 2010 census drew nearly all of the 15th's black constituents into the 3rd District, while the 15th was pushed into more exurban and Republican areas north and east of the capital.

It has been in Republican hands since 1920, except for an eight-year stretch in the 1930s and a two-year term in 1980 where the Democratic Party held the seat; in both instances the Democratic incumbent was later defeated by a GOP challenger. In the 2004 presidential election George W. Bush narrowly won the district against John Kerry, 51% to 49%.[6] However, in the 2008 presidential election, Democratic candidate Barack Obama won the 12th district by a margin of 53% to 46%. After the 2011 redistricting cycle, the district has since been won in larger margins by Republican presidential candidates.[7]

In the 2018 special election, Balderson was endorsed by prominent Republicans including President Donald Trump, Governor of Ohio John Kasich (who represented the 12th from 1983 to 2001), and former Rep. Tiberi. The Democratic candidate was Danny O’Connor. The winner was not immediately clear following the unexpectedly competitive August 7 election.[5] Only on August 24 was Balderson officially declared the winner of the special election, which witnessed a significant swing away from the Republican Party as Balderson won with a margin of less than 1%, while fellow Republican Trump had carried the district by 11% in the 2016 presidential election.[5]

Election results from presidential races

Year	Office	Result
2000	President	George W. Bush 52% - Al Gore 46%
2004	President	George W. Bush 51% - John Kerry 49%
2008	President	Barack Obama 54% - John McCain 45%
2012	President	Mitt Romney 54% - Barack Obama 44%
2016	President	Donald Trump 53% - Hillary Clinton 42%
2020	President	Donald Trump 52% - Joe Biden 46%

List of members representing the district

Member	Party	Year(s)	Cong ress	Electoral history
District created March 4, 1823
John Sloane	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th 19th 20th	Redistricted from the 6th district and re-elected in 1822. Re-elected in 1824. Re-elected in 1826. Lost re-election.
	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1829
John Thomson	Jacksonian	March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1833	21st 22nd	Elected in 1828. [data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 17th district.
Robert Mitchell	Jacksonian	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835	23rd	[data unknown/missing]
Elias Howell	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837	24th	[data unknown/missing]
Alexander Harper	Whig	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839	25th	[data unknown/missing]
Jonathan Taylor	Democratic	March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1841	26th	[data unknown/missing]
Joshua Mathiot	Whig	March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843	27th	[data unknown/missing]
Samuel Finley Vinton	Whig	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1851	28th 29th 30th 31st	[data unknown/missing]
John Welch	Whig	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	32nd	[data unknown/missing]
Edson B. Olds	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd	Redistricted from the 9th district. [data unknown/missing]
Samuel Galloway	Opposition	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	34th	[data unknown/missing]
Samuel S. Cox	Democratic	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1863	35th 36th 37th	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 7th district.
William E. Finck	Democratic	March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1867	38th 39th	[data unknown/missing]
Philadelph Van Trump	Democratic	March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1873	40th 41st 42nd	[data unknown/missing]
Hugh J. Jewett	Democratic	March 4, 1873 – June 23, 1874	43rd	[data unknown/missing] Resigned to become President of the Erie Railroad.
Vacant		June 23, 1874 – December 7, 1874
William E. Finck	Democratic	December 7, 1874 – March 3, 1875		[data unknown/missing]
Ansel T. Walling	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	44th	[data unknown/missing]
Thomas Ewing Jr.	Democratic	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1879	45th	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 10th district.
Henry S. Neal	Republican	March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1881	46th	Redistricted from the 11th district. Redistricted to the 11th district.
George L. Converse	Democratic	March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883	47th	Redistricted from the 9th district. 13th district.
Alphonso Hart	Republican	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885	48th	[data unknown/missing]
Albert C. Thompson	Republican	March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1887	49th	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 11th district.
Jacob J. Pugsley	Republican	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1891	50th 51st	[data unknown/missing]
William H. Enochs	Republican	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893	52nd	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 10th district.
Joseph H. Outhwaite	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895	53rd	Redistricted from the 9th district. [data unknown/missing]
David K. Watson	Republican	March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1897	54th	[data unknown/missing]
John J. Lentz	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1901	55th 56th	[data unknown/missing]
Emmett Tompkins	Republican	March 4, 1901 – March 3, 1903	57th	[data unknown/missing]
De Witt C. Badger	Democratic	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905	58th	[data unknown/missing]
Edward L. Taylor Jr.	Republican	March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1913	59th 60th 61st 62nd	[data unknown/missing]
Clement L. Brumbaugh	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1921	63rd 64th 65th 66th	[data unknown/missing]
John C. Speaks	Republican	March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1931	67th 68th 69th 70th 71st	[data unknown/missing]
Arthur P. Lamneck	Democratic	March 4, 1931 – January 3, 1939	72nd 73rd 74th 75th	[data unknown/missing]
John M. Vorys	Republican	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1959	76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th	[data unknown/missing]
Samuel L. Devine	Republican	January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1981	86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th	Elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Lost re-election.
Bob Shamansky	Democratic	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1983	97th	Elected in 1980. Lost re-election.
John Kasich	Republican	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 2001	98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th 105th 106th	Elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Retired to run for U.S. President.
Pat Tiberi	Republican	January 3, 2001 – January 15, 2018	107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th	Elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Resigned to lead the Ohio Business Roundtable.[8]
Vacant		January 15, 2018 – August 7, 2018	115th
Troy Balderson	Republican	August 7, 2018[9] – Present	115th 116th 117th	Elected to finish Tiberi's term. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020.

Recent election results

The following chart shows historic election results.

Year	Democratic	Republican	Other
1920	Arthur P. Lamneck: 43,845	√ John C. Speaks: 62,247	Enoch B. Eubanks: 1,481
1922	H. Sage Valentine: 37,875	√ John C. Speaks (Incumbent): 47,265	William Garminden (SL): 632
1924	Lowry F. Sater: 41,291	√ John C. Speaks (Incumbent): 58,705
1926	H. S. Atkinson: 31,724	√ John C. Speaks (Incumbent): 41,119
1928	Carl H. Valentine: 50,216	√ John C. Speaks (Incumbent): 82,574
1930	√ Arthur P. Lamneck: 59,330	John C. Speaks (Incumbent): 43,840
1932	√ Arthur P. Lamneck (Incumbent): 63,135	John C. Speaks: 62,704
1934	√ Arthur P. Lamneck (Incumbent): 63,396	John C. Speaks: 50,386
1936	√ Arthur P. Lamneck (Incumbent): 88,222	Grant P. Ward: 64,766
1938	Arthur P. Lamneck (Incumbent): 62,026	√ Jonn M. Vorys: 64,409
1940	Arthur P. Lamneck: 87,115	√ John M. Vorys (Incumbent): 91,767
1942	Arthur P. Lamneck: 40,290	√ John M. Vorys (Incumbent): 56,558
1944	Forrest F. Smith: 82,503	√ John M. Vorys (Incumbent): 97,856
1946	Arthur P. Lamneck: 45,779	√ John M. Vorys (Incumbent): 74,691
1948	Robert M. Draper: 87,770	√ John M. Vorys (Incumbent): 95,575
1950	John W. Guy: 65,860	√ John M. Vorys (Incumbent): 117,396
1952	George T. Tarbutton: 81,665	√ John M. Vorys (Incumbent): 134,693
1954	Jacob F. Myers: 59,210	√ John M. Vorys (Incumbent): 94,585
1956	Walter J. Shapter Jr.: 79,597	√ John M. Vorys (Incumbent): 128,682
1958	Walter J. Shapter Jr.: 84,470	√ Samuel L. Devine: 100,684
1960	Richard E. Liming: 90,894	√ Samuel L. Devine (Incumbent): 140,236
1962	Paul D. Cassidy: 60,563	√ Samuel L. Devine (Incumbent): 130,316
1964	Robert L. Van Heyde: 118,299	√ Samuel L. Devine (Incumbent): 146,971
1966	Bob Shamansky: 39,140	√ Samuel L. Devine (Incumbent): 70,102
1968	Herbert J. Pfeifer: 51,202	√ Samuel L. Devine (Incumbent): 106,664
1970	James W. Goodrich: 60,538	√ Samuel L. Devine (Incumbent): 82,486
1972	James W. Goodrich: 81,074	√ Samuel L. Devine (Incumbent): 103,655
1974	Francine Ryan: 70,818	√ Samuel L. Devine (Incumbent): 73,303
1976	Francine Ryan: 89,424	√ Samuel L. Devine (Incumbent): 90,987	William Roger "Bill" Moss (I): 15,429
1978	James L. Baumann: 61,698	√ Samuel L. Devine (Incumbent): 81,573
1980	√ Bob Shamansky: 108,690	Samuel L. Devine (Incumbent): 98,110
1982	Bob Shamansky (Incumbent): 82,753	√ John Kasich: 88,335	Russell A. Lewis (L): 3,939
1984	Richard S. Sloan: 65,215	√ John Kasich (Incumbent): 148,899
1986	Timothy C. Jochim: 42,727	√ John Kasich (Incumbent): 117,905
1988	Mark P. Brown: 50,782	√ John Kasich (Incumbent): 204,892
1990	Mike Gelpi: 50,784	√ John Kasich (Incumbent): 130,495
1992	Bob Fitrakis: 68,761	√ John Kasich (Incumbent): 170,297
1994	Cynthia L. Ruccia: 57,294	√ John Kasich (Incumbent): 114,608
1996	Cynthia L. Ruccia: 78,762	√ John Kasich (Incumbent): 151,667	Barbara Ann Edelman (N): 7,005
1998	Edward S. Brown: 60,694	√ John Kasich (Incumbent): 124,197
2000	Maryellen O'Shaughnessy: 115,432	√ Pat Tiberi: 139,242	Charles Ed Jordan: 1,566 Nick Hogan (L): 4,546 Gregory B. Richey (N): 2,600
2002	Edward S. Brown: 64,707	√ Pat Tiberi (Incumbent): 116,982
2004	Edward S. Brown: 122,109	√ Pat Tiberi (Incumbent): 198,912
2006	Robert N. Shamansky: 126,573	√ Pat Tiberi (Incumbent): 198,723
2008[10]	David Robinson: 152,234	√ Pat Tiberi (Incumbent): 197,447	Steven Linnabary (L): 10,707
2010[11]	Paula Brooks: 110,307	√ Pat Tiberi (Incumbent): 150,163	Travis Irvine (L): 8,710
2012[12]	Jim Reese: 134,614	√ Pat Tiberi (Incumbent): 233,874
2014[13]	David Tibbs: 61,360	√ Pat Tiberi (Incumbent): 150,573	Bob Hart (G): 9,148
2016[14]	Ed Albertson: 112, 638	√ Pat Tiberi (Incumbent): 251,266	Joe Manchik (G): 13,474 Write-in: 156
2018 (Special)[15]	Danny O'Connor: 102,648	√ Troy Balderson: 104,328	Joe Manchik (G): 1,165
2018[16]	Danny O'Connor: 161,251	√ Troy Balderson (Incumbent): 175,677	Joe Manchik (G): 4,718 Write-in: 71
2020	Alaina Shearer: 182,847	√ Troy Balderson (Incumbent): 241,790	John S. Stewart (L): 13,035

Historical district boundaries

2003–2013

See also

• Ohio's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

1. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov. Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census Bureau. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
2. "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
3. "Ohio's 12th Congressional District". Ballotpedia. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
4. Ludlow, Randy (January 5, 2018). "Kasich sets primary for Tiberi seat for May 8; special election on Aug. 7". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
5. Weigel, David; Wagner, John (August 24, 2018). "After a lengthy vote count, Republican Troy Balderson declared the winner of Aug. 7 House special election in Ohio". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
6. "Presidential Results by Congressional District, 2000-2008". Swing State Project. December 15, 2008. Archived from the original on March 5, 2009. Retrieved March 26, 2009.
7. "Daily Kos Elections' presidential results by congressional district for 2016, 2012, and 2008". Daily Kos.
8. Evans, Nick. "Pat Tiberi Confident Ohio's 12th District Will Remain Republican". Retrieved August 8, 2018.
9. "BALDERSON, Troy - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov.
10. Federal Elections 2008. Federal Elections Commission, Washington DC, July 2009
11. 2010 Election Results Archived copy at the Library of Congress (November 9, 2011)., Ohio Secretary of State, Retrieved December 17, 2010
12. "2012 Election Results". Ohio Secretary of State.
13. "2014 Elections Results - Ohio Secretary of State". www.sos.state.oh.us. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
14. "2016 Official Elections Results - Ohio Secretary of State". www.sos.state.oh.us. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
15. "Official Results - Most Populous - Summary" (PDF). Franklin County Board of Elections. August 24, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
16. "Official Results - Most Populous - Summary" (PDF). Franklin County Board of Elections. November 27, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2019.

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present