Ohio's 3rd congressional district

Ohio's 3rd congressional district is located entirely in Franklin County and includes most of the city of Columbus. The current district lines were drawn in 2011, following the redistricting based on the 2000 census. It is currently represented by Democrat Joyce Beatty.

Ohio's 3rd congressional district
Ohio's 3rd congressional district since January 3, 2013
Representative	Joyce Beatty D–Columbus
Distribution	99.82% urban[1] 0.18% rural
Population (2019)	813,890[2]
Median household income	$51,435[2]
Ethnicity	56.42% White 33.24% Black 6.35% Hispanic 4.07% Asian 0.25% Native American
Cook PVI	D+19[3]

It was one of several districts challenged in a 2018 lawsuit seeking to overturn Ohio's congressional map due to alleged unconstitutional gerrymandering.[4] According to the lawsuit, "District 3 is shaped like a snowflake and fractures Franklin County and the city of Columbus."[5] The plaintiffs focused on the 3rd in part because the district is barely contiguous. In some portions, it is almost, but not quite, split in two by the neighboring 12th and 15th districts which split the rest of Columbus betweent hem.

The map, drawn in private by Republican lawmakers in a Columbus hotel room, keeps only the 3rd district Democratic, with much of the rest of Columbus split into the more Republican 12th and 15th districts. An alternative plan was to split Columbus between four districts, creating 13 safe Republican seats. In May 2019, the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati deemed the map unconstitutional, as intentionally drawn to keep Republicans in power and disenfranchise Democratic voters.[6] The U.S. Supreme Court discarded the district court ruling in October 2019.[7]

In 2018, Ohio voters approved a ballot measure known as Issue 1, which grants the minority party oversight on redistricting, requiring 50 percent minority party approval for district maps. The process will only take place after the 2020 census and presidential election.[8][6]

For most of the time from 1887 to 2003, the 3rd was a Dayton-based district; much of that territory is now the 10th district.

Election results from presidential races

Year	Office	Result
2000	President	George W. Bush 52% - Al Gore 45%
2004	President	George W. Bush 54% - John Kerry 46%
2008	President	John McCain 51% - Barack Obama 47%
2012	President	Barack Obama 70% - Mitt Romney 29%
2016	President	Hillary Clinton 67% - Donald Trump 29%
2020	President	Joe Biden 70% - Donald Trump 28%

List of members representing the district

Member	Party	Year(s)	Cong ress	Electoral history
District created March 4, 1813
Duncan McArthur	Federalist	March 4, 1813 – April 5, 1813	13th	Elected in 1812. Resigned.
Vacant		April 5, 1813 – May 4, 1813
William Creighton Jr.	Democratic-Republican	May 4, 1813 – March 3, 1817	13th 14th	Elected May 10, 1813 to finish McArthur's term and seated June 15, 1813. Re-elected in 1814. Retired.
Levi Barber	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1819	15th	Elected in 1816. Lost re-election.
Henry Brush	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1821	16th	Elected in 1818. Lost re-election.
Levi Barber	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1821 – March 3, 1823	17th	Elected in 1820. Redistricted to the 7th district and lost re-election.
William McLean	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th 19th 20th	Elected in 1822. Re-elected in 1824. Re-elected in 1826. Retired.
	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1829
Joseph Halsey Crane	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1837	21st 22nd 23rd 24th	Elected in 1828. [data unknown/missing]
Patrick Gaines Goode	Whig	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1843	25th 26th 27th	[data unknown/missing]
Robert C. Schenck	Whig	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1851	28th 29th 30th 31st	[data unknown/missing]
Hiram Bell	Whig	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	32nd	[data unknown/missing]
Lewis D. Campbell	Whig	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd	Redistricted from the 2nd district. Lost contested election
	Opposition	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	34th
	Republican	March 4, 1857 – May 25, 1858	35th
Clement Vallandigham	Democratic	May 25, 1858 – March 3, 1863	35th 36th 37th	Won contested election
Robert C. Schenck	Republican	March 4, 1863 – January 5, 1871	38th 39th 40th 41st	[data unknown/missing] Resigned to become Minister to Great Britain
Vacant		January 5, 1871 – March 3, 1871	41st
Lewis D. Campbell	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873	42nd	[data unknown/missing]
John Quincy Smith	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd	[data unknown/missing]
John S. Savage	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	44th	[data unknown/missing]
Mills Gardner	Republican	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1879	45th	[data unknown/missing]
John A. McMahon	Democratic	March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1881	46th	Redistricted from the 4th district. [data unknown/missing]
Henry Lee Morey	Republican	March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883	47th	[data unknown/missing]
Robert Maynard Murray	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885	48th	[data unknown/missing]
James E. Campbell	Democratic	March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1887	49th	Redistricted from the 7th district; Redistricted to the 7th district.
Elihu S. Williams	Republican	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1891	50th 51st	[data unknown/missing]
George W. Houk	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – February 9, 1894	52nd 53rd	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant		February 9, 1894 – May 21, 1894	53rd
Paul J. Sorg	Democratic	May 21, 1894 – March 3, 1897	53rd 54th	[data unknown/missing]
John Lewis Brenner	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1901	55th 56th	[data unknown/missing]
Robert M. Nevin	Republican	March 4, 1901 – March 3, 1907	57th 58th 59th	[data unknown/missing]
J. Eugene Harding	Republican	March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1909	60th	[data unknown/missing]
James M. Cox	Democratic	March 4, 1909 – January 12, 1913	61st 62nd	[data unknown/missing] Resigned when elected Governor of Ohio
Vacant		January 12, 1913 – March 3, 1913	62nd
Warren Gard	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1921	63rd 64th 65th 66th	[data unknown/missing]
Roy G. Fitzgerald	Republican	March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1931	67th 68th 69th 70th 71st	[data unknown/missing]
Byron B. Harlan	Democratic	March 4, 1931 – January 3, 1939	72nd 73rd 74th 75th	[data unknown/missing]
Harry N. Routzohn	Republican	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1941	76th	[data unknown/missing]
Greg J. Holbrock	Democratic	January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943	77th	[data unknown/missing]
Harry P. Jeffrey	Republican	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1945	78th	[data unknown/missing]
Edward J. Gardner	Democratic	January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947	79th	[data unknown/missing]
Raymond H. Burke	Republican	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949	80th	[data unknown/missing]
Edward G. Breen	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – October 1, 1951	81st 82nd	[data unknown/missing] Resigned.
Vacant		October 1, 1951 – November 6, 1951	82nd
Paul F. Schenck	Republican	November 6, 1951 – January 3, 1965	82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th	[data unknown/missing]
Rodney M. Love	Democratic	January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1967	89th	[data unknown/missing]
Charles W. Whalen Jr.	Republican	January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1979	90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th	[data unknown/missing]
Tony P. Hall	Democratic	January 3, 1979 – September 9, 2002	96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned when appointed Ambassador to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Vacant		September 9, 2002 – January 3, 2003	107th
Mike Turner	Republican	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2013	108th 109th 110th 111th 112th	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 10th district.
Joyce Beatty	Democratic	January 3, 2013 – Present	113th 114th 115th 116th 117th	Elected in 2012.

Recent election results

The following chart shows historic election results. Bold type indicates victor. Italic type indicates incumbent.

Year	Democratic	Republican	Other
1920	William G. Pickrel: 59,214	Roy G. Fitzgerald: 59,214	Clarence M. Gauger: 6,441
1922	Warren Gard: 46,127	Roy G. Fitzgerald: 52,111	Joseph Woodward (S): 2,280
1924	John P. Rogers: 43,426	Roy G. Fitzgerald: 73,513	Joseph Woodward (S): 1,021
1926	T. A. McCann: 33,253	Roy G. Fitzgerald
1928	Frank L. Humphrey: 55,767	Roy G. Fitzgerald: 101,050
1930	Byron B. Harlan: 62,107	Roy G. Fitzgerald: 60,249
1932	Byron B. Harlan: 85,069	Edith McClure Patterson: 66,107	Jere F. Mincher (S): 4,178
1934	Byron B. Harlan: 67,695	Howard F. Heald: 56,480	Jere F. Mincher (S): 1,293 Walter Jones (C): 724
1936	Byron B. Harlan: 101,115	Robert N. Brumbaugh: 70,023	Leonidas E. Speer: 9,886
1938	Byron B. Harlan: 58,139	Harry N. Routzohn: 73,534
1940	Greg J. Holbrock: 103,291	Harry N. Routzohn: 93,002
1942	Greg J. Holbrock: 48,338	Harry P. Jeffrey: 51,477
1944	Edward J. Gardner: 104,247	Harry P. Jeffrey: 94,064
1946	Edward J. Gardner: 65,749	Raymond H. Burke: 71,171
1948	Edward G. Breen: 110,204	Raymond H. Burke: 79,162
1950	Edward G. Breen: 92,840	Paul F. Schenck: 77,634
1951*		Paul F. Schenck
1952	Thomas B. Talbot: 107,551	Paul F. Schenck*: 112,325
1954	Thomas B. Talbot: 74,585	Paul F. Schenck: 82,701
1956	R. William Patterson: 93,782	Paul F. Schenck: 135,152
1958	Thomas B. Talbot: 93,401	Paul F. Schenck: 102,806
1960	R. William Patterson: 102,237	Paul F. Schenck: 167,117
1962	Martin A. Evers: 85,573	Paul F. Schenck: 113,584
1964	Rodney M. Love: 129,469	Paul F. Schenck: 119,400
1966	Rodney M. Love: 53,658	Charles W. Whalen, Jr.: 62,471
1968	Paul Tipps: 32,012	Charles W. Whalen, Jr.: 114,549
1970	Dempsey A. Kerr: 26,735	Charles W. Whalen, Jr.: 86,973	Russell G. Butcke (AI): 3,545
1972	John W. Lelak Jr.: 34,819	Charles W. Whalen, Jr.: 111,253
1974		Charles W. Whalen, Jr.: 82,159
1976	Leonard E. Stubbs Jr.: 33,873	Charles W. Whalen, Jr.: 100,871	Wilmer M. Hurst: 5,758 John R. Austin: 4,872
1978	Tony P. Hall: 62,849	Dudley P. Kircher: 51,833	Alfred R. Deptula: 2,122
1980	Tony P. Hall: 95,558	Albert H. Sealy: 66,698	Richard L. Righter: 2,903 Robert E. Tharpe: 1,710
1982	Tony P. Hall: 119,926		Kathryn E. Brown (L): 16,828
1984	Tony P. Hall: 151,398
1986	Tony P. Hall: 98,311	Ron Crutcher: 35,167
1988	Tony P. Hall: 141,953	Ron Crutcher: 42,664
1990	Tony P. Hall: 116,797
1992	Tony P. Hall: 146,072	Peter W. Davis: 98,733
1994	Tony P. Hall: 105,342	David A. Westbrock: 72,314
1996	Tony P. Hall: 144,583	David A. Westbrock: 75,732	Dorothy H. Mackey (N): 13,905
1998	Tony P. Hall: 114,198	John S. Shondel: 50,544
2000	Tony P. Hall: 177,731		Regina Burch (N): 36,516
2002	Rick Carne: 78,307	Mike Turner: 111,630	Ronald Williamitis: 14
2004	Jane Mitakides: 116,082	Mike Turner: 192,150
2006	Rick Chema: 86,389	Mike Turner: 121,885
2008	Jane Mitakides: 115,976	Mike Turner: 200,204
2010[9]	Joe Roberts : 71,455	Mike Turner: 152,629
2012[10]	Joyce Beatty : 201,921	Chris Long : 77,903	Richard Ehrbar III (L) : 9,462 Jeff Brown (WI) : 264 Bob Fitrakis (G) : 6,388
2014	Joyce Beatty : 91,769	John Adams: 51,475	Ralph A. Applegate: 17
2016	Joyce Beatty : 199,791	John Adams: 91,560
2018	Joyce Beatty : 181,575	Kim Burgess: 65,040	Millie Millam: 62
2020	Joyce Beatty : 227,420	Mark Richardson: 93,569

1951 special election

*In 1951, after Breen's resignation for ill health, Schenck was elected in a special election to complete Breen's term.

2002

In 2002, when then-U.S. Rep. Tony P. Hall decided to accept an appointment as a U.N. ambassador, Richard Alan Carne took his place as the Democratic nominee for the congressional seat. Carne lost the race to former Dayton mayor Michael R. Turner.[11]

2006 election

On August 13, 2006, Democratic candidate Stephanie Studebaker— who was the party's nominee to run against the incumbent Republican— was arrested, alongside her husband, on charges of domestic violence. Two days later, she withdrew from the race, leaving the Ohio Democratic Party without a candidate in the district. A Special primary election to select a new Democratic candidate was held on 15 September 2006.[12] Richard Chema won that election with nearly 75% of the vote, but lost to Republican Michael R. Turner in the general election.

2010

Ohio's 3rd Congressional District Election (2010)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Turner*	152,629	68.11
	Democratic	Joe Roberts	71,455	31.89
Total votes			224,084	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2012

Ohio's 3rd congressional district (2012)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joyce Beatty	201,897	68.3
	Republican	Chris Long	77,901	26.3
	Libertarian	Richard Ehrbar	9,462	3.2
	Green	Bob Fitrakis	6,387	2.2
	Independent	Jeff Brown (write-in)	5	0.0
Total votes			295,652	100.0

2014

Ohio's 3rd congressional district (2014)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joyce Beatty (incumbent)	91,769	64.1
	Republican	John Adams	51,475	35.9
	Independent	Ralph A. Applegate (write-in)	17	0.0
Total votes			143,261	100.0
	Democratic hold

2016

Ohio's 3rd congressional district (2016)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joyce Beatty (incumbent)	199,791	68.6
	Republican	John Adams	91,560	31.4
Total votes			291,351	100.0
	Democratic hold

2018

Ohio's 3rd congressional district (2018)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joyce Beatty (incumbent)	181,575	73.6
	Republican	Jim Burgess	65,040	26.4
	Independent	Millie Milam (write-in)	62	0.0
Total votes			246,677	100.0
	Democratic hold

2020

Ohio's 3rd congressional district (2020)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joyce Beatty (incumbent)	227,420	70.8
	Republican	Mark Richardson	93,569	29.2
	Write-in		103	0.0
Total votes			321,092	100.0
	Democratic hold

Historical district boundaries

2003 - 2013

See also

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

Notes

1. https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/cd_state.html
2. https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=39&cd=03
3. "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
4. Todd Ruger, "Voters Challenge Ohio Congressional Map as Partisan Gerrymander", Roll Call, May 23, 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
5. Ohio A. Philip Randolph Institute et al., v. John Kasich, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO, filed 05/23/2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
6. https://radio.wosu.org/post/ohios-congressional-map-ruled-unconstitutional-federal-court#stream/0
7. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-07/republicans-win-ohio-voting-map-case-as-high-court-tosses-ruling
8. https://radio.wosu.org/post/ohio-voters-overwhelmingly-approve-issue-1-limiting-congressional-gerrymandering#stream/0
9. "Representative to Congress: November 2, 2010." Ohio Secretary of State. Retrieved April 1, 2011
10. "2012 Election Results". Ohio Secretary of State.
11. Maisel, Louis Sandy; West, Darrell M. (2004), Running on empty?: political discourse in congressional elections, Rowman & Littlefield, p. 131, ISBN 978-0-7425-3076-8
12. http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G06/OH.phtml#H03

References

• 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