On a night that was dark for Ohio Democrats, there were a few bright spots in the races for the state House and Senate.
In the House, unofficial results show Democrat Mark Sigrist of Grove City flipped the House seat that had been held by Republican Dave Dobos (R-Columbus), who didn’t run for re-election.
New maps changed some district lines. Rep. Anita Somani (D-Dublin) ran and easily won in a different district, and Democrat Crystal Lett of Columbus took her seat over Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R-Hilliard). Democrat Erika White of Toledo won the seat Rep. Josh Williams (R-Toledo) had held. But Williams won the seat that had been held by Democrat Elgin Rogers (D-Toledo), who ran unopposed in a different district. And Republican Levi Dean of Xenia won the seat held by his father Bill Dean (R-Xenia), who is term limited.
A total of 72 House incumbents ran and won, nine of them unopposed – five Democrats and four Republicans.
The balance of the House will shift from 67 Republicans to 32 Democrats to 65 Republicans and 34 Democrats.
In the Senate, Democrats flipped two seats, as Reps. Willis Blackshear (D-Dayton) and Beth Liston (D-Dublin) move to the Senate in districts that had been held by Republicans.
Republican former representative Kyle Koehler of Springfield won a Senate seat, as did Rep. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) and Rep. Tom Patton (R-Strongsville), who’s been a senator before.
The Senate balance moves from 26 Republicans and seven Democrats to 24 Republicans and nine Democrats.
