Election Day and Ohio’s Governors

 

This past Tuesday was Election Day, and we hope that all of our readers went out and cast their votes! 2014 is a midterm election, meaning it falls two years on either side of a presidential election. During this election cycle, 36 of the country’s 50 governors are elected, as well as countless state and municipal level politicians, all 435 of the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and a third of U.S. Senate seats.

Ohioans voted on candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Auditor, Secretary of State and Treasurer of State, as well as 16 U.S. House districts and Ohio Supreme Court judges, among a number of smaller races and local issues. For updates about the results of Ohio’s various races, the Secretary of State’s website is a great resource to visit!

At this time, with Governor John Kasich reelected to a second gubernatorial term as 69th Governor of Ohio, we invite you to explore the Ohio Governors Collection on Ohio Memory. Learn more about our highest statewide office, from an annual address given by Governor Edward Tiffin to the Ohio General Assembly shortly after we became a state, to a poster of all Ohio Governors over 200 years later. One unique item included in the collection is this campaign poster for Gertrude W. Donahey for State Treasurer of Ohio. Although Ohio has yet to elect a female governor, Donahey (1908-2004) made history as the first woman in Ohio to be elected to a statewide executive office when she served as Ohio State Treasurer from 1971 to 1983. She was the daughter-in-law of A. Victor Donahey, a former governor of Ohio.

The collection also includes a majority of State of the State addresses for most of Ohio’s history as a state, as well as a number of governor’s portraits, campaign posters, political cartoons, and more. We invite you to explore the Ohio Governors Collection as you take some time to reflect on our state’s fascinating political history, and to learn a bit more about Ohio’s many state leaders throughout the past!

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Thanks to Lily Birkhimer, Digital Projects Coordinator at the Ohio History Connection, for this week’s post!