Following the defeat of Ohio State Issue 1 on Tuesday, Ohio lawmakers in the House and Senate voiced their opinions.
Issue 1, if approved by voters, would have mandated a 60 percent approval percentage for any future constitutional amendments, call for signatures from all 88 counties, and do away with the opportunity to “cure” petitions by collecting additional signatures if necessary.
Voters defeated State Issue 1 at the August 8th special election, with 57 percent of voters rejecting the amendment to increase the threshold to amend the state Constitution.
According to the Ohio Secretary of State, results are unofficial until he certifies the election results. The official canvass is completed approximately three weeks after the election’s conclusion, and the secretary of state releases the results following a review of the county boards of elections’ official canvass reports.
The Associated Press called the election at 8:58 p.m. on Tuesday in favor of a “No” vote on Issue 1. According to The AP, it only calls an election when it is fully confident that a race has been won.
According to House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill), now that the special election has concluded, it’s time to turn the attention to defeating the proposed amendment to enshrine abortion into the state Constitution on the November 7th ballot.
“The people of Ohio have spoken. It is now time to turn our attention to November. As a 100 percent pro-life conservative, we must defeat Issue 1 on November 7th to stop abortion from being a part of our state’s constitution,” Stephens said.
State Representative Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester) told The Ohio Star that Issue 1 is a devastating loss.
“This is a devastating loss for all Ohioans. Whether folks supported Issue 1 because they were pro-life, pro-second amendment, pro-business, pro-Ohio farmer, and pro-backing police-qualified immunity we no doubt took a hard defeat. We now look forward to November, where the most radical anti-parent, pro-abortion, through 40-weeks Ohio constitutional Amendment must be defeated. I will be voting no this November to protect babies, parental rights, and all Ohio children,” Gross told The Star.
Ohio Secretary of State and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2024 Frank LaRose said that Ohio State Issue 1 was only one battle in a long war.
“I am grateful that nearly 1.3 million Ohioans stood with us in this fight, but this is only one battle in a long war. Unfortunately, we were dramatically outspent by dark money billionaires from California to New York, and the giant ‘for sale’ sign still hangs on Ohio’s constitution. Ohioans will see the devastating impact of this vote soon enough. The radical activists that opposed Issue 1 are already planning amendments to shut parents out of a child’s life-altering medical procedure, force job-killing wage mandates on small businesses, prevent law-abiding citizens from protecting their families, and remove critical protections for our first responders. I’ve said for months now that there’s an assault coming on our constitution, and that hasn’t changed. I’m just getting started in the fight to protect Ohio’s values,” LaRose said.
State Representative Beth Lear (R-Galena) said that Ohioans cannot relinquish this fight.
“Thank you to everyone who voted YES. While it was tough to compete when you’re outspent 4:1 and the opposition lies, we cannot give up fighting for our kids and grand-kids. Take a break, love on your families, come back refreshed for the fall,” Lear said.
Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said that although defeated, this was a fight worth having.
“This was a fight worth having and we sent a message that we were close, and will continue efforts to protect the Ohio Constitution from wealthy out-of-state special interests. This was a heavy lift and we needed ‘all hands on deck’ which disappointingly we didn’t have. The opposition had twice the money coming from NY, CA, and D.C., and a head start. We really needed to turn out our base and needed more help doing that from current and former elected officials. Make no mistake, standing on this side of wealthy California special interests will only make our state vulnerable to these continued far left attacks,” Huffman said.
Huffman said that he anticipates this kind of question coming before Ohio voters again, but not next year.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Editor’s Note: Beth Lear was a journalist with The Ohio Star from May 2019 to December 2019.
