Ohio's 6th congressional district

Ohio's 6th congressional district
Ohio's 6th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative		Bill Johnson (R–Marietta)
Distribution	50.16% urban, 49.84% rural
Population (2010)	716,828[1]
Median income	$41,783
Ethnicity	95.50% White, 2.28% Black, 0.33% Asian, 0.82% Hispanic, 0.19% Native American, 1.69% other
Cook PVI	R+5

Ohio's 6th congressional district is represented by Representative Bill Johnson (R-OH). This district runs along the southeast side of the state, bordering Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It stretches from rural Lucasville through Athens and several older Ohio River industrial towns all the way to the Youngstown city limits.^[2]

History

When Robert McEwen was first elected in 1980, the Sixth District of Ohio consisted of Adams, Brown, Clinton, Fayette, Highland, Pickaway, Pike, Scioto, and Ross Counties plus Clermont County outside the city of Loveland, Harrison Township in Vinton County and the Warren County townships of Clearcreek, Deerfield, Hamilton, Harlan, Massie, Salem, and Wayne.^[3] At that time, The Washington Post described the Sixth as "a fail-safe Republican district."^[4]

The Ohio General Assembly redrew the Sixth District following the results of the 1980 Census. The boundaries from 1983 to 1987 included all of Adams, Clinton, Fayette, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Vinton and Warren Counties, plus Waterloo and York Townships in Athens County; Wayne Township in Clermont County; Concord, Jasper, Marion, Perry, Union, and Wayne Townships in Fayette County; and Washington Township and the Cities of Miamisburg and West Carrollton in Montgomery County.^[5]

Beginning with the 100th Congress in 1987, adjustments were made by the legislature to the boundaries; reapportionment between censuses is unusual in American politics. A small part of the Montgomery County territory was detached, as were parts of Fayette County in Washington Court House in Union Township and the townships of Jasper and Marion. Part of Brown County was added, Jackson and Eagle Townships. These were the boundaries for the rest of McEwen's service in Congress.^[6]

The district was largely rural and agricultural with no large cities. One of the major industries was the United States Department of Energy's Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Piketon, which manufactured uranium for nuclear weapons. The district was 97 per cent white with a median household income of $21,761.^[7]

In 1992, the district was altered significantly to accommodate Ohio's loss of two House seats in redistricting. The state legislature anticipated that Clarence Miller of the neighboring Tenth District would retire, and thus combined the southern end of his district (which included Athens, Gallipolis, and Ironton) with most of the area previously represented by McEwen. Although the district did not include Miller's hometown of Lancaster, Miller decided not to retire and instead challenged McEwen in the Sixth District primary in 1992. The campaign was bitter, and McEwen eked out only a narrow victory. In November, McEwen was upset by Democrat Ted Strickland, a prison psychologist. Strickland himself was defeated in 1994 by Republican Frank Cremeans, but won the seat back in 1996.

For 2002 the district was shifted dramatically eastward in an attempt to create a safe seat for Strickland while ending James Traficant's congressional career by placing his hometown of Poland, Ohio, into the Sixth District. Traficant ran in the neighboring Seventeenth District instead, but lost. The district currently includes all of Columbiana, Gallia, Jefferson, Lawrence, Meigs, Monroe, Noble and Washington counties, and portions of Athens, Belmont, Mahoning and Scioto counties.

In 2010, Republican Bill Johnson defeated incumbent Democrat Charles Wilson, returning the seat Republican for the first time since 1997. Following the 2010 United States Census, the bounds of the sixth district were changed again as Ohio lost two seats in Congress.^[8]

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Year(s)	Congress(es)	Notes
District created		March 4, 1813
Reasin Beall	Democratic- Republican	April 20, 1813 – June 7, 1814	13th	Elected after Rep-elect John Stark Edwards died before commencement of term, Resigned
David Clendenin	October 11, 1814 – March 3, 1817	13th–14th
Peter Hitchcock	March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1819	15th
John Sloane	March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1823	16th–17th	Redistricted to the 12th district
Duncan McArthur	Adams- Clay DR	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th
John Thomson	Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1827	19th
William Creighton, Jr.	Adams	March 4, 1827 – ????, 1828	20th	Resigned after being appointed as judge of United States District Court for the District of Ohio
Francis Swaine Muhlenberg	December 19, 1828 – March 3, 1829	20th
William Creighton, Jr.	Anti- Jacksonian	March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1833	21st–22nd
Samuel Finley Vinton	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835	23rd	Redistricted from the 7th district
	Whig	March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837		24th
Calvary Morris	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1843	25th–27th
Henry St. John	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1847	28th–29th
Rodolphus Dickinson	March 4, 1847 – March 20, 1849	30th–31st	Died
Amos E. Wood	December 3, 1849 – November 19, 1850	31st	Died
John Bell	Whig	January 7, 1851 – March 3, 1851	31st
Frederick W. Green	Democratic	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	32nd	Redistricted to the 9th district
Andrew Ellison	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd
Jonas R. Emrie	Opposition	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	34th
Joseph R. Cockerill	Democratic	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859	35th
William Howard	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861	36th
Chilton A. White	March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1865	37th–38th
Reader W. Clarke	Republican	March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1869	39th–40th
John Armstrong Smith	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1873	41st–42nd
Isaac R. Sherwood	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd
Frank H. Hurd	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	44th
Jacob Dolson Cox	Republican	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1879	45th
William D. Hill	Democratic	March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1881	46th
James M. Ritchie	Republican	March 3, 1881 – March 3, 1883	47th
William D. Hill	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887	48th–49th
Melvin M. Boothman	Republican	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1891	50th–51st
Dennis D. Donovan	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893	52nd	Redistricted to the 5th district
George W. Hulick	Republican	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897	53rd–54th
Seth W. Brown	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1901	55th–56th
Charles Q. Hildebrant	March 4, 1901 – March 3, 1905	57th–58th
Thomas E. Scroggy	March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1907	59th
Matthew Denver	Democratic	March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1913	60th–62nd
Simeon D. Fess	Republican	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915	63rd	Redistricted to the 7th district
Charles Cyrus Kearns	March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1931	64th–71st
James G. Polk	Democratic	March 3, 1931 – January 3, 1941	72nd–76th
Jacob E. Davis	January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943	77th
Edward Oscar McCowen	Republican	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1949	78th–80th
James G. Polk	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – April 28, 1959	81st–86th	Died
Ward Miller	Republican	November 8, 1960 – January 3, 1961	86th	[9]
Bill Harsha	January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1981	87th–96th
Bob McEwen	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1993	97th–102nd	[10]
Ted Strickland	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995	103rd
Frank Cremeans	Republican	January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997	104th
Ted Strickland	Democratic	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2007	105th–109th	Retired to become Governor of Ohio
Charlie Wilson	January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011	110th–111th
Bill Johnson	Republican	January 3, 2011 – Present	112th–

Recent election results

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

Year	Democratic	Republican	Other
1920	Cleona Searles: 30,903	Charles C. Kearns: 38,044
1922	William N. Gableman: 28,939	Charles C. Kearns: 32,416
1924	Edward N. Kennedy:[11] 29,283	Charles C. Kearns: 33,064
1926	Edward H. Kennedy:[11] 24,730	Charles C. Kearns: 27,688
1928	George D. Nye: 33,020	Charles C. Kearns: 43,519
1930	James G. Polk: 37,158	Charles C. Kearns: 33,300
1932	James G. Polk: 50,913	Mack Sauer: 39,668
1934	James G. Polk: 42,340	Albert L. Daniels: 38,538	Mark A. Crawford: 312
1936	James G. Polk: 54,904	Emory F. Smith: 45,733
1938	James G. Polk: 43,646	Emory F. Smith: 42,847
1940	Jacob E. Davis: 52,769	Chester P. Fitch: 48,257
1942	Jacob E. Davis: 31,793	Edward O. McCowen: 33,171
1944	John W. Bush: 42,167	Edward O. McCowen: 45,284
1946	Franklin E. Smith: 33,013	Edward O. McCowen: 39,992
1948	James G. Polk: 46,944	Edward O. McCowen: 41,402
1950	James G. Polk: 40,335	Edward O. McCowen: 38,996
1952	James G. Polk: 67,220	Leo Blackburn: 66,896
1954	James G. Polk: 54,044	Leo Blackburn: 49,531
1956	James G. Polk: 72,229	Albert L. Daniels: 60,300
1958	James G. Polk: 76,566	Elmer S. Barrett: 46,924
1960	Franklin E. Smith: 65,045	William H. Harsha Jr.: 80,124
1960 s[9]	Gladys E. Davis: 61,713	Ward MacL. Miller: 76,520
1962	Jerry C. Rasor: 47,737	William H. Harsha Jr.: 72,743
1964	Franklin E. Smith: 57,223	William H. Harsha Jr.: 86,015
1966	Ottie W. Reno: 35,345	William H. Harsha Jr.: 74,847
1968	Kenneth L. Kirby: 40,964	William H. Harsha Jr.: 107,289
1970	Raymond H. Stevens: 39,265	William H. Harsha Jr.: 82,772
1972		William H. Harsha Jr.: 128,394
1974	Lloyd Allan Wood: 42,316	William H. Harsha Jr.: 93,400
1976	Ted Strickland: 67,067	William H. Harsha Jr.: 107,064
1978	Ted Strickland: 46,313	William H. Harsha Jr.: 85,592
1980	Ted Strickland: 84,235	Robert D. McEwen: 101,288
1982	Lynn Alan Grimshaw: 63,435	Robert D. McEwen: 92,135
1984	Bob Smith: 52,727	Robert D. McEwen: 150,101
1986	Gordon R. Roberts: 42,155	Robert D. McEwen: 106,354	Amos Seeley: 2,829
1988	Gordon R. Roberts: 52,635	Robert D. McEwen: 152,235
1990	Ray Mitchell: 47,415	Robert D. McEwen: 117,220
1992	Ted Strickland: 122,720	Robert D. McEwen:[10] 119,252
1994	Ted Strickland: 87,861	Frank A. Cremeans: 91,263
1996	Ted Strickland: 118,003	Frank A. Cremeans: 111,907
1998	Ted Strickland: 102,852	Nancy P. Hollister: 77,711
2000	Ted Strickland: 138,849	Mike Azinger: 96,966	Kenneth R. MacCutcheon (L): 4,759
2002	Ted Strickland: 113,972	Mike Halleck: 77,643
2004	Ted Strickland: 223,884	None	John Stephen Luchansky (Write-in): 145
2006	Charles A. Wilson Jr.: 131,322	Chuck Blasdel: 80,705
2008	Charles A. Wilson Jr.: 176,330	Richard Stobbs: 92,968	Dennis Spisak (G): 13,812
2010	Charles A. Wilson Jr.: 91,039	Bill Johnson: 101,580	Richard Cadle (C): 4,963 Martin Elass (L): 4,424
2012[12]	Charles A. Wilson Jr.: 144,444	Bill Johnson: 164,536

Competitiveness

Election results from presidential races:

Year	Office	Results
2000	President	George W. Bush 49 - Al Gore 47%
2004	President	George W. Bush 51 - John Kerry 49%
2008	President	John McCain 50 - Barack Obama 48%
2012	President	Mitt Romney 55 - Barack Obama 43%

Historical district boundaries

2003 - 2013

See also

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

Notes and references

1. "My Congressional District". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
2. http://www.ohiofreepress.com/2010/ohio-congressional-districts-map/
3. Ohio. Secretary of State. Official Roster of Federal, State, and County Officers and Departmental Information for 1991-1992. Columbus, Ohio: The Secretary, 1991. 330-335.
4. "Election 80: New Faces in the House". The Washington Post. November 23, 1980. A15.
5. Ohio. Secretary of State. Official Roster of Federal, State, and County Officers and Departmental Information for 1991-1992. Columbus, Ohio: The Secretary, 1991. 330-335; United States. Congress. Joint Committee on Printing. 1987-1988 Official Congressional Directory, 100th Congress. Duncan Nystrom, editor. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1987.
6. Ohio. Secretary of State. Official Roster of Federal, State, and County Officers and Departmental Information for 1991-1992. Columbus, Ohio: The Secretary, 1991. 330-335; United States. Congress. Joint Committee on Printing. 1991-1992 Official Congressional Directory, 102d Congress. Duncan Nystrom, editor. S. Pub. 102-4. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1991.
7. Michael Barone and Grant Ujifusa. The Almanac of American Politics, 1994. Washington, D.C.: National Journal, 1993. ISBN 0-89234-058-4.
8. "APPORTIONMENT POPULATION AND NUMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES, BY STATE: 2010 CENSUS" (PDF). US Census. December 21, 2010. Retrieved December 21, 2010.
9. A separate, special election was held to fill out Polk's unexpired term. Miller, the winner of this election, served the remainder of 1960, until Harsha's term began in 1961.
10. Redistricting following the 1990 census resulted in putting two Republican incumbents, Robert D. McEwen and Clarence E. Miller (incumbent in the 10th District), in the new Sixth District. McEwen defeated Miller in a bitterly fought Republican primary election in 1992.
11. Probable error in records: Edward H. Kennedy, the Democratic nominee in 1926, and Edward N. Kennedy, the Democratic nominee in 1924, are most probably the same person. Which name is correct is unknown.
12. "2012 Election Results". Ohio Secretary of State.

• 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

Coordinates: 38°45′N 83°0′W / 38.750°N 83.000°W