Welcome to the Thursday, March 6, 2025, Brew.
By: Lara Bonatesta
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- A comprehensive look at 115 years of ballot measures in Ohio
- Ten candidates are running for mayor of Oakland on April 15
- This week’s On The Ballot examines the history behind Indiana’s only election of 2025
A comprehensive look at 115 years of ballot measures in Ohio
Ballotpedia’s Historical Ballot Measure Factbook will document nearly 200 years of direct democracy in the United States. This ongoing research effort will provide an unparalleled resource for researchers, reporters, and the public on how ballot measures have evolved, the issues they have covered, and their role in our civic life.
We introduced this project last summer when we featured Texas’ historical ballot measures and gave Brew readers a sneak peek at what to expect as we expand our Fact Book to all 50 states. Since then, we’ve published summaries about five more states:
Today, let’s look at historical ballot measures in Ohio. Our comprehensive inventory of Ohio’s ballot measures spans from 1910 to 2024.
In that time, Ohioans decided on 306 measures, approving 169 and defeating 137 – a 55.2% approval rate. The average approval rate of the eight states we’ve published summary content on so far is 57.8%. The state with the highest approval rate of these eight was Texas (74.54%). The state with the lowest approval rate was Oregon (46.7%)
The chart below shows the total number of measures voters decided on in each decade. Between the 1910s and 2020s, Ohio voters decided on an average of more than 25 measures in each decade.
The two decades with the most ballot measures were the 1910s and 1970s. In 1910, voters approved a measure to hold a constitutional convention to revise the state constitution. The Ohio Constitutional Convention of 1912 referred 42 constitutional amendments to voters, including the one that created the initiative and referendum process. There were then 20 citizen initiatives between 1913 and 1920.
The increase in ballot measures in the 1970s primarily came from an increase in legislatively-referred constitutional amendments. In 1969, the Legislature passed a bill to establish the Ohio Constitutional Revision Commission. The Commission, which existed from 1970 to 1977, reviewed and proposed changes to the state constitution. Legislators then decided whether to put these amendments on the ballot.
Between 1910 and 2024, the Ohio Legislature put 206 measures on the ballot, while there were 100 citizen initiatives. Legislatively-referred measures were approved 69% of the time, compared to 26% for citizen initiatives.
There are seven different types of ballot measures in Ohio. Legislatively referred constitutional amendments have appeared on the ballot the most (157). Constitutional convention referrals had the highest success rate (81%). Veto referendums had the lowest success rate (15.38%).
Ohio ballot measures addressed 67 unique topics, with some addressing multiple topics in one measure.
Here is a selection of important and interesting measures from the Ohio Factbook:
- The Ohio Constitutional Convention of 1912 referred 42 constitutional amendments to the ballot, which voters decided on Sept. 3, 1912. Topics included the initiative and referendum process, primary elections, labor regulations, women’s suffrage, etc.
- In 1976, voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring the lieutenant governor and governor to run on a joint ticket in general elections.
- Voters adopted term limits for state executives and state legislators in 1992.
- In 1994, voters approved a constitutional amendment establishing specific rights for crime victims. These rights were expanded when voters approved Marsy’s Law in 2017.
- Voters rejected an initiative to legalize marijuana in 2015, then approved one in 2023.
- In 2023, Ohio became the fourth state to approve an amendment establishing a state constitutional right to abortion.
- In 2023, voters rejected Issue 1, which would have increased the vote threshold for constitutional amendments to 60%.
The next state ballot measure election in Ohio is on May 6. Voters will decide on Issue 2, which would allow the state to issue up to $2.5 billion in general obligation bonds. Since 1910, voters have decided on 37 bond issues in Ohio, approving 24 (64.9%) and rejecting 13 (35.1%).
Ten candidates are running for mayor of Oakland on April 15
As part of our ongoing coverage of important local-level races from around the country, today we’re looking at the 10 candidates who are running in the nonpartisan, special general election for mayor of Oakland on April 15.
Brew readers may recall that on Nov. 5, 2024, Oakland voters recalled then-mayor Sheng Thao 60.6%-39.4%. It was the first time in the city’s history that a mayor was successfully recalled. (Click here to learn more about the recall)
After Thao’s recall, the Oakland City Council appointed Kevin Jenkins to serve as interim mayor. Jenkins is not running in the April 15 election.
Barbara Lee, Loren Taylor, and Renia Webb lead in media attention and endorsements.
Lee represented California’s 12th Congressional District from 2023 to 2025 and was a candidate in the 2024 U.S. Senate primary.
Lee’s priorities include:
- Public safety
- Homelessness and housing
- Government accountability
Taylor was a member of the Oakland City Council from 2019 to 2023 and a candidate for mayor in 2022. In the ninth round of ranked-choice voting, Thao defeated Taylor 50.3%-49.7%. In the first round, Thao received 31.8% of the vote, while Taylor received 33.1%.
Taylor’s priorities include:
- Public safety
- Budget stabilization
- Housing and homelessness
Webb is an elementary school teacher and worked as Thao’s chief of staff when Thao was on Oakland’s City Council.
Webb’s priorities include:
- Public safety and public health
- Economic revitalization
- Housing
Lee, Taylor, and Webb participated in a forum on Feb. 18, 2025. At the forum, the candidates discussed public safety, homelessness, economic conditions, and government accountability. Click here to watch the forum.
President Cristina Grappo, Tyron Jordan, Peter Liu, Mindy Pechenuk, Suz Robinson, Eric Simpson, and Elizabeth Swaney are also running. Liu completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey.
Oakland uses ranked-choice voting (RCV), which asks voters to rank candidates by preference on their ballots. Click here to learn more about that process.
This week’s On The Ballot examines the history behind Indiana’s only election of 2025
As we mentioned earlier this week, Indiana’s only election of 2025, excluding special elections, happened on Monday, March 3, in the town of Vernon. In this week’s new episode of On The Ballot, host Geoff Pallay and Ballotpedia’s Thomas Grobben will explore that race and others like it.
Vernon held the election on Monday because it is the only town in Indiana still governed by an 1851 charter instead of state law. The charter states that Venon’s elections will be held “on the first Monday in March 1895, and biennially thereafter, for the purpose of electing a Mayor, one Councilman, for each ward.”
This election is one of 32,000 that Ballotpedia is covering this year, and as we continue to expand our local election coverage, it is also one we’ve chosen to feature as a unique example of our democratic process. Indiana is one of 26 states where Ballotpedia will provide comprehensive election coverage in 2025. Click here to learn more about that coverage.