Ohio’s March primary highlights fracturing GOP House and state races riddled with party infighting

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Despite wielding power in both chambers of the state Legislature, Ohio’s Republican lawmakers are far from coasting through this election season as incumbents face challengers from their own party in the midst of a bitter GOP power struggle.

Next month’s primary will likely be used to further wage the infighting that’s been steady in the state House since 2023, when a contentious House speaker race split the lower chamber’s Republicans. Even though GOP lawmakers hold supermajorities in both chambers, the Legislature succeeded in setting a record last year for the lowest number of bills passed since the 1950s.

Democrats are deciding a few contested primaries themselves, but even newly drawn Statehouse maps backed by both parties make it all but impossible for them to gain the majority in 2024.

All 99 seats in the Ohio House are up for grabs this year, as are 16 of the 33 seats in the Senate.

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