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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio voters dealt a sharp rebuke to first-year Gov. John Kasich and his conservative agenda Tuesday by overwhelmingly rejecting the restrictive new collective bargaining law he championed.

"It's clear the people have spoken," the humbled Republican leader said from the Statehouse. "I heard their voices. I understand their decision. And frankly, I respect what the people have to say in an effort like this. And as a result of that, it requires me to take a deep breath and to spend some time to reflect on what happened here."

The state's labor union leaders, meanwhile, praised voters for standing up to Kasich, who they felt bullied them in his rush to create the law, known as Senate Bill 5.

"We want to thank the voters of Ohio who used their citizen's veto to send a message that this extreme legislation was simply out of touch with the majority of Ohioans," said Ohio Civil Service Employees Association President Christopher Mabe. "Most Ohioans believe that government runs best when front-line workers have a seat at the table. Tonight, they gave us our seat back."

"Tonight we sent a message," Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern told a crowd of Issue 2 opponents gathered at a downtown Columbus hotel. "A year ago, things didn't work out for us. I want you to think about how you felt that night, and I want you to think about how you feel tonight."

The divisive campaign has raised questions about whether Kasich -- who has pushed through a number of controversial initiatives with the help of compliant GOP lawmakers -- will have as much success next year in accomplishing his policy goals.

"I'm sure it's going to temper us a little bit, but by and large our members are fully supportive of less government, lower taxes and giving more authority to the people," veteran Republican state Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, of Napoleon, said Tuesday night.

...

"I think there is no question this is a major black eye for the governor," said Ohio State University election law professor Dan Tokaji. "He made the scaling back of collective bargaining rights really the signature issue of the first part of his administration, so this is a huge blow.

...

The decisive defeat was not unexpected as nearly every Issue 2 poll predicted voters would reject the law by a double-digit margin, a result that even Kasich and his Republican supporters had glumly come to expect.

Republicans, in fact, shifted much of their campaign strategy over the past 10 days from winning to limiting the margin of loss -- pleading with their supporters to still vote despite the poll numbers -- in hopes of trivializing a Democratic political boomerang into 2012.

But with a sizeable double-digit defeat, it didn't work.

If campaign money is any indication -- and in politics it usually is -- Kasich and his supporters never had a chance.

We Are Ohio, the coalition of Democrats and major labor unions, outspent Building a Better Ohio -- the yes side -- by a more than 3-to-1 margin. They ran far more commercials, and they weren't shy about soliciting outside help to raise funds.

We Are Ohio raised more than $30 million for its campaign while Building a Better Ohio raised about $7.6 million, according to recent campaign finance reports.

Republicans knew they could be headed for trouble when this summer SB5 opponents turned in a million valid signatures to qualify Issue 2 for the ballot -- a record number for a referendum.

SB5 was introduced by state Sen. Shannon Jones, a Springboro Republican. But it was Kasich -- who took office declaring he would change Ohio's collective bargaining law -- who championed it. He took the unusual step of visiting Statehouse hearings on the bill.

And when it appeared it did not have enough votes to clear the Senate, Kasich began lobbying senators individually in private meetings in his office. He eventually helped get the measure the one-vote margin it needed to clear the Senate. The more conservative House was an easier sell.

It all ended in about the worst case scenario for Republicans: a sizeable defeat that has left key party figures pointing fingers at each other.

The GOP has tripped into a valley after achieving a remarkable high just one year ago when Kasich became the first person to upset an incumbent Ohio governor since 1974. His victory triggered a Republican sweep of statewide elected offices and helped the GOP reclaim the Ohio House.

The pressure from an anticipated Issue 2 loss has been mounting and rose to the surface last week when Republicans began shifting the blame for Senate Bill 5 to one another.

Kasich supporters quietly blamed Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted, saying the state's top elections officer allowed Issue 2 to be worded on the ballot to benefit the no side. Others blamed the governor, saying he stubbornly employed the classic political over-reach, ramrodding major policy through while ignoring the wishes of the public.

"Republicans got too greedy and it backfired," Tokaji said. "They went too far and there was a huge backlash against them."

caltrek

Nov 16 2011, 07:17 AM

Democracy may cost money, but I think it is well worth the price.

Frimp

Nov 11 2011, 12:58 PM

Note to self....Never move to Ohio.

caltrek

Nov 16 2011, 07:54 PM

By way of explanation, ballot initiatives may cost money, but the outcomes are expression of the democratic will. Now you may not like that, you may prefer a more republican (note the small "r") form of government. With all its faults, I tend to like direct democracy. I am especially pleased of the outcome in Ohio, where I think Kasich overstepped his bounds.

I don't see how making that argument and expressing that opinion amounts to justifying "inneficiency, downright wistfulness, and even corruption". It may be that we are "democratically voting ourselve off a cliff", but I don't see the results in Ohio as being evidence of that. In fact, I see it as being evidence of a very healthy desire not to see corporate controlled political elite enjoying a monopoly over political power. In that sense, it is very much an effort to avoid the cliff we are otherwise heading toward.

caltrek

Nov 18 2011, 11:50 AM

Dandandat,

I don't think that it is the unions that are to blame for the state's sudden problems in affording the services it could once afford. I think that can be traced back to a sudden decline in revenues that can in turn be traced back to an economic coolapse. The cause of that collapse was not the unions, but rampant greed and a lack of proper regulation of the major finacial institutions of this country. So it would not seem to me to make much sense to attack the unions in such circumstances.

As far as trying to fix the problems, this reminds me of the recent work of Naomi Cline (sp?). She has written about how many elites use crises to advance their own long term agendas. So, when a politician like the governor of Ohio goes after a long standing supporter of his political opponents, I have to wonder if he is really more interested in his own political gain than he is with fixing a problem.

I am not sure about Ohio, but I know that in Wisconsin, the unions were quite willing to make concessions in recognition that the state was in hard times. They were willing to pitch in to help the state get through a rough spot. In return, they received a kick in the teeth. Governor Kasich certainly kicked the unions in the teeth in Ohio.

So again, I don't think the voters of Ohio made the wrong choice. They simply recognized a cynical political manuever for what it was.