Ohio voters dealt a withering blow to Governor John Kasich as 82 of 88 counties voted to repeal his signature legislation, an anti-collective-bargaining bill, through a citizens’ veto last night.
According to unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s website, just over 61 percent (around 2.1 million people) of Ohioans voted ‘no’ on Issue 2, repealing Senate Bill 5, a law that dramatically curtailed public employee unions’ right to collectively bargain with city and state management. Almost 39 percent (1.3 million) voted to keep the law. During a concession speech, one reporter asked Gov. Kasich whether he now believed the law was an “overreach.”
“That’s like asking an athlete, ‘should you have not taken a shot?’” he said, later acknowledging that voters might be saying it was too much, too soon.
Two other pieces of legislation are already on next year’s ballot in referendum: one a bill some say would amount to voter suppression, the other a reflection on the state Legislature’s congressional re-districting plan.