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Jo Ann Davidson, Ohio's first and only female House speaker, to lie in state at Statehouse

  • Julie Carr Smyth, The Associated Press

  • Canadian Press

  • October 31, 2024

Mourners stand for the beginning of the funeral for former Ohio House speaker Jo Ann Davidson in the Atrium of the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The late Jo Ann Davidson, Ohio's first and only female House speaker and a force in state and national Republican politics, is set to lie in state Thursday at the Ohio Statehouse ahead of a public funeral service.

Davidson, who died Friday at 97, is the first woman to be honored with such a public viewing. It is a rare honor that Davidson is only the 10th person in state history to receive. Another was Abraham Lincoln. The last person who lay in state in Ohio's capital building was former astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn in 2016.

Davidson's viewing is scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Statehouse Rotunda, followed by a funeral service from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Atrium. Both events are open to the public, and the service will be livestreamed on The Ohio Channel.

Davidson spent nearly 60 years in politics, beginning as a volunteer in a Columbus suburb to being elected to the local city council, leading the Ohio House and serving as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.

She headed President George W. Bush's regional reelection effort in 2004 -- helping him to a crucial Ohio victory over Democrat John Kerry to win the White House -- and the successful 2002 campaign of GOP Ohio Gov. Bob Taft. Davidson was also a close adviser to then-Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich and to the state's current governor, Republican Mike DeWine.

Davidson's life in politics began in 1965, when she ran and lost a race for the all-male Reynoldsburg City Council. She won the seat two years later and spent the next 10 years in the role.

In 1980, she was successfully elected to the Ohio House, where she would build a reputation over 20 years for hard work, team-building and smarts. Fellow lawmakers elected her the first female speaker in 1994. She led the chamber until retiring due to term limits in 2001. Alongside her legislative service, she worked as vice president of special programs for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

In 2000, she established the Jo Ann Davidson Ohio Leadership Institute, a Columbus-based training center for Republican women who she saw as strong prospective candidates for office and party leadership. Over the years, she personally guided nearly 500 women. She also ran a consulting firm, JAD & Associates, that advised on public policy, strategic planning and political campaigns.