Ohio's 3rd congressional district is located entirely in Franklin County and includes most of the city of Columbus. The current district lines were drawn in 2022, following the

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

based on the 2020 census. It is currently represented by Democrat Joyce Beatty. It was one of several districts challenged in a 2018 lawsuit seeking to overturn Ohio's congressional map due to alleged unconstitutional

gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...

.Todd Ruger,
Voters Challenge Ohio Congressional Map as Partisan Gerrymander"
''Roll Call,'' May 23, 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018. According to the lawsuit, the 3rd was "shaped like a snowflake" that was designed to "fracture" Columbus. The plaintiffs focused on the 3rd in part because the 2013-2023 version of the district was barely contiguous. In some portions, it was almost, but not quite, split in two by the neighboring 12th and 15th districts which split the rest of Columbus between them. The 2013-2023 map, drawn in private by Republican lawmakers in a Columbus hotel room, drew most of the heavily Democratic portions of Columbus into the 3rd, with much of the rest of Columbus split into the more Republican 12th and 15th districts. An alternative plan was to split Columbus between four districts, creating 13 safe Republican seats. In May 2019, the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati deemed the map unconstitutional, as intentionally drawn to keep Republicans in power and disenfranchise Democratic voters. The U.S. Supreme Court discarded the district court ruling in October 2019. In 2018, Ohio voters approved a ballot measure known as Issue 1, which grants the minority party oversight on redistricting, requiring 50 percent minority party approval for district maps. The process would only take place after the 2020 census and presidential election. For most of the time from 1887 to 2003, the 3rd was a

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

-based district; much of that territory is now the 10th district.

Recent election results from statewide races

Composition

For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties, townships, and municipalities: Franklin County (20) : Bexley, Blendon Township, Columbus (part; also 4th, 12th, and 15th; shared with

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

and Fairfield counties), Gahanna, Grandview Heights, Jefferson Township, Marble Cliff, Mifflin Township, Minerva Park, New Albany (part; also 12th; shared with

Licking County Licking County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. At the 2020 census, the population was 178,519. Its county seat is Newark. The county was formed on January 30, 1808, from portions of Fairfield County. It ...

), Perry Township, Plain Township, Riverlea, Reynoldsburg (part; also 12th; shared with

), Sharon Township, Truro Township, Upper Arlington, Westerville (part; also 4th; shared with Delaware County),

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

, Worthington

List of members representing the district

Recent election results

The following chart shows historic election results. Bold type indicates victor. ''Italic type'' indicates incumbent.

1951 special election

*In 1951, after Breen's resignation for ill health, Schenck was elected in a special election to complete Breen's term.

2002

In 2002, when then-U.S. Rep. Tony P. Hall decided to accept an appointment as a U.N. ambassador, Richard Alan Carne took his place as the Democratic nominee for the congressional seat. Carne lost the race to former Dayton mayor Michael R. Turner.

2006 election

On August 13, 2006, Democratic candidate Stephanie Studebaker— who was the party's nominee to run against the incumbent Republican— was arrested, alongside her husband, on charges of

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. Two days later, she withdrew from the race, leaving the Ohio Democratic Party without a candidate in the district. A special primary election to select a new Democratic candidate was held on 15 September 2006. Richard Chema won that election with nearly 75% of the vote, but lost to Republican Michael R. Turner in the general election.

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

Historical district boundaries

Notes

References

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohio's 3rd Congressional District 03 Constituencies established in 1813 1813 establishments in Ohio