Ted Strickland

Theodore Strickland (born August 4, 1941) is an American politician who served as the 68th governor of Ohio from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented Ohio's 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995, and again from 1997 to 2007. As of 2026, he is the most recent Democrat to serve as governor of Ohio. A native of Lucasville, Ohio, Strickland earned degrees from Asbury University, Asbury Theological Seminary, and the University of Kentucky. He worked as a psychologist and United Methodist Church minister before being elected to the House of Representatives in 1992. After narrowly losing re-election in the 1994 Republican Revolution, he regained his seat in 1996. In the 2006 Ohio gubernatorial election, Strickland defeated Ohio secretary of state Ken Blackwell in a landslide, receiving 60 percent of the vote. Strickland's governorship was largely defined by the economic challenges of the Great Recession. He was narrowly defeated for re-election in the 2010 Ohio gubernatorial election by former U.S. representative John Kasich. After leaving office, Strickland served as president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. He was the Democratic nominee in the 2016 United States Senate election in Ohio, but lost to incumbent Senator Rob Portman by 20 percentage points.