Issue 1, an Ohio ballot measure to raise the threshold required to pass a constitutional amendment, failed on Tuesday in a tough defeat for conservatives who sought to make it more difficult for special-interest groups to influence the state constitution.
The “no” choice to keep the simple-majority threshold under current law was winning with nearly 59.4 percent, with an estimated 44.8 percent of the vote counted, the Washington Post projected just after 9 p.m. EDT.
Ohio has used a simple-majority requirement since 1912, but Issue 1 would have bumped the threshold up to 60 percent.
Ahead of the special election, supporters and opponents of the measure agreed that the vote could have far-reaching implications. Special-interest groups committed millions of dollars to the race to ensure that it would remain easier to push their legislative agenda via ballot amendment.
Conservatives warned that leaving the threshold at 50 percent plus one vote could cause Ohio to become a blueprint for progressive groups to circumvent the normal legislative process in states across the country.
“What we have seen in Ohio is that our constitution is for sale,” Mehek Cooke, a Republican attorney who has previously served as legal counsel for the Ohio governor’s office, previously told National Review. “We have special-interest groups that are on the outside, opponents that have raised and spent over $10 million exclusively to attack our fundamental constitutional rights with their liberal agenda.”
A campaign committee opposing Issue 1, called “One Person, One Vote,” raised $14.8 million and spent $10.4 million on its efforts, according to campaign-finance reports. Around $13 million of the money raised came from groups rather than individuals. Donors included the progressive dark-money group Sixteen Thirty Fund, which contributed $2.5 million, and the Ohio Education Association and its national affiliate, which donated $2 million. More than $1.8 million came from the Tides Foundation, and the UCLA donated $1 million.
Of the $14.8 million raised, more donations came from Washington, D.C., or California-based donors than from Ohio-based donors.
Meanwhile, Protect Our Constitution, the campaign committee in support of Issue 1, has raised $4.9 million — 82.5 percent of which came from Illinois conservative billionaire Richard Uihlein. The group had spent $1.6 million as of last week.
Cooke said ahead of the election that raising the threshold would be about protecting the state’s constitution from national interest groups that travel across America with an agenda. These groups have decided that if they can’t pass a law through the legislature or a governor, they’re going straight for state constitutions, she said.
Issue 1 would have had the most immediate impact on an ACLU-backed ballot proposal that will come up for a vote in November. That constitutional amendment would effectively outlaw any restrictions on abortion and other procedures that involve reproduction, including gender-transition surgeries. It would also remove parental-consent and notification requirements for minors who undergo the procedures.