Davidson urges women to take risks, run for office
Approaching her 90th birthday next month, former Ohio House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson still has a passion for the prize: electing more women to public office.
The only woman to serve as leader of either branch of the Ohio General Assembly, Davidson, a Republican, has spent two decades recruiting female candidates. She was in the Ohio House for 19 years, serving as speaker from 1995 to 2001.
Her campaign hasn’t had much of an impact in the legislature, however, where about 25 percent of members are female, the same as it has been for years, Davidson said Wednesday at a Columbus Metropolitan Club lunch forum. But she keeps the pressure on through the Jo Ann Davidson Ohio Leadership Institute, which she formed in 2000. About 350 women have gone through the program.
Davidson said female candidates often lack confidence in their ability, worry about the timing of running for office, or are afraid to take risks.
“Just show up,” Davidson urged firsttime candidates. “And don’t wait to be asked. The third time you show up for a candidate, they’ll put you in charge of a committee.”
“Don’t get pigeonholed as a female legislator,” she urged. Women frequently gravitate to child welfare, domestic violence and similar issues of interest to women, but in doing so find themselves stuck there. “They lose their ability to play a role in the larger issues of public policy.”
Interviewed by Joe Hallett, former senior editor at The Dispatch, Davidson deftly dodged questions about President Donald Trump and her favorite among four Republican candidates running for governor next year. Davidson is a member of the Republican National Committee.
“Certainly his approach is not typically the kind of approach to the presidency we like to see,” she said of Trump. “I do think he has identified some of the key issues correctly,” including health care and tax reform, she said.
But she acknowledged that the White House turmoil is not helpful. “I hope for the sake of my country and, quite frankly for my party, that some of these issues get worked out.”
Davidson declined to cite a favorite among the Republicans running for governor: Attorney General Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Jon Husted, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor and U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Wadsworth. “They all make good candidates.”
Davidson also said she opposes State Issue 2, the ballot issue that voters will decide Nov. 7 to place price limits on prescription drugs for an estimated 4 million Ohioans. “I don’t think it will accomplish the goals that people think it will accomplish,” she said. There is a need to reduce the high costs of prescription drugs, “but let’s do it in a way we know will work.”
Davidson also lamented the loss of popular Downtown spots such as the Galleria Tavern and Neil House Hotel, well-known as popular hangouts for politicians.
“There’s not a good watering hole in Downtown Columbus,” she said. “There were a lot of relationships built there.”