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 served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 6th congressional district (1993–1995, 1997–2007). As of 2026, he is the most recent Democrat to serve as governor of Ohio.

In the 2006 gubernatorial election, Strickland was elected to succeed term-limited Republican incumbent Bob Taft, receiving 60% of the vote and defeating Ohio secretary of state Ken Blackwell. He was narrowly defeated for re-election in the 2010 gubernatorial election by former U.S. representative John Kasich.

In April 2014, Strickland became president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Strickland left that position in February 2015, and subsequently announced his intention to run for the United States Senate against incumbent Rob Portman. He went on to lose by 20 points.

Strickland was born in Lucasville, Ohio, the son of Carrie (Carver) and Charles Orville Strickland. He was one of nine children. A 1959 graduate of Northwest High School, Strickland went on to be the first member of his family to attend college. Strickland received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history with a minor in psychology from Asbury College in 1963. In 1966, he received a Master of Arts degree in guidance counseling from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from the Asbury Theological Seminary in 1967. He then returned to the University of Kentucky to earn his Ph.D. in counseling psychology in 1980. He is married to Frances Strickland, an educational psychologist.

Strickland worked as a counseling psychologist at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. He was an administrator at a Methodist children's home and was a professor of psychology at Shawnee State University. Strickland is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. He was a minister at a Methodist church in Portsmouth, Ohio.

Strickland ran for U.S. representative for Ohio's 6th congressional district in 1976, 1978, and 1980, losing twice to long-time incumbent William H. Harsha and later to Harsha's successor and campaign manager, Bob McEwen.

Strickland ran again for the 6th District seat in 1992, once again facing Bob McEwen, who had suffered some political damage by being associated with the House banking scandal. The 6th District had been combined with the old 10th District when Ohio lost two seats in Congress following the 1990 census and now covered a huge area stretching from Lebanon, in Warren County, to Marietta, in Washington County on the opposite side of the state. The district proved a difficult place to campaign, representing half a dozen different media markets and home to no large cities and few unifying influences.

Patrick J. Buchanan, Vice President Dan Quayle, and Oliver North came to Ohio to campaign for McEwen, but Strickland narrowly won in the general election on November 3, 1992. He received 122,720 votes to McEwen's 119,252, a plurality of 3,468 – just over 1.4%. Strickland began serving in January 1993 in the 103rd Congress.