Columbus politics, elections, city council, mayor’s office and Ohio government news
A German Village restaurant is asking residents of its Columbus precinct to approve Sunday wine and mixed beverage sales on the May 5 primary ballot — a process rooted in Ohio liquor law that traces back to Prohibition and continues to require neighborhood-level voter approval for something as routine as a Sunday glass of wine. … Read more
An Ohio state senator has introduced legislation at the Statehouse in Columbus that would fundamentally restructure how Ohioans elect their representatives — replacing the current partisan primary system with a top-three open primary and a head-to-head “consensus voting” general election. The bill arrives roughly one month after Governor Mike DeWine signed into law a measure … Read more
Key Highlights: Ohio House Bill 20, sponsored by state Reps. Thomas Hall (R-Madison Township) and Phil Plummer (R-Butler Township), cleared the Ohio House last June and now sits in the Ohio Senate, where its fate remains unresolved. The bill would increase the penalty for obstructing police officers, firefighters, and EMTs as they perform their lawful … Read more
The Ohio State University released a 47-page internal investigation report on Tuesday detailing how former President Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. spent nearly two years leveraging his office to benefit a personal associate at the expense of the university’s mission and institutional partners. Carter resigned on March 7 after disclosing to the Board of Trustees that … Read more
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Mike DeWine on Wednesday announced the launch of a new statewide school attendance dashboard designed to track student absenteeism across Ohio, including in Columbus City Schools and districts throughout Franklin County. State officials said the dashboard provides publicly accessible data on attendance rates, with a focus on chronic absenteeism — typically defined as … Read more
GROVE CITY, Ohio A Democratic candidate for Congress was arrested Saturday during a “No Kings” protest in Grove City, according to his campaign. Don Leonard, who is running in Ohio’s 15th Congressional District, was taken into custody by Grove City police and later released. A campaign spokesperson confirmed Leonard is no longer in custody and … Read more
COLUMBUS, Ohio March 8, 2026 – Mike DeWine will deliver his 2026 State of the State address Tuesday at noon at the Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus. Lawmakers from the Ohio General Assembly will gather for the speech in the Ohio House chamber. This will be DeWine’s seventh and final State of the State address … Read more
COLUMBUS — Some AEP Ohio customers in Columbus say their electric bills have doubled over the past two months, and they want answers. Residents in the Columbus area took to social media Friday to share their frustration. Multiple customers reported seeing bills nearly twice as high as the same period last year, even accounting for … Read more
The Columbus City Council ICE vote made history on Monday with a unanimous 9–0 decision. Every council member agreed to pass five new laws that limit how federal immigration officers (ICE) work in Columbus. These rules change how federal agents use city-owned buildings and interact with local police. These changes will start as soon as … Read more