Davidson was Ohio’s first Republican House speaker in 22 years, following the ten-term speakership of Scioto County Democrat Vern Riffe and the single-term speakership of Belmont County Democrat A.G. Lancione.
In November 1994, Davidson-led Republicans won control of Ohio’s House. Riffe, a monumental figure in his own right, hadn’t run the House with a light touch: Crossing him could end a career. So, when Davidson landed the House’s gavel in 1995, there was fear long-stifled House members would, like high school pupils released from years-long detentions, erupt into pandemonium, gumming up legislation and passage of Ohio’s 1995-97 budget.
That didn’t happen; Davidson’s consensual approach and gift for picking good committee chairs, great policy aides and an exceptionally good House staff steadied the party transition.
Thanks to Davidson’s quarterbacking, the House’s 1995-96 session, the first one GOP-run since 1972 was constructive and productive (albeit, with a notable blot: A 1995 payday-loan bill so rancid that Republican then-Gov. George V. Voinovich let it become law without his signature).
From the get-go, Davidson was wary of Perry County Republican Larry Householder. Despite her quiet but determined opposition, he succeeded her as speaker in 2001. History confirmed Davidson’s instincts: Householder, convicted in 2023 on corruption charges, is serving a 20-year sentence in the Federal Correctional Institution in Columbiana County’s Elkton.
In a notably petty act, Householder, after becoming speaker, removed Davidson’s official portrait (a great likeness, by noted Toledo artist Leslie Adams) from the House chamber. After Householder was term-limited home, the Davidson portrait was returned to the House.
In 2016, Davidson backed then-Gov. John R. Kasich, a Westerville Republican, not Donald Trump, for the GOP presidential nomination. (Meanwhile, Davidson, unlike many GOP officeholders, was a long-standing supporter of women’s reproductive rights.)
Davidson got her career start working as a secretary for what’s now the Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. After moving to Central Ohio, she joined the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, becoming one of its executives.
Davidson got her political start campaigning for Barry Goldwater in 1964. After a first-try defeat, she was elected to Reynoldsburg City Council. In 1980, voters promoted Davidson to an Ohio House seat.
Davidson was born on Sept. 28, 1927, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Ralph
Benington Sr. and Bernice Benington. After Mr. Benington’s death, the family moved to Findlay, Mrs. Benington’s hometown.
In 1949, Jo Ann Benington married World War II Army veteran John R. Davidson, also of Findlay. The Davidsons eventually separated. Mr. Davidson died in Reynoldsburg in 1986, age 60.
Jo Ann Davidson is survived by a daughter, Jenifer Enslen, of Mason, a certified public accountant; grandsons Maxwell Enslen and Taylor Huelsman; and granddaughter Emily Enslen. Davidson was preceded in death in 2020 by her other daughter, Julie Davidson (Huelsman), age 66, for more than 30 years a fourth-grade teacher in the Reynoldsburg schools; and, in 2022, by a grandson, Alexander J. Enslen, of West Chester, age 31.
Journalism’s slipperiest words are “first” and “last,” “best” and “worst,” “always” and “never.” But if anyone in recent Statehouse life outranks Jo Ann Davidson as a magnificent public official, it’s impossible – at this writing – to imagine who that’d be.
Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University. You can reach him at tsuddes@gmail.com.
About the Author