Pat Dollard

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AP:

The state’s new collective bargaining law was defeated Tuesday after an expensive union-backed campaign that pitted firefighters, police officers and teachers against the Republican establishment.

In a political blow to GOP Gov. John Kasich, voters handily rejected the law, which would have limited the bargaining abilities of 350,000 unionized public workers. With more than a quarter of the votes counted late Tuesday, 63 percent of votes were to reject the law.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said victory for unions was achieved among Democrats and Republicans in urban and rural counties.

“Ohio sent a message to every politician out there: Go in and make war on your employees rather than make jobs with your employees, and you do so at your own peril,” he said.

At a celebration at a downtown Columbus hotel, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said Republicans and Kasich overreached.

“He literally thought he knew more than everyone else,” Redfern said.

Asked whether the collective bargaining law, called Issue 2, was a referendum on Kasich, Redfern said, “Absolutely. He was the face of the campaign. John Kasich chose to put his face on this campaign for the last eight weeks. The people of the state pushed back.”

Kasich planned to issue a statement later Tuesday.

Labor and business interests poured more than $30 million into the nationally watched campaign, and turnout was high for an off-year election.