Ohio’s first female House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson remembered as a trailblazer and legend

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The late Jo Ann Davidson, Ohio’s first and only female House speaker, has been eulogized at the Ohio Statehouse for blazing trails for women with grit, grace and a guiding spirit. Davidson died Friday at 97. Her memorial service Thursday attracted one current and three former governors, sitting congressional representatives and legislators, and politicos of several generations. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine called her “a true Ohio legend.” Davidson had been a force in state and national Republican politics for nearly 60 years, including as co-chair of the Republican National Committee. She lay in state for several hours before the service.