Jo Ann Davidson, Ohio’s first and only female speaker of the House, is in the statehouse

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The governor and other current and past elected officials paid tribute to the late Jo Ann Davidson, Ohio’s first and only female speaker of the House and a force in state and national Republican politics, in as she lay in state at the Ohio Statehouse Thursday before the public funeral service.

Davidson, who he died on friday at 97, she is the first woman to be honored with such a public viewing. It is a rare honor that Davidson is only the 10th person in state history to receive it. Another was Abraham Lincoln. The last person to stand in the Ohio capitol building was the former astronaut and US senator. John Glenn in 2016.

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, Senate President Matt Huffman and former Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery, one of Davidson’s closest friends, were among those who attended the viewing from the Statehouse Rotunda.

Davidson will lie in state until 2 p.m., when a funeral service is planned in the Atrium. Both events are open to the public and the service will be broadcast live on The Ohio Channel.

Davidson spent nearly 60 years in politics, starting as a volunteer in a Columbus suburb to being elected to the city council, leading the Ohio House and serving as co-chairman of the Republican National Committee.

She led President George W. Bush’s 2004 regional re-election effort — helping him secure a crucial Ohio victory over Democrat John Kerry to win the White House — and GOP Ohio Gov. Bob Taft’s successful 2002 campaign. Davidson was also a close aide to Ohio’s then-Republican governor. John Kasich and the state’s current governor, the Republican Mike DeWine.

Davidson’s life in politics began in 1965 when he ran and lost a race for the all-male Reynoldsburg City Council. She won the seat two years later and spent the next 10 years in the role.

In 1980, she was successfully elected to the Ohio House, where she built a 20-plus year reputation for hard work, team building and intelligence. Fellow lawmakers elected her the first female speaker in 1994. She led the chamber until her retirement due to term limits in 2001. Along with her legislative service, she served as vice president of special programs for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

In 2000, she founded the Jo Ann Davidson Ohio Leadership Institute, a training center in Columbus for Republican women whom she considered to be strong potential candidates for office and party leadership. Over the years, she has personally guided nearly 500 women. She also ran a consulting firm, JAD & Associates, which advised on public policy, strategic planning and political campaigns.