Ohio Politics Explained: Statehouse bureau's favorite stories of 2022

From elections to landmark court cases and culture wars, the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau wrote hundreds of articles in 2022.

But some of them stuck with us more than others. These are the four stories that stood out to our reporters for their impact, their humor and for the way they challenged us as writers.

We're explaining why in this special, holiday episode of Ohio Politics Explained.

A podcast from the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau that catches you up on the state's political news in 15 minutes or less. This week, host Anna Staver was joined by reporters Jessie Balmert, Laura Bischoff and Haley BeMiller.

1) Legal changes for abuse victims

Ohio is home to nearly 2,000 Ohio survivors of sexual abuse from Boy Scout leaders and volunteers. In order to claim their part of the $2.46 billion trust fund created by the organization, the state needed to change its law.

A stricter statute of limitations for child sex abuse meant victims from Ohio could only recover about 30% to 40% of what people in other states received.

BeMiller chronicled both their personal stories and their fight to get state lawmakers to change the law before September 2023.

2) Gubernatorial shenanigans

Political campaigns are always full of ups and downs and a few strange moments, and this year's Republican primary for Ohio governor was no different.

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci emailed out news of an endorsement in the race one morning from MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a longtime supporter of former President Donald Trump.

It seemed like a win for Renacci's campaign until Lindell retracted that endorsement a few hours later while mispronouncing the congressman's name.

"The Jim Renacci (Reh-NEE-shaw) endorsement in Ohio. I did not endorse him," Lindell said on a live-streamed Facebook video. "People were misconstrued. There was a lot of confusion. Somebody put it out there."

Then, Gov. Mike DeWine himself got into a verbal tousle with his other Republican primary opponent, Joe Blystone, at the Ohio Beef Expo.

A video released by Blystone's campaign showed the two men talking before DeWine touched his shoulder and Blystone pushed him away.

Blystone said he approached the governor to ask why he wouldn't participate in a primary debate. DeWine declined to get into the details of the conversation except to say he made "a reference to me winning the race, and I expressed to him my confidence that I would defeat him in the race for governor."

3) Wrongful conviction

Bischoff has been chronicling an Ohio man who was wrongfully convicted and spent 20 years in prison before being released in 2011 and then winning a $45 million civil suit in August.

"The horror inflicted on Dean (Gillispie) and his family and community is hard to wrap your mind around," Ohio Innocence Project Director Mark Godsey said. "The way the authorities pushed through a conviction and then fought back and refused to admit a mistake was so disappointing. Nothing can repay Dean for the horror."

In August, a task force of judges, lawyers and political leaders said Ohio needed an independent, statewide commission to investigate claims of innocence.

4) Power profile

Profiles can take weeks to report. They require multiple interviews with the subject and the people around them, hometown visits and extra editing.

The May article explaining who is Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, was no exception. The long-form story chronicled Huffman's rise to power in Ohio and his legislative priorities as well as his personal history.

This stretched Staver as a journalist. The article was re-written four times prior to publication. And one quote, in particular, took on a life of its own.

When describing the Republican supermajority at Ohio's statehouse, the senate president said, "We can kind of do what we want."

Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor cited the quote from the story in a redistricting decision that rejected the fifth set of maps, and it appeared in a This American Life episode called "Mapmaker, Mapmaker, Make Me a Map."

Listen to "Ohio Politics Explained" on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts and TuneIn Radio. The episode is also available by clicking the link in this article.

The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau serves The Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Politics Explained: Our bureau's favorite stories of 2022