# Willis Blackshear

Willis Blackshear is a Democratic member of the Ohio Senate for district 6.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Ohio Senate, district 6
- Serving since: 2023-01-01
- Current term: OH 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/23c443b0-e2f7-4c7a-af1e-d67d7aa366ce

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/23c443b0-e2f7-4c7a-af1e-d67d7aa366ce (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

66% of Blackshear’s itemized money in the 2026 cycle came from Ohio, in the bottom quarter of State Senate Democrats.

## What Blackshear says (OH 2025–26 session)

215 classified statements: 215 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State Senate Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Blackshear | State Senate Democrats average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.5% | 2.4% | 147 of 329 |
| Policy criticism | 4.2% | 10.3% | 217 of 329 |
| Policy discussion | 32.1% | 42.9% | 233 of 329 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.9% | 3.4% | 236 of 329 |
| Credit claiming | 14.4% | 16.1% | 165 of 329 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 0.8% | 228 of 329 |

Most discussed policy areas: Education 22% (State Senate Democrats 15%); Government Operations and Politics 17% (State Senate Democrats 14%); Health 16% (State Senate Democrats 17%); Economics and Public Finance 13% (State Senate Democrats 10%); Commerce 8.7% (State Senate Democrats 3.6%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.54 (standard error 0.02), from 714 donors and 484 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 68% of State Senate Democrats score lower.

## Votes (OH 2025–26 session)

241 roll calls. Attendance 100% (Ohio Senate 100%). Party unity 100% (97.5%). 0 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-09-30 · voted yea · Passed · HB 519 Prohibit specified actions with intent to steal a motor vehicle · pass · https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/HB519/
- 2026-06-11 · voted nay · Passed · HB 173 Regards entities providing behind-the-meter utility services · pass · https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/HB173/
- 2026-06-11 · voted yea · Passed · HB 541 Designate Deputy Daniel "Weston" Sherrer Memorial Highway · pass · https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/HB541/
- 2026-06-11 · voted yea · Passed · HB 251 Regards drone use by law enforcement; aviation facilities · pass · https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/HB251/
- 2026-06-11 · voted nay · Concurred in House amendments · SB 276 Ratify the Interstate Compact for School Psychologists · pass · https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/SB276/
- 2026-06-11 · voted yea · Passed · HB 297 Regards funds provided by county for Memorial Day expenses · pass · https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/HB297/
- 2026-06-11 · voted yea · Concurred in House amendments · SB 273 Enact the Keep Them Safe Act · pass · https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/SB273/
- 2026-06-11 · voted nay · Passed · HB 492 Prohibit interfering with motor vehicle-related arrests · pass · https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/HB492/
- 2026-06-11 · voted yea · Passed · HB 292 Establish the Ohio Defense Commission · pass · https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/HB292/
- 2026-06-11 · voted yea · Passed · HB 210 Regards the sale of used catalytic converters · pass · https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/HB210/

## Legislation (OH 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 29 bills: 29 reached committee, 19 passed one chamber, 0 passed both, 0 became law. Cosponsored 121. 65.5% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Ohio Senate 55.2%; rank 11 of 32).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SR 441: Honoring Yariel Soto Torrado as a gold medalist at the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games. (passed one chamber, 2026-09-14) https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/SR441/
- SR 411: Honoring Ethan Ireland as the 2026 Division I State Champion in the boys pole vault. (passed one chamber, 2026-07-13) https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/SR411/
- SR 410: Honoring the Archbishop Alter High School boys 4x400-meter relay team on winning the 2026 Division III State Championship. (passed one chamber, 2026-07-13) https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/SR410/
- SR 412: Honoring the Chaminade Julienne High School girls track and field team on winning the 2026 Division II State Championship. (passed one chamber, 2026-07-13) https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/SR412/
- SR 402: Honoring Cameron Lindsey on winning the 2026 Division III State Championship in the 3,200-meter run. (passed one chamber, 2026-06-30) https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/SR402/
- SR 401: Honoring the Oakwood High School girls track and field team as the 2026 Division III State Champion. (passed one chamber, 2026-06-30) https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/SR401/
- SR 400: Honoring Mila Gelbart on winning the 2026 Division III State Championship in the pole vault. (passed one chamber, 2026-06-30) https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/SR400/
- SR 403: Honoring the Oakwood High School girls 4x800-meter relay team on winning the 2026 Division III State Championship. (passed one chamber, 2026-06-30) https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/SR403/
- SR 311: Honoring the Fairmont High School girls basketball team on winning the 2026 Division I State Championship. (passed one chamber, 2026-04-01) https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/SR311/
- SR 316: Honoring the Chaminade Julienne High School girls basketball team as the 2026 Division III State Champion. (passed one chamber, 2026-04-01) https://openstates.org/oh/bills/136/SR316/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $27.8K (State Senate Democrats median $55.5K). 66% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · labels: personal attacks · https://x.com/wjblackshear/status/2112725081470251201
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/wjblackshear/status/2112911876229103825
- 2026-10-16 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/wjblackshear/status/2111153311827280276
- 2026-10-15 · Post on X · https://x.com/wjblackshear/status/2110522184762311057
- 2026-10-13 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/wjblackshear/status/2110015140246540610
- 2026-09-14 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/wjblackshear/status/2099592246320378105
- 2026-09-03 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/wjblackshear/status/2095661324646687079
- 2026-08-05 · Post on X · https://x.com/wjblackshear/status/2085068443749888395
- 2026-07-20 · Post on X · https://x.com/wjblackshear/status/2079184336687866220
- 2026-07-15 · Post on X · https://x.com/wjblackshear/status/2077418942826533126

## Links

- Official site: https://ohiosenate.gov/members/willis-e-blackshear-jr
- Campaign site: https://blackshearforohio.com/
- X: https://x.com/wjblackshear
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willisblackshearjr/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willisblackshearjr/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willis-blackshear-jr-26a373291/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/23c443b0-e2f7-4c7a-af1e-d67d7aa366ce