He wants to drop his plan into a legislative chamber that will greet it with adoration, and pass it in a timely manner without mucking it up with divisive amendments or major revisions. "I want partners in the House of Representatives who will work with me to do what I promised to do as governor," Strickland said.

In other words, he wants a Democratic majority in the Ohio House.

Shattering spending records, Democrats and Republicans are pouring millions into legislative races across the state that will determine which party ekes out control of the Ohio House in 2009. To win the 99-seat House for the first time since 1994, Democrats need a net four-seat pickup.

If they pull it off, they would control both the House and governor's office. The Senate is almost certain to remain in Republican hands.

House Democrats understand that a gain for them is really a gain for Strickland.

"For him to initiate legislation and move the state forward, he needs a House," said Rep. Armond Budish, a Beachwood Democrat who wants to be speaker in 2009. "It gives us a lot more leverage to pass the things that Ohio needs."

Expecting a more friendly chamber, the Campaign for a Moderate Majority, consisting of the trial lawyers and unions representing health-care workers and teachers, has spent $715,000 to help Democrats in about a dozen House races.

"Our involvement stems from our continual frustration with a legislature that refuses to address our school-funding crisis in Ohio," said Michele Prater, spokeswoman for the Ohio Education Association.

But Roger Geiger, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business/Ohio and a 25-year Statehouse veteran, doubts Ohio would see much shift in priorities under a Democratic House. Ohio's economic tailspin will remain front and center, and the state budget will have no money to spare.

"The numbers are going to be so narrow for either party, naturally they are going to have to reach across the aisle to put together coalitions of votes on any issue," Geiger said. "Neither party will be able to go to its extreme bases."

Both Republicans and Democrats say the party that emerges on top likely will do so by only one or two seats -- the thinnest majority since Republicans held a one-seat edge in 1936.

"The people who are the rankest of partisans don't tend to turn up in leadership positions in a period when bipartisanship is important," said Paul Beck, professor of political science at Ohio State University. "It also gives more power to individual members."

Rep. William G. Batchelder, a Medina Republican and 32-year legislative veteran, remembers when his party took control of the House in 1995 after 22 years in the minority. "It was wild. We only had two members who had ever chaired a committee."

Although Batchelder thinks Democrats have shown good discipline in sticking together, that can change with newfound power.

"When you are all of a sudden in control, it's difficult to get everyone singing out of the same hymnal," he said. "The other side of it, they've done a good job of that this session. The governor has been very careful about protecting his people and not trying to overreach."

Scott Borgemenke, who has been around Republican Statehouse politics and campaigns for more than 15 years, doubts Democrats would have a functional majority.

"The party would be really good for a while," he said. "But what they don't get is that the domestic-violence calls within your own party are far more bloody than fighting with the other party. They've not seen fighting until they fight amongst themselves."

But few deny that a Democratic House would give Strickland more power.

No longer could the Republican speaker and Senate president form a united front against Strickland. Instead, Democrats could gang up on President Bill M. Harris, R-Ashland.

"It gives more leverage to the administration to talk about the issues that are important to them," Harris said. "We will continue to do what is right, hopefully in a bipartisan effort. We will not hesitate to raise issues."

The Senate would serve as the GOP levee holding back Democratic initiatives. This would present no small obstacle for Democrats.

The Senate Republican caucus in 2009 will have many of the GOP's best and most aggressive legal and political minds in the legislature. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have been a fractured group and probably will remain in a deep minority.

A number of major bills that Strickland signed this session passed the legislature with bipartisan support. But both Strickland and Rep. Chris Redfern, the Ohio Democratic chairman, have been far more complimentary of the Senate than the House.

While Harris has "been willing sit down with Democratic leaders and craft compromise," Redfern said, House leadership "has really put partisanship above policy."

jsiegel@dispatch.com

Controlling the Ohio House

Winning the majority brings with it a number of benefits:

• Picking the speaker. Unless the majority party has some defectors, it picks the House speaker, who has tremendous power.

• Setting the agenda. With very rare exceptions, no bill gets to the House floor for a vote unless the speaker wants it to.

• Committee control. The speaker decides which standing committees to create and appoints all committee members, including chairmen who choose when bills get hearings and votes (often in consultation with the speaker).

• More perks. The majority gets six caucus leadership positions instead of four for the minority, allowing the ruling party to do more to keep members happy. The majority gets a bigger staff and gets to dole out parking spaces, offices and allocation of seats on the floor.

• Debate control. The speaker can cut off floor debates or rule speeches as out of order. Not surprisingly, leaders tend to give their own party members a longer leash.

• A seat at the big table. In what is commonly called the "Big 3" meeting, the governor, House speaker and Senate president regularly negotiate behind closed doors when the legislature is in session.

• Shaping the budgets. All budget bills start in the Ohio House, so the majority gets the chance to set the tone and shape the policy discussion.

• Better fundraising. The House speaker and his committee chairmen get a significant, built-in fund-raising advantage over the minority party. Special interests tend to shovel more cash to those who control the chamber's agenda.

• More attention. The media spotlight shines on those in control, giving the ruling party more opportunity to promote its agenda and the lion's share of credit for legislation that passes. This also means more blame when things turn sour.