Following Andrew Jackson's defeat in the 1824 United States presidential election, despite having a majority of the popular vote, Jackson set about building a political coalition strong enough to defeat John Quincy Adams in the 1828 United States presidential election.

This was led by Richard Celeste, a Democratic Governor elected in 1982 and re-elected in 1986, and by his party chairman, James Ruvolo.

Together Ruvolo and Celeste constructed a very effective organization that raised a surplus of money that helped out the Democratic Party's candidates and their everyday operations.

Over time, this led to a slow, but steady adoption of Progressive policies by moderate Democrats, which assisted in capturing the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections.

[3] The Ohio Democratic Party reached the peak of its electoral success in the early 1980s to 1990s, when during the bulk of that period, they held both U.S. Senate seats (John H. Glenn Jr. – 1974–1999 and Howard M. Metzenbaum – 1974, 1976–1995), the Governorship (Richard F. Celeste – 1983–1991) – a majority of Ohio's delegation to the United States House of Representatives (1983–1995, reaching a peak of 11–8 from 1993 to 1995), and a majority on the Ohio Supreme Court (1977–1987, with a 6–1 majority from 1983 to 1985, with a Democratic chief justice – Frank Celebrezze – from 1978 to 1986).

John Glenn, a popular U.S. senator, astronaut, and national hero, ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 1984, ending up with only a huge campaign debt to show for it.

In the early 20th century, the traditional symbol of the Democratic Party in Midwestern states such as Indiana and Ohio was the rooster, as opposed to the Republican eagle.