[5] Strickland left that position in February 2015,[6] and subsequently announced his intention to run for the United States Senate against incumbent Rob Portman.

Strickland ran again for the 6th District seat in 1992, once again facing Bob McEwen, who had suffered some political damage by being associated with the House banking scandal.

The district proved a difficult place to campaign, representing half a dozen different media markets and home to no large cities and few unifying influences.

Patrick J. Buchanan, Vice President Dan Quayle, and Oliver North came to Ohio to campaign for McEwen, but Strickland narrowly won in the general election on November 3, 1992.

He faced a strong challenge from Lieutenant Governor Nancy Hollister in 1998, but turned it back; in the next three elections he was reelected by large margins, running unopposed in 2004.

Strickland selected former Ohio Attorney General and 1998 Democratic nominee for governor Lee Fisher as his running mate.

[19] In the November general election, he was challenged by Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, Libertarian economist Bill Peirce and Green Party candidate Bob Fitrakis.

[32] He signed an executive order creating a council to oversee the eventual establishment of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services as a cabinet-level agency.

[34] In 2008, he vetoed legislation which would have given small cash bonuses to veterans of wars in the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan from the state's rainy day fund.

[38] The March 20, 2007 execution of Kenneth Biros, which Strickland did not commute, was later stayed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati.

[39] Strickland signed Ohio's castle doctrine legislation in 2008, which established a presumption that a person acts in self-defense when shooting someone who unlawfully enters his or her home or occupied vehicle.

[40] Strickland held office when a constitutional amendment passed allowing casinos to be built in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo and Columbus.

Although originally opposed to the idea of allowing such types of gambling into the state, potential revenue shortfalls caused him to consider the option.

Journalists Peggy Noonan and David Remnick credited Strickland with delivering the best line of the convention: "You know, it was once said of the first George Bush that he was born on third base and thought he'd hit a triple.

On January 19, 2010, he chose Yvette McGee Brown, a former juvenile court judge from central Ohio, as his running mate.

[53] Strickland faced Republican John Kasich and his running mate, Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor, in the general election.

[54] In March 2011, Kasich signed Senate Bill 5, which was intended to curtail the collective bargaining rights of Ohio public employees.

With over two million signatures, the petition put the Ohio Collective Bargaining Limit Repeal on the November 2011 ballot, where it passed with more than 60% of the vote.

[57] Strickland spoke on the first night of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in a speech against the policies of Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

[58][59] President Obama nominated Strickland to be one of the alternate representatives to the United Nations in September 2013,[60] but his confirmation was delayed through the end of the year by Republican opposition in the Senate.

On the second day, September 5, Strickland introduced an amendment on the floor of the convention to reinsert language invoking God and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

[63] As Governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland worked to pass renewable energy legislation he says "helped address the issue of climate change.

"[66] On February 25, 2015, Strickland announced his intention to run for the United States Senate against incumbent Republican Rob Portman.