Jo Ann Davidson was born on September 28, 1927 in Findlay, Ohio. She was the first woman to serve as the Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives. She served in the Ohio House for two decades from 1980 to 2000, and held leadership roles since 1985 as assistant minority whip, minority whip and minority leader before her service as speaker from 1995 to 2000.

Her former elected positions were on the Reynoldsburg City Council and as a Truro Township Trustee. In 2005, she was elected to serve as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Jo Ann Davidson lay in state at the Ohio Statehouse and her funeral was at the Ohio Statehouse in 2024.
Image courtesy of the Ohio Statehouse. Biography.
A portrait of Davidson can be seen in the Ohio House of Representatives and in the Ladies’ Gallery at the Ohio Statehouse.