![Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Pepper [Jo Ingles / Statehouse News Bureau]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/107f6ce/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1024x980+0+0/resize/840x804!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fimages%2Fnews%2Fnpr%2F2020%2F11%2F940179494_1174380681.png)
The leader of Ohio’s Democratic Party is resigning following an election where polls showed Democrats would do well in Ohio but largely didn’t.
David Pepper said Monday he will step down from his post at the end of this year.
Pepper has been at the helm of the state party for six years but said it’s time for new leadership. Whoever follows him will need to do grassroots organizing to increase voter turnout in cities, Pepper said, and reconnect the party with small towns that have been left behind.
“The party and Democratic officials on the Democratic side need to go to places like Mansfield and Manchester and other smaller communities, most of whom have lost so much in the past 30 years and show the Democrats have a plan for them," Pepper said.
Democrats have made inroads in claiming judicial seats statewide and helped to get more local leaders elected, he said.
Though polls showed Democrats could win Ohio this year, Republican President Donald Trump won the state by eight points, just slightly less than his margin of success in 2016.
Democrats lost a total of two seats in the Ohio House and one in the state Senate, but one Senate race is currently undergoing a recount.
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