If the recent Iowa primary has showed us anything, it’s that the electorate does not care if you have a lifetime of political experience. Stunning is the number of votes cast for first-time political candidates. Speaking for myself, I have always favored new blood in the political process. I was strongly in favor of term limits and believe that it is our best way of keeping the public involved and engaged in the political process.

Unfortunately, there are politicians — in this state — and even in our area of west-central Ohio — who have reached the end of their terms as state House or Senate representatives in Columbus, and feel it necessary, almost dutifully incumbent upon themselves, to continue their stay in office by simply changing from the House to the Senate and vice versa.

So the question is, “Is it service or self-service these politicians seek?”

Ohio is one of 15 states to limit the number of terms its state lawmakers can serve. However, this is a relatively recent development. For most of its history, Ohio imposed no limit on the longevity of state legislators.

On Nov. 3, 1992, voters in Ohio and 14 other states decided term-limit issues. In Ohio, by overwhelming ratios, voters approved all three term-limit issues on the ballot:

• State Issue 2, approved by 66 percent of the voters, limited U.S. senators from Ohio to two successive terms of six years, and limited U.S. representatives from Ohio to four successive terms of two years.

• State Issue 3, approved by 68 percent of the voters, limited state senators to two successive terms of four years, and state representatives to four successive terms of two years.

• State Issue 4, approved by 69 percent of the voters, limited the lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer of state, attorney general and auditor to two successive terms of four years.

On May 22, 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton, by a 5-to-4 decision, ruled that states cannot impose qualifications for prospective members of Congress that are stricter than the qualifications specified in the U.S. Constitution. With that decision, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated congressional term limits in 23 states.

Left standing, however, were voter-approved term limits applicable to state executive officeholders and state lawmakers. Ohio’s new term limits restricted all statewide officeholders and state legislators to no more than eight consecutive years in office.

Prior to adoption of these amendments, the only Ohio statewide office with a term limit was the office of governor.

Following the fourth consecutive presidential victory of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, Congress moved to establish a two-term limit for presidents. On March 21, 1947, Congress passed an amendment to submit to the states for ratification and the ratification process was completed on Feb. 27, 1951.

In April 2005, the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, at the University of Akron (www.uakron.edu/bliss , concluded a two-year study titled, “Assessing Legislative Term Limits in Ohio.” The study concluded that approximately two-thirds of Ohioans believe that term limits have fostered good government and improved the state.

I believe that term limits bring fresh ideas into the Legislature and increased the number of citizen legislators. I think incumbents who have reached their term limits should take that knowledge back to their districts, their businesses and communities and help others to improve and strengthen their own futures instead of staying at what has proven to be a taxpayer feeding trough and getting their constituents to reach for the teat of government subsidies and paybacks.

Critics of term limits believe that state government is a complex business with many complex issues, and that it takes years for lawmakers to develop the necessary expertise to effectively evaluate policy alternatives. But all we’ve seen is greater political gridlock and partisanship, as well as increased control by the puppet-master lobbyists, that smell like dying carcasses on rural highways in the halls of government.

Here’s seeing you, in Ohio Country!