Claim: William Medill (February 1802 – September 2, 1865) became governor in the 1855 Ohio gubernatorial election, paving the way for Republicans to dominate the state's politics for a half-century.
Evidence: Elected to the new post of Lieutenant Governor of Ohio in 1851, Medill entered office in 1852, serving until the resignation of Governor Reuben Wood on July 13, 1853 to take up a Consular office in Chile. 
Medill was re-elected in his own right in 1853, but was defeated in a bid for a second full term in 1855 by the anti-slavery Salmon P. Chase. 
He served as the 22nd Governor of Ohio from 1853 to 1856.