At the time of the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870, Elijah B. Glover was recognized for having cast the deciding vote in the Ohio State Legislature, which ensured its ratification in Ohio. Glover defeated James W. Newman (D) for the House seat in the fall of 1870 and was thus serving in Columbus when the Fifteenth Amendment came up for a vote. Newman had unsuccessfully contested the election, claiming that Glover had won with the assistance of illegal black voters, who were passing as white. Glover had a long career in Portsmouth politics as a Whig (and later as a Republica), having founded the Portsmouth Courier (what in time became the Portsmouth Tribune) in 1831.