COLUMBUS — Two new faces from northwest Ohio raised their right hands Tuesday to take oaths as state representatives and then headed for the door and the fall election without casting a single substantive vote.
Derek Merrin, the former Waterville mayor now living in Monclova Township, and Theresa Charters Gavarone, former Bowling Green city councilman, were sworn in to the Ohio House to represent the 47th and 3rd Districts, respectively.
Mr. Merrin replaced former Rep. Barbara Sears (R., Monclova Township), who is the new assistant director of Gov. John Kasich’s Office of Health Transformation. The 47th District includes Lucas County’s western suburbs and most of Fulton County.
Ms. Gavarone replaced former Rep. Tim Brown (R., Bowling Green), who stepped down with nearly six months left in his second, two-year term to become president of the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments. The 3rd District consists wholly of Wood County.
Both will seek two-year terms this fall, but they won’t have a single vote to point to as incumbents.The House briefly interrupted its more than five-month recess for one day strictly to swear in the newest members of the Republican caucus. It is not expected to return until after the Nov. 8 election.
Fellow Republicans are putting their faith in Ms. Gavarone — an attorney, two-term councilman, and co-owner of Mr. Spots Philadelphia steak sandwich — to keep the 3rd District in Republican hands. Democrats believe that Mr. Brown’s absence from the ballot has left the swing district vulnerable.
“I am extremely honored to be in this position and to be serving the people of Wood County here in Columbus. Tremendous honor, one that will not be taken lightly,” Ms. Gavarone said.
Democrats, meanwhile, offer Kelly Wicks, owner of Grounds for Thought Coffee Shop and Bookstore in Bowling Green. He was a last-minute ballot substitution once the seat suddenly became a priority for Democrats.
The 47th District is a different story. It is considered an even safer Republican district with the district’s westward shift in the last redistricting.
“I’m excited and very eager to begin serving the residents of District 47 in northwest Ohio,” said Mr. Merrin, who won the March Republican primary. “I look forward to working with all my new colleagues to build upon the work that they’ve all done to move Ohio forward.”
He will face Toledo attorney Lauri Cooper, picked to fill the Democratic ballot vacancy created when George Sarantou, of Sylvania Township, withdrew for health reasons.
Rep. Ron Amstutz (R., Wooster), praised Ms. Sears for her command of complicated issues and criticized those who doubted her conservativism when she joined Mr. Kasich in championing expansion of Medicaid under the federal health-care law.
“What some of us were slow to figure out is that you already saw that helping the able-bodied move themselves up and off Medicaid was the goal that really needed to be achieved...,” he told her. “You weren’t defending the federal policy at all. Your conservatism was intact.”
Rep. Nickie Antonio (D., Lakewood) recalled the day lawmakers heard that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld gay marriage while on the House floor. She and Mr. Brown served together as openly gay representatives from opposite sides of the aisle.
“There was a moment when Tim and I looked across the aisle at each other,” she said. “We nodded, and we celebrated in the back with a hug because we knew what that decision meant personally, what it meant to our families, what it meant to our communities, and more importantly what it meant to our country.”
Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.
First Published August 3, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
