COLUMBUS--Gov. John Kasich on Friday appointed state Sen. Karen Gillmor to the Ohio Industrial Commission.

The announcement came as little surprise.  Mr. Kasich had approached the Tiffin Republican about the job, although she still had to go through the motions of applying for the position through a nominating council.

Her name was one of three submitted to the governor for his consideration last week.

This means the Ohio Senate will soon look for a replacement in the 26th District once she resigns to take her new job and is confirmed by her Senate colleagues. The north-central district stretches from Union County to southern Ottawa County.

The  post won’t be available until July 1 after current Commissioner Kevin R. Abram’s six-year term expires. His was also one of the names submitted to Mr. Kasich.

The commission hears workers’ compensation appeals. Mr. Abrams earned about $105,000 a year, but the governor will set Ms. Gillmor’s salary. The senator’s current rank-and-file salary is just under $61,000.

She had more than a year left in her four-year term and could have sought a second before running into term limits. She had previously served in the chamber in the 1990s before being appointed by then Gov. George Voinovich to the State Employment Relations Board.

Democrats have tried to link her appointment to her vote in favor of Senate Bill 5, the public employee collective bargaining law that is expected to the subject of a voter referendum on Nov. 8.

Ms. Gillmor, however, has dismissed that suggested and has said she believed she would have been easily re-elected in the rural, Republican-leaning district.

First Published June 10, 2011, 11:54 p.m.