COLUMBUS — A screening committee on Monday recommended to their fellow Ohio Senate Republicans that state Rep. Theresa Gavarone (R., Bowling Green) replace Randy Gardner.
The committee interviewed Ms. Gavarone, who just began her second full term in the House, and chose her over 12-year Monclova Township Trustee Barbara Lang for the vacancy in the 2nd District — created last month when Mr. Gardner became Gov. Mike DeWine’s chancellor of higher education.
The district includes all of Wood, Ottawa, and Erie counties, western Lucas, and most of Fulton, but has been represented by someone from Wood for 22 of the past 30 years.
Ms. Gavarone, 52, is expected to be formally appointed by her 23 future Republican colleagues on the Senate floor on Wednesday. The chamber must also select a replacement for Mr. Gardner as majority leader, the number-three post in Senate Republican leadership.
“Theresa brings a strong understanding of the issues important to the people of northwest Ohio, and we look forward to working with her in the Senate,” Senate President Larry Obhof (R., Medina) said.
Ms. Gavarone said she’s prepared to continue Mr. Gardner’s efforts to address the problems in northwest Ohio that have contributed to chronic toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie.
“I will be working with the agricultural, scientific, and environmental communities to carry on Randy Gardner’s good work to find solutions and preserve Lake Erie for generations to come,” she said.
She is unsure whether she will introduce Mr. Gardner’s proposed $1 billion bond issue to back up state cleanup efforts for $100 million a year for 10 years, she said. Governor Mike DeWine has generally backed that idea.
Now the search will begin in the House for someone to step into Ms. Gavarone’s shoes representing Wood County’s 3rd District. The House Republican Caucus will appoint its own screening committee to field applications for the position.
Ms. Gavarone was appointed to the House in late 2016 to replace former Rep. Tim Brown (R., Bowling Green), who resigned to head the Toledo Metropolitan Council of Governments. She won a full two-year term of her own that fall and was re-elected to another last year.
She is an attorney; co-owner with her husband, Jim, of Mr. Spots Philadelphia Steak Sandwich in Bowling Green; and a former city councilman.
As a freshman lawmaker, she succeeded in having bills signed into law that created a database for law enforcement to know when drivers have communication disabilities like autism, and increased the collection of data related to administration of the anti-overdose drug naloxone.
She also has promoted passage of other bills dealing with human-trafficking and drug-trafficking penalties.
Among the names floated for possible appointment to the House seat is Perrysburg City Councilman Haraz N. Ghanbari, a former director of the University of Toledo’s military and veteran affairs; Northwood Mayor Ed Schimmel; and Perrysburg School Board member Sue Larimer.
Wood County Republican Party Chairman Jon Jakubowski declined to comment on specific names.
“We’ve known this was a possibility for some time, and at least a dozen people have reached out to me to make inquiries,” he said. “For the sake of allowing the process to follow a natural path, I will keep those names confidential.”
He said there was less interest expressed for the Senate seat, given that Ms. Gavarone was considered the natural fit there.
First Published February 4, 2019, 8:51 p.m.
