COLUMBUS — Ohio House Republicans in November agreed to unanimously back Rep. Derek Merrin (R., Monclova Township) as the chamber’s powerful next speaker, but it soon became clear that the caucus was never that united on the choice.
That all came to a head on Tuesday when 22 of the caucus’s 67 members, including three from Mr. Merrin’s northwest Ohio backyard, sided with all 32 Democrats in the chamber to instead elect Rep. Jason Stephens from rural Lawrence County on the opposite side of the state from Toledo.
“Ideally, you want to come out of caucus and vote together for leadership and our priorities,” said Rep. D.J. Swearingen (R. Huron), a Stephens’ supporter. “That didn’t happen here, unfortunately. We didn’t have assurances about where we were going, our direction going forward.”
Mr. Merrin won the behind-closed-doors caucus vote two months ago on the second pass after none of the three speaker candidates —Mr. Stephens, Mr. Merrin, and Rep. Phil Plummer (R., Dayton) — received a majority. On the second vote, Mr. Plummer stepped aside and threw his support to Mr. Merrin, who then defeated Mr. Stephens.
The caucus as a whole then agreed to back the winner when the official vote took place Tuesday.
Mr. Swearingen supported Mr. Stephens on both the first and second caucus ballots, although he then joined the final vote to make caucus support unanimous. He said the erosion of that agreement came gradually over the next few weeks.
“It was an accumulation of events in my opinion,” he said. “There were things that we saw that we did not see as unifying our caucus. Jason appreciates the gravity of the work that needs to be done in the weeks and months ahead in uniting the Republican caucus.”
Joining him in voting for Mr. Stephens on Tuesday were Reps. Haraz Ghanbari (R., Perrysburg), and Jon Cross (R., Kenton), whose district stretches as far north as Hancock County.
Mr. Ghanbari declined to say how who he voted for in the first two secret caucus votes. He noted that, in the end, it was Tuesday’s vote of the entire General Assembly, including Democrats, that mattered.
“Certainly, I think it’s important that northwest Ohio has a voice at the table when some of the bigger decisions are made, but that voice can happen with or without a leadership role...,” he said. “I encourage the new speaker to have representation from northwest Ohio on his leadership team, but that doesn’t have to come with a title before your name.”
Rep. Gary Click (R., Vickery), who represents Sandusky and Seneca counties and supported Mr. Merrin from the start, was obviously not happy as he watched events unfold on the floor.
“He would have been the first speaker from Toledo,” he said. “What a bonus for Toledo. Derek would have looked out for everyone, but I can guarantee you Toledo wasn’t going to be left out.”
He said Mr. Stephens went against his word to him that he would not challenge the outcome of the caucus vote.
“How does that create unity when you go against two-thirds of the caucus?” he asked.
Mr. Merrin was the choice of more conservative organizations who liked his support for such things as making Ohio a right-to-work state, broad expansion of school vouchers, and tax reform.
But some Republicans who count on labor support in their districts grew uncomfortable that another fight with labor could be in the offing. There’s been a kind of unspoken detente over the last few years when it comes to doing anything on right-to-work or prevailing wage. That’s especially been the case after voters in 2011 soundly repealed Senate Bill 5, a GOP-pushed overhaul of the collective bargaining rights of public employees.
Some Republicans have also enjoyed strong support and campaign contributions in recent years from construction trade unions pleased with the emphasis on taxpayer-supported infrastructure development.
Mr. Merrin also angered some in the days soon after his unofficial selection as speaker. He joined some of the fellow House conservatives to block a massive overhaul of an education governance bill, wanted badly by Senate Republicans, that was linked with trans-athlete and vaccine measures wanted badly by House conservatives.
Other Republicans complained that Mr. Merrin had not reached out to them in an effort to unite the caucus.
Mr. Cross said he supported Mr. Plummer on the first pass in caucus, switched to Mr. Merrin on the second at the request of the Plummer team, and then for Mr. Stephens on the floor.
“I haven’t seen a good speaker vote in a while,” he said. “There’s no law. The real vote is on the House floor. The informal vote is where there’s a flaw. You have to get 50 percent of your caucus. That’s the flaw, and it hasn’t worked really well the last couple of speaker elections.
“My other concern is that the same Republicans who call themselves conservatives stopped a bill protecting women’s sports and fixing our education problems with the Department of Education,” Mr. Cross said. “That gave me pause.”
In the end, Mr. Stephens received more Democratic votes than Republican among his 54 total while all 43 of Mr. Merrin’s votes came from Republicans.
Northwest Ohio’s sole Democrats — freshmen Reps. Elgin Rogers, Jr. and Michele Grim — joined the entire Democratic caucus in backing Mr. Stephens. Among those supporting Mr. Merrin from the region were Reps. Josh Williams (R., Oregon), Jim Hoops (R., Napoleon), and Roy Klopfenstein (R., Haviland).
“I know him to be a man of high integrity, a good listener, a person who works with people, and being a former mayor of Waterville, he understands the process of local and state government,” said Mr. Hoops as he seconded Mr. Merrin’s nomination on Tuesday.
“He’ll tell ya like it is...,” Mr. Hoops said. “He’ll set it straight with everybody. You’re not going to hear different stories from Derek.”
First Published January 6, 2023, 3:00 p.m.
