Ohio House Republicans have elected Republican state Rep. Matt Huffman, the current Senate president, as their new leader, but there’s one more vote left.
During the House Republican Caucus vote on Wednesday evening, Huffman (R-Lima) was unopposed, earning the unanimous support of his members.
After the vote, the Speaker-elect arrived to talk to reporters, sharing his enthusiasm for the next General Assembly.
“The one thing I see in this group of 65 people is really incredible talent and practical business skills… I think we’re going to cultivate that and really do some good things,” Huffman said.
He served as president of the Senate for four years – governing effectively – before running out of term limits.
Huffman also announced his leadership list:
- Speaker: Matt Huffman (R-Lima)
- Speaker pro tempore: Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville)
- Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore: Phil Plummer (R-Dayton)
- Majority Floor Leader: Marilyn John (R-Richland County)
- Deputy Majority Floor Leader: Adam Bird (R-New Richmond)
- Most Whips: Riordan McClain (Upper Sandusky right), Nick Santucci (Howland Twp. right), Steve Demetriou (Bainbridge Twp. right) and Josh Williams (Sylvania right)
Huffman will be a very different leader than Stephens. He is very focused on legislation regarding the private school voucher system. He would also probably abolish the income tax, which could double the sales tax – he has the support of huge companies. He wants to deal with trade unions. Huffman wants to change universities to prevent the so-called liberal sentiments, and he supported the August special elections from the beginning, even suggesting that an amendment could be introduced in the next vote to raise the threshold for approving constitutional amendments. His leadership team said voters didn’t really know what they were voting for when they legalized marijuana, so lawmakers should be able to change the policy.
“I certainly have my own issues or things that I want to address — you all know what they are: school choice, higher education reform, occupational licensing reform, a whole host of tax reform items,” the speaker-elect said. “It’s going to be an exciting, exciting time for me in this chamber.”
Huffman also wants to change the state’s marijuana policy to drastically reduce THC. That doesn’t sit well with state Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville.
“I think marijuana policy was largely determined by the voters — I support their decision,” Ferguson said. “I will likely be a leading voice on this issue in the next General Assembly.”
Several members told us that just because the vote was unanimous doesn’t mean everyone is cheerful.
“There are a lot of people behind me who continue to support me,” Ferguson said. “And these people still support President Huffman on the primary ballot.”
Ferguson did not want Huffman to be speaker and was expected to support state Rep. Tim Barhorst, R-Fort Loramie. However, some lawmakers report major confusion in how they nominate the speaker, and Barhorst’s team either did not do it correctly or withdrew from the nomination.
“I congratulated President/Speaker-elect Huffman. Of course, this is not the result I was hoping for,” Barhorst said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in the next General Assembly to advance a conservative agenda for Ohio.”
But the story may not end there. The final vote will take place in early January, when Democrats will have a chance to comment on the speaker. With Democratic support, Stephens became speaker.
“I really think reconciliation is necessary,” Huffman said.
Earlier today, we asked Huffman whether members who don’t vote for him should fear retaliation. He said that wouldn’t happen.
“It doesn’t make sense when you have a group of 65 people, 99 more people, but with 65 Republicans who obviously don’t agree on everything, but agree on a lot of things,” Huffman said. “You can’t push people aside because of these issues.”
He then referenced the fact that state Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, did not endorse him for Senate president, even though Huffman named him chairman of the Finance Committee anyway.
“We’ll start over in January ’25,” Huffman said. “There are a few things I want to bring to the caucus as changes to how the House operates, and we need a whole range of things, basically what I’ve done here in the Senate.”
This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and are published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication on other news outlets because it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau Twitter AND Facebook.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
