Nothing about the Ohio House has been pretty over the past eight weeks, so few were surprised Wednesday when it took an unprecedented 11 rounds of voting to elect Rep. Ryan Smith as the new speaker, temporarily easing a bitter internal GOP fight.
Nothing about the Ohio House has been pretty over the past eight weeks, so few were surprised Wednesday when it took an unprecedented 11 rounds of voting to elect Rep. Ryan Smith as the new speaker, temporarily easing a bitter internal GOP fight.
Accusations of harassment and bullying of members, salacious rumors and the cloud of an FBI investigation into the former speaker kept the House frozen since April 11. Right up until the very end, majority Republicans failed to coalesce around a single leadership candidate.
For example, Rep. Robert Sprague, the GOP nominee for state treasurer, voted for Smith, but Rep. Keith Faber, the GOP nominee for state auditor, would not.
In the end Smith, a financial adviser and three-term Republican from the Gallia County community of Bidwell, was unable to secure a majority of those voting Wednesday, requiring the House to go all the way to an 11th vote. At that point, under state law, the nominee with a plurality is declared the winner.
"I always wondered what it would be like to go the distance in a prize fight. So I guess now I know," Smith said in his first words to the chamber after being sworn into one of the most powerful positions in state government.
In the final vote, Smith got 44 votes, including support from two Democrats, falling just short of the 46 needed for a majority of members present. House Minority Leader Fred Strahorn of Dayton got 27 votes, while Republican Reps. Andy Thompson of Marietta and Jim Hughes of Upper Arlington, a late entry into the mix, got 13 and seven votes respectively.
Normally, a speaker comes in with near-unanimous support from the full House. But when former Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, who resigned in mid-April amid an FBI investigation of his overseas travel and perks of the job, it touched off harsh GOP infighting, particularly with control of the $4 million-plus caucus campaign fund up for grabs.
"I'm not much about talk. I'd rather lead," Smith said. "People can judge me by my actions."
Smith said he hopes that some normalcy will return Thursday, when the House holds a legislative session for the first time in eight weeks. Its calendar is packed with legislation, including payday lending regulations, state employee pay raises and funding for voting machines across the state.
"At the end of the day, people are here to do good policy and I think it brings us back together," Smith said. "It's a vitriolic time in politics, but we'll work through it. We always have."
Smith said he has no plans to change the House leadership team or punish committee chairs or others in the caucus who refused to support him.
"I'm not looking to be retaliatory about that," he said. "At this point, I'm going to bring everyone back together and ask for a clean slate and start to rebuild trust."
Much of the nastiness stemmed from what was already a major fight between Smith and Rep. Larry Householder, R-Glenford, to become speaker starting in 2019. Following the November election, the GOP caucus will vote again to decide who runs the chamber in its next two-year session. Householder is almost certain to improve on his current support, thanks to his candidates winning several primary races.
Rep. Bob Cupp, R-Lima, nominated Smith, highlighting his leadership ability, noting that he has helped deliver two balanced state budgets as chairman of the powerful House Finance Committee. Cupp praised Smith for being respectful, inclusive, decisive and candid, “whether it is good news or bad news.”
"Weeks of orchestrated rumor, fabricated innuendo and unfounded speculation have done nothing to change what experience has shown — that Ryan Smith is an honorable man," Cupp said.
Smith’s vote total held steady throughout the 11 rounds of voting. Some of Thompson’s initial voters switched to Hughes as voting continued, but neither was a threat to win.
Most of the voting Wednesday went smoothly, with members forced to repeatedly stand and voice their vote.
Three weeks ago, Smith got more than 40 votes in a closed-door Republican caucus vote designed to settle the issue. But, unlike traditional leadership votes, a bloc of about 18 Republicans said they would not support him. That led Rep. Kirk Schuring, R-Canton, the acting speaker, to cancel multiple sessions in an effort to get a candidate to 50 GOP votes.
When that didn’t happen, Schuring, with consultation from Householder and Ohio Republican Chair Jane Timken, asked the House members to choose whether to take a vote, or change the House rules so he could lead the chamber as speaker pro tempore. A majority chose to vote, although the total remains secret.
Some Republicans wanted a short-term speaker who is not currently involved in the fight between Smith and Householder. With unanswered questions lingering about the FBI investigation, others were concerned about Smith’s close relationship with Rosenberger.
"This House has been in complete disarray," said Rep. Christina Hagan, R-Alliance, who nominated Thompson. "It’s time we have a stark change in the way this legislature operates.”
Thompson said he hopes Smith is successful. "I will support him as speaker and see what we can do to get things done."
Hughes, who is running for judge and leaving the legislature at the end of the year, said he decided to jump into the mix after getting a number of calls Tuesday evening urging him to run.
"People said, 'You can do it. You've got a good personality. You get along with everybody,'" Hughes said. "I said it's up to the members. I've got friends on both sides, and I'll do it for the institution."
In Franklin County, Reps. Laura Lanese of Grove City and Mike Duffey of Worthington voted for Smith, while Rep. Anne Gonzales, R-Westerville, voted for Thompson, though she switched to Hughes for one vote.
"My position all along has been that we should have an interim speaker who is not running for speaker, is neutral and term limited," Gonzales said.
Rep. Bernadine Kennedy Kent of Columbus was the only Democrat in the county who did not vote for Strahorn. She voted for Smith.
Strahorn said many Democrats were not comfortable voting for a Republican who may later be mixed up in some kind of investigation. Thus far, there is no indication the FBI is looking into Smith.
"To date, I haven't had any problems with Ryan Smith," Strahorn said. "He's usually a person who if he tells you something, that's what it is and he's kept his word. We've tried to work across the aisle and I think we've been fairly effective about that."
jsiegel@dispatch.com