The speaker of the Ohio House fires some Republican committee chairs

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse Newsbureau) — The battle for leadership in the Ohio House rages on, with the Speaker of the House of Representatives taking action.

House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) has removed six Republicans from the committees they chaired. The six all voted for Rep. Derek Merrin (R-Monclova Twp.) as speaker in January 2023 and donated to the primary campaigns of incumbent Republicans, some of whom supported Stephens for speaker. Stephens was elected with votes of 22 Republicans and all 32 Democrats. Merrin had the votes of 43 Republicans.

In a memo to members Wednesday, Stephens announced:

• Rep. Rodney Creech (R-West Alexandria) was ousted as chairman and member of the House Agriculture Committee;
• Rep. Phil Plummer (R-Dayton) was removed as chairman and member of the House Constitutional Resolutions Committee;
• Rep. Darrell Kick (R-Loudonville) was ousted as chairman and member of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee;
• Rep. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) was ousted as chairman and member of the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee;
• Representative Scott Lipps (R-Franklin) was removed as chairman and member of the House Public Health Policy Committee; And
• Rep. Marilyn John (R-Richland County) was ousted as chair and member of the House State and Local Government Committee.

The memo adds: “The chairman and first named member of each committee listed above will remain vacant until further action is taken by the chairman. These changes are effective immediately.”
Campaign finance data shows that more than $1 million was spent through the Ohio House Republican Alliance (OHRA) account in the final days of the March primary. Stephens spent about half of that on the campaigns of incumbent Republicans who supported him as speaker. But four of his supporters lost their primaries: Reps. Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton), Rep. Jon Cross (R-Findlay), Brett Hillyer (R-Urichsville) and Gail Pavliga (R-Atwater).

“I was a big supporter of the Republicans in the caucus. We did not run against the incumbents as we said we would not do,” Stephens told reporters. “However, there were several Republicans who felt their contributions should be spent on our sitting members.”

Stephens’ spokesperson said in a statement about the removal of the members from the committees: “The chairman worked to unite the caucus and they did exactly what they accused him of doing.”

A lawsuit over control of the OHRA campaign account, filed by Merrin, Plummer and Rep. Ron Ferguson (R-Wintersville), will go to trial on Oct. 21 in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. A request to stop Stephens from spending money from that account was denied in February.

Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) is running unopposed for the House of Representatives and is expected to challenge Stephens for speaker in January. Stephens is also unopposed. Huffman also donated to the primary campaigns of some Republicans running against Stephens’ allies.