Harris, Gardner mum on who will be Senate president

July 21, 2004
Columbus Dispatch

Randy Gardner was next in line to be House speaker when he was forced out of the House by term limits in 2000, so when the opportunity arrived to be Senate president, he wasn’t about to pass it up.

Bill Harris was on the verge of being House speaker when he was blindsided by Larry Householder in 2000, so when the Senate presidency opened up earlier this month, he lunged for it.

And when the tentative, preliminary count among GOP senators reached 11 to 11 yesterday, Harris didn’t agree to share the spoils with his good friend Gardner as he had with Householder in 2000.

He went for the whole enchilada — and he may have won it.

Harris, a former car dealer from Ashland, and Gardner, a former school teacher from Bowling Green, met for about 90 minutes yesterday at Harris’ 30-acre farm, where the 67-year-old former Marine is recovering from double-knee replacement.

Also present was Senate President Doug White, whom one of them hopes to replace.

Harris would not discuss the outcome, saying Gardner would have a statement today.

"We need to move forward with getting our members elected, raising money and dealing with the issues," Harris said.

There were indications that in the interests of a quick settlement, Gardner would yield to Harris, at least for now.

Gardner declined to give details of the conversation, saying it would be inappropriate.

"I wouldn’t say we settled on anything," Gardner said. "We both heard from lots of members who say, ‘Isn’t there a way for both of you to serve in leadership?’ If there’s a way to make that work, then we ought to do it."

But Gardner said there was no talk of any sharing of the presidency, as Harris had planned in 2000 to share the speakership with Householder. Harris was to be speaker in 2001 and Householder in 2002, but the Perry County lawmaker got the votes in mid-2000 to win it all.

Any agreement between Harris and Gardner is tentative because no one is sure which GOP senators will be on hand when the legislature convenes Jan. 3 for its new two-year session.

In addition, commitments of senators sometimes shift.

"It’s very difficult to get an exact count," said Sen. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark.

If the caucus makeup changes because of the election, Gardner and Harris might have to go through the entire exercise again. One possibility is that Sen. David Goodman of Bexley will be elected Franklin County commissioner. His replacement would then have a say in the leadership.

White, who is leaving at the end of the year because of term limits, had hoped to have his successor chosen quickly to give a sign of caucus stability to potential campaign donors.

Sen. Jeff Jacobson of suburban Dayton had the support of a majority of the caucus, including Gardner, to succeed White in the 2005-06 session. Gardner was to keep his current post of assistant president in a coalition leadership.

However, early in July, Jacobson removed himself from consideration because he had lied to White and the caucus about his role in a Republican primary campaign for a Senate seat. The next day, Harris dropped a bomb on Gardner, who had assumed he would rise to the top in Jacobson’s absence. Harris said he wanted to be president.

"I feel my leadership background and my leadership within the caucus qualifies me to be the leader," Harris said. "It’s a question of who has the ability in very difficult times to get our caucus to come together and get our party back on track."

Gardner said his experience as an assistant leader under White, former Senate President Richard H. Finan and former House Speaker JoAnn Davidson qualifies him for the top spot.

He said he would decentralize caucus leadership and make senators responsible for issues in their regions, and would include minority Democrats in the process.

"We seek the involvement of the minority party, not because we need the votes but because it’s the right thing to do," he said.

Sen. Robert F. Spada, of suburban Cleveland, sought the top spot earlier but dropped back yesterday, apparently to support Harris.

Spada said he used his bid for leadership to express his concern with the lack of preparation by the caucus for the next $50 billion two-year budget, which most observers think will be short of funding by $4 billion.

"We’ve got to start working on this stuff," Spada said. He said he wants to see more interaction among senators and more discussion of the bills "as opposed to the sort of benevolent dictatorship we’ve had in the past, where we see the bills a half-hour before we have to vote on them."

At least one senator suspects Harris was favored by supporters of Attorney General Jim Petro because they feared Gardner would actively back Auditor Betty D. Montgomery, who also hails from Wood County, for governor in 2006.

"They also want somebody who will not dominate the House and who will not be an activist leading the Senate," said the senator, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.

Commentary:
Senator Randy Gardner was among the first to commit his willingness to override a Taft veto of House Bill 12. He was also the first to obtain a statement from Attorney General Jim Petro's office that it is illegal for municipalities to pass ordinances banning CHL-holders from parks and city busses. He has been a leader on the issue of concealed carry reform.

Senator Bill Harris joined a handful of term-limited Republicans and refused to commit to a veto-override, thus ensuring that the media gain access to private information about CHL-holders.

Senator Robert Spada opposes your right to self-defense, and has taken every opportunity to vote against concealed carry.

Two things can impact whether or not the next Senate President will be willing to improve Ohio's concealed handgun license law in spite of Governor Taft:

1) Calls (now!) to Republican Senators to tell them who you would like to see them vote for as Senate President.

2) November votes for conservative, pro-CCW Senate candidates to replace liberal, term-limited ones. Please check out the first 2004 OFCC PAC Senate Endorsements. More to follow soon.

Related Story:
Democrat Senate hopeful Terry Anderson has not voted in nearly four years