Early posturing under way in quest for House speaker

Toledo Blade
September 2, 2003

COLUMBUS - The selection of Ohio’s next House speaker is more than a year away, but alliances already are being forged behind the scenes.

Rep. Jon Husted, a Montpelier native and champion of charter schools, has emerged as an early front-runner in a potential Dayton-area power play for leadership of the House and Senate.

Rep. Chuck Blasdel, 32, an East Liverpool Republican with strong ties to the financial community, is presented as the alternative to what some consider to be the strong-handed approach of Speaker Larry Householder (R., Glenford).

Mr. Householder cannot run for re-election because of term limits.

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Others mentioned include Rep. Tim Grendell, 49, of Chesterland, part of the ultra-conservative faction of the Republican caucus; Rep. Stephen Buehrer, 36, assistant majority floor leader from Delta.

Rep. Jon Peterson, 49, the assistant majority whip from Delaware, has been mentioned, but also has been linked with Mr. Blasdel’s candidacy.

"There are two very distinct groups-the conservatives who believe they should remain true to the tenants of the right wing of the party and the conservatives in power," said House Minority Leader Chris Redfern (D., Catawba Island).

In addition to defending vacated Republican seats, Mr. Husted said he will help protect members in uncomfortable positions because of their tax votes.

"We need to make sure we defend every single Republican member of the General Assembly," he said. "We’ve heard talk of running [GOP] candidates against sitting members, an absolute violation of an unwritten caucus rule."

Viewed as a dark-horse, Mr. Buehrer has quietly visited members and has kept his options open. He rose to leadership as part of Team Householder in 2001, only to be later placed on his do-not-call list.

He fell out of favor when he refused to support Mr. Householder’s tax and spending increases.

"I’m very concerned about the future of the House as an entity," he said. "In this term-limited environment, in our three branches of government, I want to see a new leader who is very interested in policy, who is focused on implementing that policy in the legislative process."

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