House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said he wants to retain that post in the new General Assembly in January. But he could face a challenge from some other Republicans. And Democrats could play a role in any leadership fight.
It's happened before. And whether it happens again could depend on whether Republicans try to rein in the power of Ohio's incoming Democratic governor. It could come down to policies persuading politics in the upcoming lame duck session.
Republicans who dominate the legislature have been floating plans to strip incoming Democratic governor Amy Acton of some of her authority, despite Republican Gov. Mike DeWine saying he doesn't think that's appropriate. One proposal being floated would require a simple majority to override a governor's veto instead of the 60 votes now needed. Huffman said he's not sure members of his caucus would support it, and it would require a ballot measure that could be expensive.
"What I've discovered over the last 15 years or so is that unless you largely have agreement among the public and most of the parties who would be affected, like we did with our redistricting constitutional changes in '15 and '18, it takes a lot of money to run one of these things," Huffman told reporters. "To be able to put together a campaign, and by next May, I think would be almost impossible."
But he said it's not uncommon for the House to pass bills to limit control of governors or agencies.
"From the legislative standpoint, we're always looking at things to make sure that the legislature stays in a position where they can monitor what the executive branch is doing," Huffman said, adding that there are a number of bills that could come up—some having nothing to do with the governor. "We're sort of gathering those and deciding what are constitutional, what [would] practically make a difference to make sure that the legislature, which is the representative of the people, still have the the appropriate authority and the executive branch has the appropriate authority too."
Democrats, emboldened by wins in last week's election, would fight against an attempt to rein in Acton's power before she comes into office in January.
House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) has been mum on conversations with Huffman on that type of legislation. And when asked repeatedly by reporters, Isaacsohn didn't specifically say how any attempt like this might be used as a bargaining chip for his members to stay out of the speaker's race.
"People voted for change. They did not vote for more backroom power grabs by people who are sore losers," Isaacsohn told reporters.
Isaacsohn said his caucus is focused on affordability issues. When pressed on whether his caucus might play a role in the political process should Republicans try to take away some of the incoming governor's power, Isaacsohn wouldn't say yes or no.
"We have two north stars as a caucus," Isaacsohn said. "The biggest one by far is how can we deliver results for the people and communities we serve and improve things in the state of Ohio? The second one is we are going to support Gov.-elect Acton in implementing her vision for how to bring positive change to the state of Ohio."
Could 2023's speaker saga happen again?
Rep. Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) became speaker in the last session of the legislature with the assistance of Democrats joining 22 of 67 Republicans, and beat then-Rep. Derek Merrin (R-Monclova Twp.). Stephens has made no bones about disagreeing with Huffman on key issues. And recently, he hinted on social media that he might be open to a return to that leadership post.
Huffman said Tuesday he doesn't know of anyone challenging him for the speaker's position now ahead of a caucus vote next week.
"I've called and personally talked to 80% of my caucus who have said they're supporting me. There's probably about ten or 12 who want to have other conversations. I'm sure there are going to be two or three people who don't want to vote for me," Huffman said. "But as is usually the case, the majority caucus has a vote and whoever wins that they come and of course, in some cases where that's close, different things have happened. But I don't think it's close."
Isaacsohn isn't showing his hand on policies he might be protecting during this upcoming lame duck session or politicians he might be negotiating with to achieve those policies.
"I don't think that's necessarily what's top of mind for people when they were voting. I think cost of living and corruption and a lot of other issues were at the top of mind," Isaacsohn said. "But underneath a lot of that, I do think there is this simmering sense that our lives are not games. Politics is not a game. It's serious."
