Ohio House Finally Resumes Activity; Lakewood Rep Comments

LAKEWOOD, OH — For nearly two months, the Ohio House of Representatives has been in chaos. House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, a Republican from Clarksville, resigned in April when the FBI announced they were launching an investigation into his activities.

Ohio Republicans needed to nominate Rosenberger's replacement. What followed was weeks of political in-fighting and negotiating, cancelled legislative sessions and total inactivity.

Finally, on late Wednesday afternoon, after 11 rounds of voting, Republicans elected Ryan Smith, from Bidwell, to serve as Speaker of the House. Smith carried a narrow margin of victory into his new role. On Facebook, Smith said simply, "Let's get to work."

For Democrats, "Let's get to work" has been a rallying cry for weeks and weeks.

"For almost two months, the Republican majority has demonstrated a lack of leadership and an inability to work together to elect a Speaker. I congratulate Speaker Smith, and I look forward to work to restore the faith of the people in this institution and continue to do the important work for the people of Ohio,” said Rep. Nickie Antonio, Democrat from Lakewood.

Antonio was joined by other Democrats in both congratulating Smith and cajoling Republicans for their mucking up of the legislative session.

“I am hopeful that the chaos and dysfunction that has plagued this institution will fade, but the hard truth is there is still a cloud of uncertainty cast upon our work as alleged corruption and wrongdoing continues to be investigated. I congratulate the new speaker and implore him to put divisive political bills aside so that we may all recommit ourselves to truly working in a bipartisan way to bring needed and meaningful change to our great state," said House Democratic Leader Fred Strahorn, from Dayton.

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