I apologize for not getting this meeting report out to my constituents sooner. The past few months have been busy, and we are quickly approaching the November election, with just 30 days remaining as of this newsletter's publication. If you are in Senate District 5 (Miami, Preble, NW Montgomery, S. Darke, N. Butler counties), please feel free to reach out with any questions or if you need resources for Republican candidates' campaigns. Also, be sure to follow my Facebook page for the latest volunteer opportunities and events. Our next Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee meeting will not be held until after the November 5th election.
At the start of the meeting, ORP Chairman Alex Triantafilou introduced two guest speakers: Dave Yost, the Ohio Attorney General, and Frank LaRose, the Ohio Secretary of State.
Attorney General Yost spoke to the committee first, referencing the significant victory of HB 68 (SAFE Act – Saving Adolescents from Experimentation) in protecting children. He explained how this legal battle differed from past ones by requiring live expert witnesses instead of relying solely on submitted affidavits. He stated that the inclusion of counter-expert testimonies played a crucial role in achieving success.
The next speaker was Frank LaRose. LaRose stated that voter rolls are updated monthly. A list of deceased individuals and non-citizens is sent to county boards of elections for removal. He claimed Ohio is more proactive than many states, noting that a few hundred individuals are flagged and removed each year. Additionally, he reported that several hundred non-citizens had been identified, removed from the rolls, and referred for prosecution. He stressed the importance of supporting Trump, Vance, Moreno, and the Ohio Supreme Court candidates in their respective elections. He also discussed Issue 1, describing it as a dangerous attempt to rig the redistricting process in favor of one party. He stated that Issue 1 is a lengthy 13,000-word amendment, authored by Maureen O'Connor, nearly twice as long as the U.S. Constitution. LaRose mentioned he would meet with his fellow ballot board members that day to ensure the ballot language accurately reflects that Issue 1 promotes gerrymandering. He stressed that the decision should be made by voters, not by O'Connor and her unelected panel of citizens. He urged efforts to reject Issue 1.
The Chairman called the meeting to order and the attendance role was taken. The following members were absent from the meeting: Gary Cates (D4), Steve Bruns (D5), Tess Elshoff (D12), David Glass (D17), Susan Platt (D26), and Mike Berger (D27).
A moment of silence was taken in regard to the recent passing of Doug Wills and Stanley Aronhoff, former Ohio Senate President.
The first order of business was to fill vacancies in the 30th and 31st Districts. Nichole Hunter resigned from her position as the female committee member for the 30th District, which includes Athens, Belmont, parts of Guernsey, Harrison, Jefferson, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, and Washington counties. The committee elected Khadine Ritter, who had lost to Hunter in the previous election, to fill the vacancy.
For the 31st District man’s position, there was only one nomination: Greg Kimble, brother-in-law of the current 31st District woman, Kathy Kimble. He was voted in to fill the position left vacant by the late Doug Wills. The 31st District includes Wayne, Tuscarawas, Stark, Guernsey, and Muskingum counties.
The next order of business was to elect the Vice Chair position, previously held by Doug Wills. Debbie Lang (D4) nominated Meredith Freedhoff (D16), who is also the Franklin County Party Chair. The committee voted to approve her nomination.
Following the filling of vacancies and the election of a new vice chairman, the next agenda item was endorsements.
The committee voted to endorse a “no” vote on Issue 1 and then moved on to discussion of endorsements for the House and Senate candidates.
Matt Huffman, President of the Ohio Senate, and Rob McColley, Chairman of the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, sent aletter to the committee ahead of the August 16th meeting to make their recommendations to the committee for endorsement for the Ohio Senate.
Senator Rob McColley, Chairman of the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, addressed the committee at the August 16th meeting. He noted that two of the candidates, Tom Patton (Senate District 24) and Al Cutrona (Senate District 33) were members of the Blue22 but assured the committee that all had signed a letter committing to support the Ohio GOP's December 2023 resolution. This resolution requires backing the caucus leader chosen by the majority and maintaining that commitment. Committee member Shannon Burns (D24) pointed out that Al Cutrona’s email to the committee was a key step in restoring the committee’s confidence in him. Burns then called the vote to be taken. Josh Brown (D16), Debbie Lang (D4), and Gina Campbell (D1) rose to echo their support of Burns’ recommendation to endorse all the senate candidates. The vote was called, and the committee voted to endorse the list of Senate candidates.
I appreciate that the senators seeking endorsement signed an agreement to abide by the resolution adopted by the Ohio Republican Party, supporting the leadership chosen by the Republican Senate Caucus to avoid a repeat of the Blue 22 fiasco that occurred under House Speaker Jason Stephens. However, I would have liked to see Tom Patton (Senate District 24) reach out to the Committee as Al Cutrona did. Additionally, I wanted both candidates to apologize for their past actions and provide reassurances that such behavior will not happen again.
The committee then discussed endorsements for House candidates who won their primaries. The Chairman acknowledged the sensitivity of this discussion and reminded the committee of their previous actions regarding the Blue 22. These actions included censure, passing a resolution urging General Assembly members to vote with the caucus leader chosen by the majority, and sending Chairman Triantafilou’s designee, to support Representative Phil Plummer's candidacy for caucus as the alternative leader over Jason Stephens.
Chairman Triantafilou then motioned to discuss the endorsement of House members using the original list submitted by House Majority leader, Phil Plummer on August 13th. Please note that Chairman Triantafilou chose to use the original list, which included Jason Stephens, rather than the revised list sent the evening before the meeting, which excludes Stephens.
Shannon Burns (D24) moved to table the discussion, and Melanie Leneghan (D19) seconded the motion. Burns argued that Chairman Triantafilou should decide on behalf of the committee whether to endorse the House members or not, given the sensitivity of the issue. Chairman Triantafilou proceeded with discussion on the motion to table. Burns pointed out that there is no discussion on the motion to table, but the Chairman dismissed his point, stating he could rule the motion out of order.
Bryan Williams (D28) agreed with Shannon, noting that the bylaws do not specifically address endorsements in general elections. He also asserted that the Chairman's judgment in these matters is appropriate. He referenced Senator McColley’s commendable action of offering a signed pledge from senate candidates seeking endorsement. Williams questioned whether members of the Blue 22, who remain as nominated candidates for the House, would also be willing to sign a pledge.
Ron O’Brien (D15) argued that not endorsing House and Senate candidates could disadvantage Republican candidates by giving Democrat candidates an edge. Melanie Leneghan (D19) questioned why the committee did not present Ohio House Majority Leader Phil Plummer’s revised list instead of the original. Dave Johnson (D33) opposed tabling the motion, stating that the committee should follow Plummer's recommendation and that the decision should rest with the committee, not the Chairman. Triantafilou ruled the motion to table out of order, asserting that the decision was indeed the committee’s responsibility. He then defended his choice to disregard Plummer’s revised list and instead present the full list of recommended candidates for endorsement, including Stephens.
Josh Brown (D16) urged committee members to respect one another and avoid the name-calling that often occurs on social media, which he and others have faced from fellow committee members. Brown expressed his surprise that Plummer included the Blue 22 on the list, suggesting it might be an attempt to unify the caucus. However, he argued that Jason Stephens was a divisive figure and should be removed from the list.
Greg Simpson (D14) noted that he has a Blue 22 member in his district, and his county voted to endorse this member for re-election. He warned that Republican candidates could risk losing to Democrats if they do not receive support. Simpson pointed out the conflict between county parties and the state party regarding the endorsement of Blue 22 members.
Jessica Franz (D5) - I clarified for the committee that two lists had been sent to the committee due to growing confusion among the members present. The original list included Jason Stephens, while the revised list, which came in the night before our meeting, did not. I emphasized this point because many committee members were unaware of the revised list and only knew of the original.
I expressed my disappointment to the Chairman for not presenting the revised list, which reflects the intentions of the Ohio House and Caucus leader, Phil Plummer. While I appreciated the Senate's voluntary loyalty statement, which reassured me about endorsing Senate candidates, I was disappointed that the committee did not receive a similar statement from the House. Without a signed pledge like the one provided by the Senate, I stated that I couldn’t feel confident that the Blue 22 members would not repeat their past actions.
I also argued that the committee was starting with the wrong motion. The motion proposed by Chairman Triantafilou should have been to approve the revised list that excluded Stephens. I stated that beginning with the original list, rather than the revised one, was inappropriate and disrespectful to House leadership.
Michelle Schneider (D8) argued that it would be an insult to the voters who supported Blue 22 members in the primary not to endorse them in the general. She stressed the importance of unity, noting that it does not mean excluding one person (Stephens) simply because some committee members are upset with him.
Laura Rosenberger (D10) stated that the committee had a simple solution we had not yet explored. She moved to amend the original list by removing Jason Stephens. The motion was seconded, and the committee proceeded to discuss the new motion to accept the list without Stephens.
Christian Mays (D7) expressed his disagreement with the notion of unifying at all costs. He likened the situation to the human body dealing with cancer, stating, "We cut it out; we don’t leave it there just because it’s part of the body." He emphasized that what happened with Stephens and the Blue 22 directly affected his district, local races, and people he cares about. Mays stated that he can’t condone that kind of behavior. He argued that we cannot simply proclaim "unity, unity, unity..." without accountability. While he believes forgiveness is important, he also stressed the need for repentance, which he has not seen from Stephens. Therefore, he supports his removal.
Keith Cheney (D12) stated that Senate President Matt Huffman worked closely with House Majority Leader Phil Plummer on the endorsement list. He asserted that, with the exception of Speaker Stephens, the Republicans in the House united to elect Phil Plummer to lead OHRA. Cheney added that the committee needed to accept the list compiled by that body (the list without Stephens). He then called for a vote.
The committee voted to amend the original motion by removing Stephens. Every member voted in favor of the amendment, except for Michelle Schneider (D8), Brian Andrews (D23), and one or two other members whose identities I could not determine. The amended motion was then voted on, and the committee decided to endorse all recommended candidates except for Stephens.
Next, we voted to reaffirm our Republican slate and nominated a group of electors from the Trump campaign to serve at the Electoral College. Our bylaws require us to nominate electors to cast Ohio’s electoral votes when President Trump wins the state.
Finally, Dan Carter (D18) presented the report from the resolutions committee. The committee then adjourned and entered into executive session to discuss the Treasurer’s Report and the Chairman’s Report.
Your reports are always so detailed. Your hard work on our behalf is deeply appreciated!!