House Speaker dodges ouster attempt
Butler Twp. Rep. Phil Plummer helped plan last week’s efforts.
Republican Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens dodged several motions to vacate his chair during Wednesday’s legislative session, thwarting an attempted ouster orchestrated in part by disgruntled local Republican lawmakers.
It was the first effort to remove Stephens as House speaker, despite his being under friendly fire from the beginning of his speakership in early 2023. Much of the disdain he’s garnered stems from the fact that he came to power through splintered support among GOP lawmakers and unanimous support from House Democrats.
A year-and-a-half in the making, Wednesday’s attempt to unseat Stephens came in the form of a multi-person outburst which saw a handful Republican lawmakers — including local Reps. Bernie Willis, R-springfield; Rodney Creech, R-west Alexandria; and Jena Powell, R-arcanum — rise and demand Stephens entertain a motion to vacate.
The motion was intended to call a vote to take Stephens out of leadership. Despite their outcries, Stephens did not acknowledge the lawmakers.
Under House rules, a motion can be official only if it is recognized by the speaker, which gives Stephens the ultimate — albeit awkward for all involved — power of simply ignoring whomever he wants.
The only defector to be recognized was Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-wintersville, who sat silent throughout the outburst but rose to call a point of order. He insisted Stephens was breaking House rules by not acknowledging the motions. In response, Stephens asserted that no members technically brought the motion, and therefore things should proceed as normal.
The rest of session continued as if nothing had happened.
It’s not clear how many Republicans would vote to get rid of Stephens. According to Stephens’ rival Rep. Phil Plummer, R-butler Twp., who helped plan Wednesday’s revolt, it would require 50 votes in total to reach the majority threshold necessary to vacate his seat.
But it is clear Stephens’ recent move to strip various committee chairs (including Plummer) from their posts as punishment for donating to their colleague’s GOP primary opponents has riled up a faction of the GOP caucus that is a thorn in his side.
Plummer especially seems to have taken last week’s chair removals to heart. In the time since, he’s promised
an ethics complaint; called for the state to bring criminal action against Stephens, if applicable; orchestrated Wednesday’s attempted removal of Stephens; and urged his colleagues to call for Stephens’ resignation.
“The guy’s not a Republican, he shouldn’t be running a Republican caucus here,” Plummer told the Springfield News-sun after Wednesday’s session. “He should run the
Democrat caucus.”
Plummer, who himself made a failed bid for speaker at the start of this general assembly, said Stephens’ tactics on Wednesday were par for the course.
“He just ignores all of us. We can’t speak on the floor. It’s pretty pathetic that he’s afraid to even take the vote,” he said.
Willis, a freshman legislator from Clark County, was
one of the most aggrieved. He left the session early once it became clear nothing was going to come of his faction’s attempts.
“It is his style and demonstrated method to not recognize anyone who isn’t on his script and is saying something he doesn’t want to hear,” Willis said in a text message. “He is supposed to work for the body, like any chairman, and is always
subject to a vote of no confidence by the body.”
Willis told this newspaper it was “obvious” Stephens doesn’t think he’d survive a referendum on the House floor. He believes the best recourse going forward is for Stephens to resign.
Wednesday’s proceedings also irked Preble County’s Creech and Warren County Rep. Scott Lipps, R-franklin, who along with Plummer, are three of the six chairs removed by Stephens last week.
Both jeered and booed Stephens after session. Lipps loudly shouted, “shame!” Creech came up to the podium before Stephens spoke with reporters to confront him and to sarcastically commended him for his consistency.
When it came time for reporters to ask about the day’s events, Stephens’ communications team held a short gaggle.
“It’s been no secret how some of our members feel about our speakership,” Stephens said. “I’ll just go back to: We have worked really hard to bring people in, we have allowed people to do a lot of really good things, and we’ve done a lot of good things in this legislature. There’s a lot of folks who feel really good about what we’re doing. It’s really a lot of noise, and it’s unfortunate, but I will say we are definitely getting work done in spite of the noise.”
Plummer said he expects to try again soon.
“That was kind of just a trial run for us,” Plummer said, adding that he believes momentum is on his side.