COLUMBUS, Ohio—State Rep. Derek Merrin accused state Rep. Jason Stephens and his supporters of stepping up their efforts to stop him from becoming Ohio House Speaker while he was in a hospice with his dying father.
In an interview with cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer, Merrin, a Toledo-area Republican, also said he tried to reach out to Stephens and his fellow Republican supporters, only to get a non-commital response. He also said he held discussions with House Democrats and agreed to many of their requests, though Democrats ended up uniting with Stephens’ GOP allies to elect Stephens speaker on Tuesday.
There had been rumblings since Merrin won a House GOP caucus vote in November that Stephens would buck tradition and continue to fight to become speaker.
But Merrin said Stephens and his allies “ramped up their efforts” when they found out Merrin’s father, Russell Merrin, was in hospice. Russell Merrin, a Baptist pastor, died on Dec. 29.
“That’s when the foot on the gas pedal went into play,” Merrin said. When Merrin was asked how he felt about that, he replied, “How do you think I feel?”
Merrin said that while at the hospice, he made 40-50 phone calls per day “trying to put the rebellion down,” as well as trying to hire new House staffers.
Stephens ended up getting only 22 GOP votes on Tuesday, nine votes less than he got in the House GOP caucus vote. However, Stephens won after all 32 House Democrats voted for him.
In the weeks prior to that, Merrin said he talked with Stephens and held meetings with a number of Republicans who later voted for Stephens, offering at least one powerful committee chairmanship.
Merrin said he also met with Stephens on Dec. 20, before it was clear to Merrin that Stephens would try to become speaker, to discuss committee chairmanships. Merrin said Stephens asked to take Merrin’s spot on the Ohio Redistricting Commission, which will draw new legislative districts for the 2024 election, but Merrin said he turned down the request.
Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer has reached out to Stephens for comment.
Merrin also said he had several conversations with House Minority Leader Allison Russo, a Columbus-area Democrat, in the weeks before the speaker vote. Merrin said he asked Russo and other House Democrats to stay out of the speaker’s race, just as Republicans wouldn’t get involved in Democrats’ decision to keep Russo minority leader.
Merrin said the House Democrats’ number-one request was to stop legislative efforts to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would require support from at least 60% of voters to pass future proposed amendments, rather than a simple majority. Merrin said he replied that he would not move to stop it and that he would see what his fellow House Republicans thought about the issue.
In addition, Merrin said, Democrats also asked him to not allow the passage of a so-called “backpack bill” that would expand school vouchers so that any Ohio student could receive a publicly funded voucher scholarship to attend private school. Merrin said he answered that he supports such a bill but that he also favors increased funding for public schools.
The proposed constitutional amendment and the “backpack bill,” Merrin said, were the two main policy differences between himself and Stephens.
Merrin said he did agree to Democratic requests for more seats on some key committees, including the powerful House Finance Committee (which will review the state’s multi-billion-dollar budget bill) and Rules and Reference Committee, which decides which bills are sent to the House floor for a vote.
Russo, speaking with cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer on Thursday, confirmed that Merrin agreed to those requests, as did Stephens.
When asked what will happen now that Stephens is speaker, Merrin declined to give specifics.
“My father’s having a funeral on Saturday. I’m gonna bury him,” Merrin said. “And I’m coming back to Columbus, and people will know my plans then.”
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Ohio Rep. Derek Merrin: Jason Stephens used my father’s death to become Ohio House speaker - cleveland.com
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