The Ohio House Speaker race has turned into a battleground for the Republican Party's future, exposing deep divisions within the ranks. After a surprising coalition of Democrats and Republicans elected Jason Stephens as speaker, thwarting the Republican majority's agenda, Stephens has withdrawn from the race. This leaves the Republican conference with Matt Huffman as their nominee, facing the challenge of preventing another coalition government.
Having gained an additional three seats in the state House and one in the state Senate to secure supermajorities in both chambers, alongside a landslide reelection for Gov., the GOP was on cruise control, locking the Democratic Party out of every corner of state government.
After a single two-year term as speaker, Stephens will not serve another. He managed to beat back a primary challenger in his reelection campaign, but four of the so-called “blue 22” lost their primary races, and five opted not to run for reelection. To secure another term as speaker, he would need to win the support of at least three Republicans who had not supported him before or are new to the chamber. That would have been unlikely.
This intraparty struggle has turned ugly at times, especially in states with more conservative governors who expected to use their numerical monopolies to pass bills expanding school choice, aggressively regulating public education, restricting abortion, or banning children from receiving sex-change drugs or procedures.The split between state lawmakers and conservative governors was most clearly pushed into view in Texas and Iowa over the matter of school choice. In 2022, Gov.
In the 2024 primaries, due to the efforts of Abbott and Paxton, several incumbent lawmakers lost renomination, effectively giving Abbott the pro-school choice majority he sought. The efforts also imperiled Phelan’s hopes of being reelected speaker, and he withdrew from consideration last month. With Phelan out of the way, the Republican conference nominated state Rep. David Cook to be speaker of the Texas House.
The ever-looming threat of a primary challenge has often led governors and lawmakers to rethink their opposition to conservative policy proposals. In Utah, Gov. Spencer Cox vetoed a 2022 bill banning biological men from competing in female sports. However, a year later, he signed legislation that banned minors from receiving sex-change drugs and puberty blockers, a move that acknowledged the political realities of the matter.
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