Yesterday, I was proud to represent my district. I left the house at 7 a.m. to arrive for what I expected would be a historic day in Ohio history, and when I arrived back home around 8 p.m. I was not proven wrong. The anti-establishment candidate and underdog, Larry Householder was elected speaker of the house and I was a proud member of this team.

The 11.5 million people of Ohio will be well-served by the election of this honorable man. I have spent the last 18 months getting to know him and have been impressed by two things, one, his ability to listen and two, his ability to tell the truth. Sadly, in my first 4 years in government, I saw too many willing to say one thing, and do something very different. Many of those types of people were on the losing end of yesterday’s speaker’s race and the people of Ohio will be the better for it.

A quote from the Columbus Dispatch was particularly notable, “he became the speaker by defeating someone considered more of the establishment choice.” Those of you who follow me know, I have been one calling for more honestly and better rapport in the Ohio State House for the 4 years I have been in office.

Both Republican and Democrat ideas were shot down out of hand without any discussion if you were not part of the ‘in crowd.’ As I told some of my Democrat friends yesterday, good ideas for the people of Ohio are not reserved by the Republican Party. I have seen good ideas on both sides of the aisle get shot down because of corruption. There’s a new sheriff in town and I believe while we may all not get what we want, we will at least have a fair chance at making our case and trying to convince the other representatives of the merits of our ideas.

I look forward to serving under Speaker Householder and was proud to cast my vote and be part of the incoming team to forge a new direction for the Ohio House. Bravo on a job well done Mr. Speaker.