🚨 We have a devil's three-way, folks 🚨

State Rep. Tim Barhorst (R-Fort Laramie) enters the Speaker's race, with one source saying he'd start with "30 to 40" votes.

State Rep. Tim Barhorst (R-Fort Laramie) via The Ohio House of Representatives

Welcome to an emergency dispatch from The Rooster.

Moments ago, State Rep. Tim Barhorst (R-Fort Laramie), owner of the 11th-ranked restaurant in Celina according to TripAdvisor, shocked Capitol Square by entering the 136th General Assembly’s Speaker of the House race.

Barhorst makes his entrance days before the Republican House members vote to elect their next leader on Nov. 20th.

Left to Right: Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) and State Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima).

The affair had long been seen as a two-way race between State Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima), who, in my opinion, is a domestic terrorist, and current Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill).

Last month, I heard rumblings that not everything was as it seemed on that front, that it would be a three-way race.

State Rep. Ron Ferguson (R-Wintersville) was the name that made the most sense in that he only needed a handful of supporters to exert leverage over the final floor vote.

State Reps. Barhorst, Steve Demetriou (R-Bainsbridge), Adam Holmes (R-Nashport), and Bill Roemer (R-Richfield) were other names that I had heard.

Last week, I saw Barhorst in the hallways of the Statehouse and asked about who he planned to support in the Speaker’s race. Barhorst uncorked a lengthy missive about how the Republican Caucus needed unity at this time.

“Well,” I said, “If you need me to speak to the team about unity, I will gladly volunteer my time.”

We both went on our separate ways, laughing. But in retrospect, it was telling that Barhorst had that little stump speech ready to go.

On Monday night, I received a tip from a House Republican that Huffman’s impending Speakership bid would hit some turbulence around 10 a.m. Monday, and that the third mystery candidate would start with “30 to 40 votes.”

I obtained Barhorst’s name after a couple inquiries with other influential House members.

The pro-polio group Ohioans Advocating for Medical Freedom attacking Huffman (without endorsing Stephens) suddenly made much more sense.

That an anti-vaccine group would seemingly throw their weight behind Barhorst’s bid gives you an insight into what kind of Republican they want in power. But at least he wouldn’t be Huffman, the chamber-hopping politician that Ohio voters thought they eliminated when they overwhelmingly passed term limits on the State Legislature.

Barhorst’s best work is House Bill 49, which would enact a measure of transparency in hospital prices—a bill that was predictably watered down in the rancid retirement home of the State Senate.

At the very least, Barhorst’s announcement throws a wrench into Wednesday's planned Republican-only Speaker’s vote. One source speculated that enough members might skip the event, thus making it impossible for any one candidate to win a majority of the Caucus’ vote.

As I speculated in this morning’s dispatch, if Huffman somehow comes out of that meeting with a majority of his caucus’ votes, it’s hard to envision enough Republican House members plotting to steal that nomination from him, as they did to State Rep. Derek Merrin (R-Monclova Twp.) in January 2023. Nobody will want to risk that coupe failing and having their agenda effectively exiled to Siberia.

But if that vote results in any other outcome—whether it’s a non-vote or a collective vote for Barhorst or Stephens—that would be a significant defeat for Huffman’s team, who has spent the last two years crowing that they had the votes signed, sealed and delivered.

In turn, that would be a major victory for Ohio at large.

But that would also mean the backroom dealing and power plays would continue until January’s vote, with Speaker Stephens having the advantage with Democrats and labor unions as The Devil They Know rather than The Devil They Don’t.

I’ll have more reaction and analysis in Tuesday’s dispatch.

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