Husted, DeWine give Dayton area statewide clout

COLUMBUS— When Republican Jon Husted was speaker of the Ohio House, Chris Kershner knew just who to call on when the Dayton area needed help with legislation to exempt military pensions from the state income tax.

“Speaker Husted knew the economic impact of that legislation and the impact it would have on Dayton,” said Kershner, now vice president of public policy and economic development for the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce.

With Husted’s help, the bill passed in 2007, Gov. Ted Strickland signed it into law and the Dayton region has used it to attract military veterans who want to start businesses, said Kershner.

It helps to have elected officials with statewide influence at the Statehouse.

Starting in January the Dayton area will have two, Husted as secretary of state and fellow Republican Mike DeWine of Cedarville as attorney general.

The area hasn’t had a two-person presence at the statewide level since 2006 when Husted, now a state senator from Kettering, still was House Speaker and DeWine was finishing his second term as a U.S. senator, before losing to Democrat Sherrod Brown.

“It’s a security blanket,” said former Dayton Mayor Paul Leonard, a Democrat who also was lieutenant governor from 1987-1991. “If your community has someone in state office, there’s someone community leaders can go to and make sure their voices are heard in Columbus.”

Also, said Leonard, it helps to combat the perception the “three Cs” – Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland – have a disproportionate share of influence at the Statehouse, leaving the rest of the state is the “other Ohio,” begging for scraps.

In the new statewide lineup resulting from the November election, the Columbus area also will have two officeholders, Gov. John Kasich from Westerville and Auditor Dave Yost from nearby Delaware County, both Republicans.

Northeast Ohio also will have four – U.S. Sen. Brown of Avon; Republican Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor of Green, an Akron suburb; Republican Treasurer Josh Mandel of Lyndhurst, a Cleveland suburb, and House Speaker Bill Batchelder, R-Medina.

The Dayton and Cincinnati areas each can claim incoming U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., while new Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman is from Terrace Park, a Cincinnati suburb.

New Ohio Senate President Tom Niehaus, a Republican, is from New Richmond in rural Clermont County, southeast of Cincinnati.

The Toledo area has no representative in a statewide position.

One question for the Dayton area is whether Husted will continue to call Kettering his official home. While the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that Husted is a resident of Montgomery County, he spends much of his time at a home in Upper Arlington with his wife and children.

“I’m trying to sort out this situation with my family,” said Husted. “We haven’t made all those decisions yet.”

He added that he already has begun talking with the Dayton area legislative delegation and local business leaders about economic development.

While he and Husted have statewide responsibilities, local ties count, said DeWine, who also served as lieutenant governor in the early 1990s.

“You have a special understanding of the area where you grew up and where you’re from,” said DeWine. “...That’s a good thing for the Miami Valley.”

About the Author