DaytonDailyNews.com

Kettering's Jon Husted has lived by and at least been wounded by the sword of term limits.

The ambitious, young Republican probably still would be a force in the Ohio House of Representatives but for the fact that lawmakers can serve only eight years before they have to move on. That requirement, imposed by voters, forced Speaker Husted to run for the Ohio Senate last year if he wanted to remain in the Legislature.

As compared to being one of the three most important people at the Statehouse — alongside the governor and president of the Senate — being one of 33 senators is a comedown.

Mr. Husted's ascent was nothing short of meteoric. A little more than a decade ago, he was a largely unknown aide to the irascible Montgomery County Commissioner Don Lucas.

From the moment he set foot in Columbus, Mr. Husted had his eye on the speaker's chair, a goal made possible by the required turnover that's now forcing him out of the House. He did all the right things, from cultivating people to mastering issues to living the job to raising money (and donating it to those Republicans who had tougher races than he).

The last time the Dayton area had someone in the speaker's position was in the late 1800s. So the rise of this young University of Dayton grad was not an everyday thing.

Speaker Husted has aggressively been attentive to the region's needs, making sure that UD and Wright State University, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the National Composite Center and other institutions like these got audiences in Columbus.

In and outside the region, Mr. Husted is recognized as an exceptional talent. He articulates points of view that add up to a vision, which, sadly, is more unusual than you might think.

As speaker, he wanted to cut taxes and simplify the tax code, an effort that he, with Gov. Bob Taft and others, was successful in; he wanted to rein in Ohio's go-it-alone public colleges, seeing them as central to the state's effort to build research and development capacity; and he was adamant about institutionalizing alternatives to poor performing public schools by supporting charter schools.

Not everyone thinks Speaker Husted's vision is correct, of course, and he is not without blind spots (about the importance of strong central cities, for instance). But there can be no doubt that he came to his position of power with ideas, and he advanced them.

He has made missteps along the way. He let his position and power go to his head by asking for a favor from NCR (a ride in its corporate jet to a football bowl game). Of late, he's having to defend his residency qualification to hold a Senate seat.

(In practical terms, he is a Montgomery County resident in only the most marginal sense, having made a life for himself and his wife and two children in Columbus. That relatively well-known fact, however, hasn't seemed to bother the voters of his different districts, who have overwhelmingly elected him. He does, however, have to meet the letter of the law's residency requirements, which, he's arguing, he does. Boards of elections have to enforce laws without favoritism. That Mr. Husted has advocated for the Dayton region doesn't mean authorities can wink at him.)

It's ironic, but, when he became speaker and Republicans were in control of the House, he was seen as especially eager to reach out to Democrats. Now that Democrats are in charge of the House, all the statewide administrative offices but one, and the governor's office, he is quicker to show his partisan streak.

Maybe he's worried that his party is being steamrolled; maybe he's gearing up for 2010, when he's expected to run for secretary of state or state treasurer; or maybe back then he found it easier to work with Democrats than with the more rabidly conservative members of his own party who rankled him.

But it's hard not to miss his new eagerness to engage in trumped-up fights with the other party — insisting, for instance, on using the "rainy day fund" to fund veterans' benefits.

Once upon a time, Dayton had a reputation for sending talented people who became forces in Columbus to the Legislature, including Chuck Horn, Bob Corbin, C.J. McLin, Paul Leonard and others. But with term limits, the positions seem to have lost some of their appeal, and few local people have been really mastering the work of legislative service. Mr. Husted has been an exception.

Perhaps this is not the kind of praise a politician needs, but Jon Husted is a pro. He has known for a long time what he wanted to do, and he has brought professionalism to the field. He leaves the House having made a contribution to it and having used the job to the betterment of the Dayton region.