But LaRose, who wants to run for the U.S. Senate, seems to have changed his mind: Maybe that’s because Republicans now fear Ohio voters might ratify — in November’s election — a constitutional amendment to establish abortion rights in Ohio. (According to state Health Department data women obtained 21,813 abortions in Ohio in 2021.)
So, some GOP legislators, notably in the Senate, want to hold an August election this summer to make it harder to change the constitution in November.
The proposed August amendment would require a 60% yes vote on November’s abortion ballot issue rather than 50%-plus-1 requirement Ohio’s had since 1912, giving 41% of voters a veto over the remaining 59% of voters:
Republicans want to change the rules of the game in August because they fear that otherwise voters will pass the abortion-rights amendment in November. It’s the Statehouse version of heads I win, tails you lose.
Last year’s House Bill 458, the bill LaRose praised in January, “makes a number of long-sought election modernization improvements, including … eliminating August special elections – a costly, low-turnout, and unnecessary election for our county [Elections] boards to administer,” he said.
Except for two House GOP members (Rep. Jay Edwards, of Nelsonville, and the late Rep. Kris Jordan, of Ostrander), every Republican in the legislature voted “yes” on HB 458.
It’s mainly known for toughening Ohio’s photo-ID rules for voters. But the 2022 bill also abolished — with very limited exceptions — August elections, elections which LaRose, in testimony, condemned: “Voters just don’t turn out. That means just a handful of voters end up making big decisions. The side that wins [in August] is often the one that has a vested interest in the passage of the issue up for consideration.” [Emphasis added.]
What’s changed since then is growing GOP fear the voter-proposed November abortion rights amendment has momentum. (What hasn’t changed is LaRose’s hunger for 2024′s Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democrat Sherrod Brown.)
Pending in the Senate is Senate Bill 92, sponsored by Sens. Rob McColley, of Napoleon, and Theresa Gavarone, of Bowling Green, to authorize an Aug. 8 election on constitutional amendments proposed by the legislature — not by petitioners. (In December, McColley and Gavarone voted “yes” on HB 458 — to ban most August elections.)
Senate President Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican, supports SB 92, which guarantees the Senate will pass it. Republican House Speaker Jason Stephens, of Gallia County’s Kitts Hill, who is also anti-abortion, initially said he opposed holding an August election.
By mid-week, Stephens softened that stance, maybe after a nose-count of his 67-member House GOP caucus. (Two Ohio House Republican seats are vacant.) The House caucus’s main anti-Stephens figure, Rep. Derek Merrin, of suburban Toledo, supports an August election.
Whether the 65 House Republicans will take their cue from Stephens is likely but not certain. Still, House supporters of an August election would only have to muster at least 50 “yes” votes for an August election designed to make it harder for pro-abortion-rights voters to pass their proposed constitutional amendment in November’s election. A gerrymandered legislature wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University. You can reach him at tsuddes@gmail.com.
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