Legislative Caucuses Select Leadership Teams for the 136th General Assembly
This week, the Ohio House and Ohio Senate majority and minority caucuses selected their leadership teams for the 136th General Assembly (2025-2026).
Ohio Senate
Senate Democrats returned a majority of their leadership team from the 135th General Assembly to their same posts in the 136th General Assembly. Senator Nicki Antonio (D-Lakewood) will return as the minority leader, with Senator Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus) as assistant minority leader and Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) as minority whip. The only change to the leadership team for the Senate Minority Caucus is Senator-elect, Representative Beth Liston (D-Dublin), who replaces Senator Catherine Ingram (D-Cincinnati) as the assistant minority whip.
Republicans elected Senator Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) as the next Senate president. The Senate majority also elected Senator Bill Rieneke (R-Tiffin) as the president pro-tempore, Senator Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) as the majority floor leader, and Senator George Lang (R-West Chester Twp.) as majority whip.
The breakdown of the Ohio Senate in the 136th General Assembly will be 24 Republicans to 9 Democrats. Democrats flipped two seats this election, increasing their caucus from seven to nine.
Ohio House
House Democrats again returned Representative Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) as the minority leader and made no changes to the rest of the leadership slate. Joining Leader Russo as the House Minority leadership slate are Representative Dontavious Jarrells (D-Columbus) as assistant minority leader, Representative Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) as minority whip, and Representative Michele Grim (D-Toledo) as assistant minority whip.
The process to select House Republican leadership, which came to a close this week after months of internal jockeying and drama, ended with the majority party selecting Representative-Elect, and current Senate President, Senator Matt Huffman (R-Lima) as the next House Speaker, who was selected unanimously after no other Republican was nominated at the closed-door caucus Wednesday evening, after current Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) dropped out of the leadership race on Tuesday and Representative Tim Barhorst (R-Fort Loramie) entry into the speaker race. Rep. Barhorst was not nominated on Wednesday.
Elected to fill out Senator Huffman’s leadership team are Representative Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville) as speaker pro-tempore, Representative Phil Plumber (R-Dayton) as assistant speaker pro-tempore, Representative Marylin John (R-Shelby) as majority leader, and Representative Adam Bird (R-Cincinnati) as assistant majority leader.
In an unprecedented move, the House Majority elected four members to serve as majority whips, these include Representative Steve Demetriou (R-Bainbridge Twp.), Representative Riordan McClain (R-Upper Sandusky), Representative Nick Santucci (R-Howland Twp.) and Representative Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Twp.).
The breakdown of the Ohio House will be 65 Republicans and 34 Democrats, after the minority party flipped two seats.
Keep Up the Work to Pass the Social Security Fairness Act this Congress
With only weeks left on the U.S. Senate’s calendar before the end of the 118th Congress, we need to make sure that the Social Security Fairness Act passes. First, thank you for your continued advocacy to repeal GPO and WEP. Your advocacy was critical for the passage of H.R. 82 by the U.S. House of Representatives last week.
Please continue to contact your senators and thank them for their support with the Social Security Fairness Act, urge them to call for H.R. 82 to be brought to the floor and passed before the end of the year. To view NEA’s letter to the U.S. Senate on GPO and WEP, please click here.
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH): (202) 224-2315
U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH): (202) 224-3353
Please also consider sending them a letter via NEA’s action alert on GPO and WEP Repeal.
OEA Supported Bills Receive Sponsor Testimony
House Bill (HB) 387 – OEA supports HB 387, which repeals the failed state takeover law by dissolving existing academic distress commissions and prohibits the formation of new commissions. Representative Lauren McNally (D-Youngstown) and Representative Juanita Brent (D-Cleveland Heights) provided sponsor testimony in the Ohio House Primary & Secondary Education Committee earlier this week. East Cleveland and Youngstown City Schools still remain under state control.
House Bill (HB) 561 – OEA supports HB 561, which puts students ahead of profits by requiring charter school operators to be non-profit entities. Bill sponsor Representative Sean Brennan (D-Parma) provided testimony in the Ohio House Primary & Secondary Education Committee this week.
House Bill (HB) 563 – OEA supports HB 563, which facilitates strategies that support aspiring educators and teacher recruitment. Bill sponsor Representative Sean Brennan (D-Parma) provided testimony in the Ohio House Primary & Secondary Education Committee this week. HB 563 does the following:
- Expressly allows a public school district to pay a student teacher (at least minimum wage) and offer a student teacher healthcare benefits on the same terms and conditions as those offered to teachers in the district. Recently passed law now in effect removed a prohibition on compensating student teachers, but Ohio law does not expressly state that student teachers may be compensated.
- Permits the Department to provide a cost-of-living stipend and test fee waivers or reimbursements to a student teacher.
- Allows a state institution of higher education to waive tuition for an individual enrolled in a teacher preparation program for the academic period during which the individual is required to work as a student teacher.
- Requires the Department of Job and Family Services to add teachers to the list of in-demand jobs in Ohio.
- Requires the Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) to develop and administer an annual online staffing survey to collect data from school districts.
View Committee Hearings in Ohio Channel Archive
To view the most recent House Primary & Secondary Education Committee and Senate Education Committee hearings, please use the links below for The Ohio Channel Archives:
- Nov. 19, 2024: Ohio House Primary And Secondary Education Committee | The Ohio Channel
- Nov. 20, 2024: Ohio Senate Education Committee | The Ohio Channel
For an archive of past Legislative Watch releases, visit the Legislative Watch archive.