By Patty Klein Findlay, Ohio

This article was originally published on Hancock’s Substack

The Hancock County Republican Party gave Rep. Jon Cross a pass on Monday February 27, 2023 at their regular central and executive committee meeting.

A motion was made by member KC Allen at the January meeting, to support the State Central Committee’s censure of the 22 Representatives who broke the 67 member Republican supermajority and voted with all of the Democrats to elect Rep. Jason Stephens to the Speaker of the House position. The motion was tabled in order to invite Cross to address the Hancock party members.

The well attended meeting left only standing room in the Findlay Council chambers. Cross was in attendance along with Senator Rob McColley, and State Central Committee members Gina Campbell and Tony Schroeder.

The meeting began with a contemptuous tone when Executive Committee Vice Chair Brad Wagner asked audience members to cease recording the meeting. He threatened to take the meeting into executive session, which would exclude non-members from the room. Wagner tossed his own phone onto the desk with disgust and glared at me, an audience member who wanted to record the important meeting for the community unable to attend. I took copious notes during the meeting instead. Before returning my phone to the Notes app, I captured a photo of Cross, who grinned for the camera.

Cross was introduced to the room for the purpose of explanation and to take questions. Cross began by detailing legislative priorities, which he thought would be favorable to conservative voters. This included bills about transportation, adoption, and the “backpack bill.”

Cross touted himself as consistently voting for conservative legislation. He cited his endorsement by the Right to Life organization. Cross raised his tone and stated that “you don’t censure” for these things. Cross also stressed that previous speakers, Rosenberger, Cupp and Householder had sordid histories and he was determined to choose a good long term Speaker.

Cross then went on to try and explain why he and 21 other Republicans decided to vote for the Democrat preferred candidate for speaker of the house. Cross claims that the conflict within the House is akin to a family food fight. He said that the House members who voted for Rep. Derrick Merrin were in favor of an agenda that House Democrats hated, which brought grumbles from the room. Cross felt that electing Stephens was a vote to unify the party.

Rep. Cross attempted to explain what he called a “50% handshake rule” that has traditionally been recognized in the House. He said the 50% threshold was not achieved in caucus by the speaker candidates. At one point, Cross spoke of his support for Rep. Phil Plummer for speaker who failed in caucus votes. Apparently Plummer split from Cross and decided to vote for Merrin, a move that seemed to hurt Cross’ feelings.

Looking at audience members, Cross said, “The 83rd district is only as good as the position I’m in.” During the question portion of the meeting, KC Allen asked Cross if his vote for Stephens was in exchange for a position on the House floor and Cross stated that it was part of his decision.

Rep. Cross became a little more animated as he attempted to discredit “fake news” that Rep. Stephens was a moderate. He disputed widely reported press articles that said a legislative deal was reached with Democrats in exchange for their support of Stephens. Cross said the only deal reached was for the return of a conference table.

Before taking questions, Cross appeared to become emotional while mentioning the recent death of House colleague Kris Jordan, who also supported Merrin for Speaker.

The next part of Cross’ diatribe became much more argumentative and derogatory toward fellow Republican House members. He referred to the the Merrin supporters as the “JV team” who were jeopardizing the party by proposing things like only saying Christian prayer, an accusation that has been debunked by many House conservatives. Cross said that the 22 on the varsity team had to step up and save the House from these “marble rollers.” This was a term used several times by Cross throughout the rest of the meeting.

Cross then began to address the State Central Committee censure. He called on Gina Campbell and Tony Schroeder to unite the party. He said that he has information that the State Central Committee will be rescinding the censure and some counties even want to censure the State Central Committee for their action. Cross also said the “stupid games” are still happening since some State Central Committee members are organizing further sanctions of the 22 Republicans that would remove endorsements and prevent them from attaining campaign funds. Cross then quipped about those “coming after him” in the press or with billboards. Cross said he liked the billboards because his hair looked good. He said the billboards were funded by “dark money” connected to Rep. Jena Powell, which he said is illegal. Cross also accused his opposition of “bribery,” saying that a letter was issued that banned campaign funds if they (the 22) “did not vote a certain way.” He said that is illegal and that the letter of proof was turned over to the Attorney General.

Cross also spoke about some dealings he had with Merrin when his wife, Christina Cross, was running for judge. He did not want to disparage a colleague but said Merrin was a “prick.” Although Mrs. Cross was not elected, she was hired as an attorney with a law firm that supported solar energy in Marion Township. The solar farms were largely opposed by Cross constituents in that area.

Cross regrouped and thanked the committee for allowing him to speak.

Next introduced to speak was female State Central Committee representative Gina Campbell. Campbell was passionate in her explanation of why she supported a censure of Cross and the others who voted for Stephens. She said that Republicans entered their caucus with 67 member super-majority and had planned to support a solid conservative agenda. They were excited to “walk in lock step” as Democrats often do. Campbell emphasized that the Democrat Party Platform is very different from the Republican Party Platform and the the issues, especially the pro-life issue, are not compatible. She stated that the Republicans who abandoned the super-majority were not standing up for God, country and family. Campbell said that of the 9 counties she represents, a majority of 6 supported the State Central Committee’s censure.

Campbell noted that her comments were not personal to Rep. Cross and that the Representatives hearts would be in her prayers since God is the only one who can change hearts.

Cross was visibly bothered by Campbell’s comments. Given the opportunity to respond, he again referred to those opposing his actions as “marble rollers.” He again expressed that the state censure would be withdrawn. He said that former Senate candidate, Mike Gibbons, who had been outspoken about funding and unseating the 22 Stephens voters, had changed his mind and was now in full support of Stephens.

Tony Schroeder, state district representative and state Republican Party secretary, then gave a tamer perspective on the meeting where the State Central Committee voted for censure. He said the 5 hour meeting started with discussion of an article that quoted Democrat Representative and abortion activist, Allison Russo, as saying she was pleased with what the Democrats got for their support of Stephens. Holding the newspaper containing the interview with Russo, he summarized that the loss of a super-majority had protected Democrat agenda items like the transgender agenda and Critical Race Theory in schools from being banned, terms supposedly negotiated since November of 2022.

Throughout the meeting, Cross interrupted speakers and was repeatedly told to stop by GOP Executive Committee Chairman Heather Pendleton. Cross, showing red in his face was obviously bothered by the nature of this part of the discussion.

Central Committee member Susan Thompson stood to be recognized and asked for a count of members to confirm there was a quorum for voting. The party chairs took some time to count and eventually found a quorum was present. Thompson moved to take the Resolution supporting the State Central Committee censure off the table. A voice vote was called. A majority voted to take the motion off the table. By ear, it sounded like 2 voices opposed the motion. The floor was opened for discussion.

The subject of the HJR6 was raised. This bill would have raised the threshold for Ohio Constitutional amendments to be placed on the Ohio ballot. Since this bill was not brought to the floor, Democrats have indicated that they will submit amendment language that will allow abortion in Ohio throughout a pregnancy. Rep. Cross said the amendment legislation was not a priority for 2023 because it was not a year with large voter turnout. Instead he supported this legislation for 2024. Since this meeting, pro-abortion activists have submitted language for the ballot and it has been accepted by Attorney General Dave Yost.

Questions and comments from around the room dealt with the motivation of Cross’ vote along with comments and questions of his attitude toward his constituents. Cross bragged that his quote to a journalist that called new House members “dipshits” was purposely done for a headline. One audience member asked Cross about a phone conversation he had with a local pro-life activist where he had used some colorful language. Cross admitted he had that conversation and the foul language he used was just how people from Kenton speak. At least 2 other audience members questioned the obvious disdain for his Republican constituents in contrast to the Democrats he voted with.

As discussion continued, Committee member Ingold suggested that the resolution again be tabled since Cross and Russo had not spoken in person before the State Central Committee. Commissioner Bill Bateson questioned Tony Schroeder about whether the censure was based solely on the newspaper article. Schroeder answered that the article had begun the discussion but was not the sole reason. County Prosecutor Phil Riegle asked Schroeder if the Speaker controversy was similar to when Larry Householder was elected Speaker. Both Campbell and Schroeder agreed it was similar, however there was no censure at that time because constituents were not as engaged during that election. This censure was fueled by calls from constituents.

Susan Thompson again stood and asked if Ingold’s statement was a motion or a statement. Ingold answered it was a statement, but he would make the motion to table the resolution. Bateson seconded the motion. A voice vote was called and this time the majority was unclear. A roll call vote was called. The majority vote of the committees was to table the resolution.