Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, center, leaves the federal courthouse after an initial hearing following charges against him and four others alleging a $60 million bribery scheme Tuesday, July 21, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio.
After 10 consecutive votes in which another man had garnered more support than Larry Householder's favored candidate to be the next Ohio House speaker, Householder leaned back quietly in his chair, arms confidently propped behind his head.
The previous House speaker had resigned amid scandal.
Two icons of Ohio politics four-term governor James Rhodes and Democrat Vern Riffe, the battleground state's longest-serving House speaker were from the same eastern Ohio region.
Im distraught that the school funding issue is not yet resolved, and I think Larry Householder had in mind resolving it, he said.