State Representative Rodney Creech Should be Expelled from the Ohio House
Householder Standard for Expulsion Demands that Creech be Expelled
On June 16, 2021, State Representative Rodney Creech voted to expel former Ohio Speaker Larry Householder from the Ohio House for “disorderly conduct”. This was at a time when Householder had been indicted but not convicted and had been re-elected overwhelmingly by the voters of his district.
Then House Majority Leader Bill Seitz argued unsuccessfully that Householder’s conduct did not constitute “disorderly conduct”. And in fact, until this expulsion in 2021, the Ohio House had not expelled a member for approximately 150 years. That last expulsion was based upon the fact that one member slugged another on the House floor.
The Householder precedent changed that standard. There, a supermajority of House Republicans and Democrats argued that a member could be removed for simply engaging in “misconduct.”
The Rooster has extensive coverage of what is going on with Representative Creech over at his site. But if inappropriately touching your 15 year old teenage daughter and repeatedly and drunkenly climbing into bed with her with a visible erection isn’t “misconduct”, then what is it exactly?
State Representative Rodney Creech voted for this new standard when he voted to expel Larry Householder from the Ohio House. And the fact that he got a pass from a friendly, Republican Prosecutor from criminal charges doesn’t excuse him.
The Members of the Ohio House have an obligation to introduce a resolution of expulsion, hold hearings, and vote on it. Anything less is an endorsement of this behavior.