COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Members of the Ohio House on Wednesday expelled Rep. Larry Householder, the federally indicted Republican ex-speaker, in a bipartisan vote that for the first time in 150 years invoked their powers to remove a member.
The GOP-controlled House voted 75-21 to remove Householder of Perry County, approving a resolution that stated he was not suited for office because of the indictment. The Ohio Constitution allows expulsion for "disorderly conduct" without defining it.
Householder reiterated his innocence in a House floor speech before the vote and predicted again that he would be acquitted of accusations that he orchestrated a $60 million bribery scheme to approve legislation to prop up two nuclear power plants and then kill a ballot issue trying to overturn the law.
"I have not, nor have I ever, taken a bribe or solicited or been solicited for taking a bribe," Householder said.
He said he was returning to his southern Ohio farm Wednesday. Over the longer term, he said he intends to speak out against elected officials who he believes -- unlike himself -- have in fact acted unconstitutionally.
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"I can tell you this much," Householder told reporters. "Fellow elected officials who didn't like public citizen Householder are really not going to like private citizen Householder."
The full House took a vote after Republican lawmakers forced the measure to the floor instead of waiting for the expulsion resolution to work through the committee process.
Reps. Brian Stewart and Mark Fraizer, both Republicans representing districts that border Householder's, encouraged their colleagues to "do the right thing" and remove Householder from his seat.
"If racketeering, bribery and money laundering do not constitute disorderly conduct, then frankly nothing ever could," Stewart said.
Frazier called the indictment a stain on the institution and said, "it is time for us to come together as one body." Among other Republicans voting to expel their colleague was Speaker Bob Cupp.
Householder and four associates were arrested in July in an investigation connected to legislation containing a ratepayer-funded bailout of two Ohio nuclear power plants. The $1 billion rescue would have added a new fee to every electricity bill in the state and directed more than $150 million a year through 2026 to the plants near Cleveland and Toledo.
Federal prosecutors allege that Householder and his allies took FirstEnergy money in exchange for orchestrating a scheme to elect Householder speaker, put his allies into House seats, then pass the bailout bill and thwart a subsequent ballot effort to repeal it.
Householder faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Before the expulsion vote, GOP Rep. Bill Seitz of Cincinnati argued unsuccessfully that an unproven criminal indictment is not the action implied by disorderly conduct. The proper approach would be an impeachment trial or to wait for the criminal case's outcome, he said.
State Rep. Emilia Sykes, the top House Democrat, who has been urging lawmakers to expel Householder for over a year, said the lawmaker gave the chamber "no choice but to act."
On Tuesday, Householder appeared in front of a committee where he delivered hours-long testimony on why removing him from office would be the wrong thing to do.
Two of Householder's co-defendants and an involved nonprofit have pleaded guilty in the case. FirstEnergy, the energy company at the heart of the latest scandal, has acknowledged in court filings making the bulk of the payments in an alleged $60 million bribery scheme.
Farnoush Amiri is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.