Why Ohio Republicans are talking about censuring a congressman months after his impeachment vote

May 7—The state Republican Party on Friday will discuss a resolution to censure a U.S. House member from Ohio who voted to impeach the former president, a move that will help set the direction of the party here post-Trump.

Three months after Mr. Trump's second acquittal in the U.S. Senate, top Ohio Republicans are taking up a measure to formally reprimand Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Rocky River and nine other GOP House members who voted to impeach the president on charges of inciting the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The resolution, if passed, carries no immediate consequences for Mr. Gonzalez in Congress. But with new leaders running the state party, its reception will send a message about the party's allegiances going forward, especially now that Mr. Gonzalez faces a Trump-backed primary challenger and several U.S. Senate candidates are competing for Mr. Trump's endorsement.

Party apparatuses in many states, especially where Mr. Trump was popular or lost by a hair, are confronting internal fissures after the election, and Friday's vote may show that Ohio is no different — except that Mr. Trump won here twice by big margins.

A copy of the 153-word resolution obtained by The Blade calls both Trump impeachments "partisan acts driven by retribution" and says the most recent impeachment "conducted by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats was unfairly expedited — with no hearings or presentation of evidence."

Holding an impeachment trial after Mr. Trump was out of office is "unprecedented, unconstitutional and serves no purpose beyond further dividing this country," the resolution says. "Now is the time for Republicans to unify as a party and uphold the United States Constitution and rule of law."

The resolution doesn't single out Mr. Gonzalez specifically. It names all 10 House members who voted to impeach Mr. Trump on Jan. 13, including GOP conference chair Liz Cheney of Wyoming, whose colleagues are gunning to remove her from party leadership. It also includes Michigan Reps. Peter Meijer and Fred Upton, who avoided censure in their home state. Members of the Michigan Republican Party tried rebuking Mr. Meijer and Mr. Upton last month, but the measure didn't make it out of a party committee.

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In about half of the states where Republican lawmakers voted to impeach or convict the former president, state parties opted to punish members who, like Mr. Gonzalez, are now facing challengers trying to unseat them. Not long after the impeachment vote, Max Miller, a Trump White House aide, launched a campaign to replace Mr. Gonzalez, a former NFL player first elected in 2018.

Mr. Gonzalez has defended his potentially career-upending move as a vote of conscience. But in the process he's made himself not only a target for the party, but GOP lawmakers who must redraw Ohio's congressional map this year with one less district. Mr. Gonzalez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"There are other things and people he has continued to support in the House that don't necessarily go down that conservative route, and I think that's opening people's eyes more than just that he [voted to impeach Mr. Trump]," said Lisa Cooper, a state central committee member from Marysville, who said she'll probably vote in favor of the resolution.

Mr. Gonzalez had voted in line with Mr. Trump's positions 85.7 percent of the time, according to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight — just two percentage points lower than Trump ally Jim Jordan of Urbana.

Ms. Cooper said the measure itself won't please everyone, since the people who love Mr. Trump wanted it drafted a long time ago and the Republicans who aren't really in his corner think it's ridiculous.

"I just don't think there's a good solution here," she said. "But I do believe it's going to happen ... just because there's still a lot of Trump momentum going even though he's not in office anymore. There's still that love for him."

The Ohio Republican Party appears to be the only state party in the nation that hadn't previously taken up censuring their lawmakers who voted with Democrats on impeachment, which some members blame on bad timing. The chairman at the start of last year's impeachment proceeding was Jane Timken, who stepped down in early February — before the Senate's acquittal — to run for Sen. Rob Portman's seat, leaving the party without a permanent leader. Bob Paduchik, a Trump loyalist and top adviser to his campaign in Ohio, was elected chairman later that month.

The Blade interviewed several state central committee members, the body that governs the Ohio Republican Party, who expect the resolution to easily pass at the group's first in-person meeting since the pandemic, although some hedged their votes.

"I would be surprised if they don't vote censure," said Steven Bruns, a committee member from Troy. "I'm leaning that way, but I don't want to do something without thinking it through, making sure I'm making the right decision. It is a big deal. You don't want to do that unless you have to."

Betty Montgomery, a committee member from Reynoldsburg and the former state auditor, said she won't vote for the resolution and anticipates a primary for her committee seat because of it.

"I do not believe that the party should be censuring someone for a vote of conscience. There is a place to censure somebody who the party is not happy with, and that is at the ballot box," she said.

"I also continue to be concerned about a party that continues to look in the rearview mirror instead of looking ahead at the issues that this country is confronting and trying to find common ground."

Dee Talmage, a committee member from Ottawa Hills, said she isn't decided and hasn't even given it much thought. Republicans she knows don't really talk about the former president, impeachment, or the election anymore.

"Regardless of what happened — whether [Mr. Trump] lost it fairly or unfairly — it's over," she said. "We have got to move on. And we figure if we don't unite, we're going to lose everything."

First Published May 6, 2021, 5:24pm