COLUMBUS, Ohio — Republican state Rep. Steve Hambley says he will forgo a fourth House term next year in order to run in the primary against Medina County Commission President Pat Geissman, the longest-serving commissioner in county history.
The unusually high-profile challenge against Geissman, who has been a county commissioner since 1992, appears to have come because Hambley mistakenly thought that she wouldn’t run for an 11th term as commissioner.
“Frankly, I’m surprised she’s running again,” said Hambley in an interview.
Geissman, 79, didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday. But she told the Medina Gazette that she expects an “interesting” primary race between her and Hambley.
“I can’t believe he wants to come back so badly that he wants to take me out. I’m sorry Steve wants to do that,” Geissman told the Gazette. “Both of us will be spending a lot of money [on the campaign trail]. I’ve never had trouble having people give me money.”
While serving together on the Medina County Commission, Hambley and Geissman butted heads over some major issues, including trash collection and fiber-optic lines, according to the Gazette.
Hambley, a 64-year-old Brunswick resident, served 18 years as a Medina County commissioner himself before running for state representative in 2014. He said he now wants to return to county politics because of “frustration” with how things are run in the Ohio Statehouse.
“Honestly, I’m a little tired of the politics and money that is going on at the state level,” Hambley said, adding that he has racked up 126,000 miles on his car because of his legislative duties.
Returning to the county commission, he said, also might allow him to return to teaching history and political science courses at Lorain County Community College, where he was an adjunct professor until he was elected to the legislature.
Hambley is the latest supporter of former House Speaker Ryan Smith to announce plans to leave the legislature after Smith lost the speaker’s gavel to state Rep. Larry Householder in January.
Asked whether Householder’s election as speaker factored into his decision to depart the Statehouse, Hambley answered, “No – well, I won’t say either way.
“I was like, ‘Well, all right, I see that I can be much more productive and get a lot more done to benefit my county in the different venue,” he said. Hambley added that he has a “good relationship” with the speaker, who named him chair of the House Civil Justice Committee.
Already, at least one Republican is looking at running for Hambley’s House District 69 seat in 2020: Sharon Ray, a former Medina County commissioner who is now bailiff for the Wadsworth Municipal Court.
Ray said in an interview that she is “very interested” in running and will make an announcement soon.
However, Ray declined to talk about what issues she would focus on if elected, saying she wants to wait until her announcement.
House District 69, which covers western and much of central Medina County -- including the city of Medina -- has been a reliably Republican district. Before Hambley took the seat, the district was represented by then-House Speaker Bill Batchelder of Medina.