COLUMBUS – The Ohio Republican Party elected a new chairman Friday.
Bob Paduchik was chosen to be chair of the Ohio GOP by the party’s State Central Committee.
Paduchik, a longtime Republican political operative from Akron, was selected over former Ohio House of Representative John Becker from Clermont County.
He received 53 votes to Becker’s 11 votes. One committee member did not vote.
“I want to thank everyone. For those of you that voted for me, thank you. I’m grateful for those that did not. I hope in the coming two years that I earn your trust and support so that I can be re-elected two years from now,” Paduchik said.
Paduchik had been hand-picked by former President Donald Trump after Paduchik served as a campaign advisor for Trump in both 2016 and 2020.
Paduchik’s resume also includes getting former President George W. Bush elected twice as well as former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and U.S. Sen. Rob Portman.
“It’s sometimes embarrassing for me to hear people say things like that because all of those elections are elections that are won by many people, not just one person,” Paduchik said.
Paduchik said his top priority is getting Republicans elected to the Ohio Supreme Court and the U.S. Senate to replace Portman. He said he also wants to focus on winning urban counties which he calls the party’s “biggest challenge.” Finally, he said he wants the Ohio GOP to be what he calls “a service organization.”
Paduchik said he does not have an opinion on the party endorsing candidates during primary elections and will leave that decision up to the committee.
“Sometimes a leader should lead and sometimes a leader should follow and I think when it comes to endorsements by the State Central Committee a chairman should follow,” Paduchik said.
Paduchik pushed for the passing of House Bill 6, the taxpayer-funded bailout of two Ohio nuclear power plants.
His family also has ties to Energy Harbor, the company that received the subsidies, and former Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken. Neither Paduchik, Timken, nor anyone at Energy Harbor, has been implicated in the federal investigation surrounding House Bill 6.
Timken, who resigned earlier this month to run for Portman’s U.S. Senate seat, congratulated Paduchik in a text to Spectrum News Statehouse Reporter Josh Rultenberg, saying, “No one knows Ohio politics better than Bob. I have confidence in his leadership.”
