Ohio Republican Rep. Steve Stivers will leave Congress on May 16 to become president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
His resignation will temporarily give Democrats some breathing room in their razor-thin House majority that has been made even slimmer by multiple vacancies in Democratic-leaning districts.
“Throughout my career, I’ve worked to promote policies that drive our economy forward, get folks to work, and put our fiscal house in order,” Stivers tweeted in announcing his resignation on Monday. “I’m excited to announce that I will be taking on a new opportunity that allows me to continue to do that.”
Stivers was elected to the House in the Tea Party wave in 2010, defeating incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy. He was chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee during the 2018 cycle, when Democrats gained a net of 40 seats, winning their first majority in eight years.
LETLOW SWEARING-IN LEAVES HOUSE DEMOCRATS WITH RAZOR-THIN MAJORITY TEMPORARILY
Ohio’s 15th Congressional District, which encompasses the southern portion of Columbus as well as the college town of Athens, is a Republican-leaning district.
For the past decade, it has been my honor and privilege to serve the people of Ohio’s 15th Congressional District. Throughout my career, I’ve worked to promote policies that drive our economy forward, get folks to work, and put our fiscal house in order.
— Steve Stivers (@RepSteveStivers) April 19, 2021
The best part of this job has been making a positive difference in the lives of constituents. I’m grateful to the people of #OH15 for putting their trust in me to represent them in the halls of Congress; it has been one of the biggest honors of my life.
— Steve Stivers (@RepSteveStivers) April 19, 2021
Stivers’s seat could remain vacant for most of the rest of 2021. Another Ohio special election to replace former Democratic Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, who left Congress to become the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Biden administration, is on Nov. 2.
There are four vacancies in Democratic-leaning seats, while there is one vacancy in a Republican-leaning seat, leaving Democrats with just six more members than Republicans, 218 to 212. That leaves House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is already managing the slimmest House majority since the 1930s, vulnerable to being squeezed by the progressive “Squad” in her caucus, and an extra Republican vacancy could slightly ease that.
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In addition to the Fudge vacancy in the Democratic Party, former New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland left to become interior secretary, with a special election on June 1, former Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond left to join the Biden White House, with a runoff election on April 24, and Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings died earlier this month, with a special election not yet scheduled.
An election to replace Texas Republican Rep. Ron Wright, who died of COVID-19 earlier this year, is on May 1 and will likely go to a runoff election to be scheduled no earlier than May 24.
