No matter how far the disgraced former Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives has fallen with voters, he is still on track to win re-election in November.
"Indicted Republican former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder now has the potential to claim another title – albeit an undesirable one – for his political resume as one of the most unpopular state politicians in recent history," Seth Richardson reported for Cleveland.com on Tuesday. "A new poll commissioned by the Coalition to Restore Public Trust – a group opposed to the nuclear energy bailout at the center of Householder’s legal woes – puts Householder’s favorable rating at 7% among likely voters, below such felonious governors as Rod Blagojevich of Illinois and Ed DiPrete of Rhode Island."
"Householder, top aide Jeff Longstreth and lobbyists Matt Borges, Neil Clark and Juan Cespedes were arrested by federal authorities in July and charged with racketeering for what the U.S. Justice Department described as a $60 million bribery scheme funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy. As part of the scheme, the Justice Department claims Householder used bribes, illegal dark money and dirty tricks to pass House Bill 6, a ratepayer funded bailout of two nuclear energy plants owned by a former FirstEnergy subsidiary," Richardson reported.
Richardson quoted Fritz Wenzel, who conducted the poll.
“He’s done as a political figure in this state,” said Wenzel. “He may not realize it yet. He may be in denial about it. But he’s done. There’s no way to recover from it.”
Though he may no longer be a legislative leader, he'll likely serve another term, as he's running unopposed on the November ballot.
