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Matt Huffman
Matt Huffman
107th Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; January 6, 2025
Preceded by	Jason Stephens
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives; from the 78th district
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; January 6, 2025
Preceded by	Susan Manchester
96th President of the Ohio Senate
	In office; January 4, 2021 – January 6, 2025
Preceded by	Larry Obhof
Succeeded by	Rob McColley
Majority Leader of the Ohio Senate
	In office; February 6, 2019 – January 4, 2021
Preceded by	Randy Gardner
Succeeded by	Kirk Schuring
Member of the Ohio Senate; from the 12th district
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; January 3, 2017
Preceded by	Keith Faber
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives; from the 4th district
	In office; January 2, 2007 – December 31, 2014
Preceded by	John R. Willamowski
Succeeded by	Robert Cupp
Personal details
Born	April 1, 1960 (age 64); Lima, Ohio, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	University of Notre Dame (BA); University of Cincinnati (JD)

Matt Huffman (born April 1, 1960) is an American politician serving as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 78th district since 2025, while concurrently serving as Speaker of the House as a Republican. The district includes all of Allen County and a portion of northern Auglaize County.

Huffman is the former Speaker Pro Tempore of the Ohio House of Representatives, and served in the House from 2007 to 2014. Prior to his service in the House, he served as president of Lima City Council for seven years. He is an attorney with Lima law firm, Huffman, Kelley, Brock & Gottschalk. From 2017 to 2025, he represented the 12th district in the Ohio Senate, serving as Ohio Senate President from 2021 to 2025.

Career

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Cincinnati, Huffman is an attorney with Lima law firm Huffman, Kelley, Brock & Gottschalk and previously served as president of Lima City Council for seven years.

When John R. Willamowski was ineligible to run for another term, Huffman entered the race to succeed him.^[1] Huffman ultimately won in the overwhelmingly Republican district, and took a seat on January 2, 2007. He won reelection in 2008, and 2010.

In the 128th General Assembly, Huffman was chosen by House Republicans to serve as the Chairman of the Ohio House Republican Organizational Committee. After a strong showing and a take-back of the Majority for the 129th General Assembly, Huffman is serving as majority floor leader.^[2] He also is a member of the Education Committee; the Judiciary and Ethics Committee; the State Government and Elections Committee and the State Government and Elections Subcommittee on Redistricting (as Chair); as a member of the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee, and on the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.

Huffman won a fourth term in 2012 with 67% of the vote against Democrat Robert Huenke.

Ohio Senate

Sitting out two years from elected office, Huffman decided to run for the Ohio Senate in 2016 to succeed term-limited President of the Ohio Senate Keith Faber, who in term was running for the House. Facing John Adams in the Republican primary, a former ally and friend from his House days, Huffman won the nomination with nearly 64% of the vote. He was unopposed in the general election.

Positions and policies

Huffman has introduced measures that would increase from 70 to 75 the maximum age at which an attorney could seek election as a judge.^[3] Proponents include the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio State Bar Association and the Association of Municipal/County Judges. Ultimately, the legislation passed the Ohio House of Representatives 70–17 and with passage by the Senate, will go to the ballot in November 2011.^[4] In talking of his support of the measure, Huffman has acknowledged that in the 129th Ohio General Assembly, the Ohio House of Representatives has members ranging from ages 21 to 77.^[5]

He has also sought to abolish a Bureau of Motor Vehicles program which randomly sends out about 5,400 letters each week requiring Ohio drivers send in proof of insurance, stating "chronically uninsured," people who can't afford insurance or have multiple license suspensions, find ways around the verification program because they need to drive to work. "We're not going to solve that problem."^[6]

A supporter of S.B. 5 which looks to limit collective bargaining, Huffman says that the bill controls government, and brings fairness and transparency to the public.^[7]

Huffman is a supporter of a provision that is set to allow drilling in state parks, saying that it could be an asset to helping to reinvigorate Ohio's lackluster economy if it takes off. He voted for its passage out of the Ohio House of Representatives.^[8]

In 2021, he voted for legislation that would make it harder to build wind and solar energy projects in Ohio. Solar and wind energy projects could be killed by local officials, whereas natural gas and oil projects could not. Huffman argued that this discrepancy was warranted because renewable energy production did not produce enough energy in Ohio.^[9]

Controversies

Matt Huffman has been accused of gerrymandering and being in contempt of court after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled three separate maps drawn under him and representative Bob Cupp to be unconstitutional under the Ohio Constitution.^[10]^[11] This incident, along with further alleged attempts to gerrymander was featured on the episode Mapmaker, Mapmaker, Make Me a Map of the Chicago Public Radio show and podcast This American Life.^[12] Matt Huffman has argued that he should not be held in contempt because of an obscure legal theory called "The independent state legislature doctrine" which claims state legislatures have more power than state supreme courts. However, this has been historically rejected by the U.S. supreme court, but is currently being prepared to be considered in a new ruling.^[13]

References

^ "Roast for outgoing State Rep Willamowski". Conservative Culture. January 14, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
^ It's official, Matt Huffman No. 3 ranking leader in Ohio House Archived July 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Ohio Judicial Conference Executive Committee Meeting September 8, 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 17, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
^ Hershey, William (April 12, 2011). "Amendment would raise maximum election age for judges to 75". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
^ Siegel, Jim (April 13, 2011). "Amendment would raise age limit for Ohio judges to 75". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved April 14, 2011.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ Ohio's auto-insurance tests unfair, lawmaker says^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ Bischoff, Laura (March 31, 2011). "Backers defend need for bargaining bill; unions promise referendum". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
^ Siegel, Jim (May 27, 2011). "House passes bill to drill in parks". Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on May 28, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
^ Zuckerman, Jake (June 30, 2021). "Bill creating new hurdles for wind and solar heads to governor". Ohio Capital Journal. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
^ League of Women Voters of Ohio v. Ohio Redistricting Comm, SlipOpinion No. 2022-Ohio., 789 (Ohio Supreme Court March 16, 2022).
^ Richardson, Seth (March 17, 2022). "Ohio Supreme Court in ruling lays blame for redistricting fiasco on Republicans Bob Cupp and Matt Huffman: Analysis". Clevland.com. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
^ Glass, Ira (November 11, 2022). "Mapmaker, Mapmaker, Make Me a Map". This American Life. Chicago Public Media.
^ Tebben, Susan (November 2022). "Groups with Ohio chapters file briefs in potential landmark U.S. Supreme Court redistricting case". Ohio Capital Journal. Retrieved November 11, 2022.

External links

Matt Huffman for Ohio House official campaign site
Project Vote Smart – Matt Huffman
Official website
Appearances on C-SPAN

Ohio Senate
Preceded by Randy Gardner	Majority Leader of the Ohio Senate 2019–2021	Succeeded by Kirk Schuring
Political offices
Preceded by Larry Obhof	President of the Ohio Senate 2021–2025	Succeeded by Rob McColley
Preceded by Jason Stephens	Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives 2025–present	Incumbent