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Secret Speaker Vote Exposes Split In GOP Caucus, And Issue 1 Backers Look Back

The increasingly nasty race to become Speaker of the House next year has spilled over into the contest to be Speaker for the next seven months. Republicans who have a supermajority in the House were unable to come together to pick a replacement for former Speaker Cliff Rosenberger. And though the vote on a nominee for Speaker was secret, the divisions within the House Republican caucus were laid bare for all to see. Statehouse correspondent Jo Ingles has been following this story.

Several leaders are calling for a criminal investigation after a state audit claims the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow committed fraud. Auditor Dave Yost says the former online charter school padded their student data on purpose to get more money from the state. Critics of ECOT say the school was able to pull this off for years, unchecked. And now there’s a lot of blame being tossed around. Statehouse correspondent Andy Chow reports.

Gov. John Kasich has signed an executive order that he says will assist legal immigrants in getting work, finding help and integrating into Ohio.  And turnout for this primary election was anemic – just under 21 percent of voters cast ballots, which has Republican pollster Neil Newhouse and Kyle Kondik, the managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, wondering what that says about the upcoming fall midterms.

But in spite of the low turnout, backers of Issue 1 are celebrating its passage – and it was the second-best performing ballot issue in recent Ohio history.  The amendment to change the way Ohio’s Congressional district map is drawn up passed with almost 75 percent of the vote, with almost no money and no publicity. This week Jen Miller of the League of Women Voters of Ohio and Heather Taylor-Miesle from Ohio Environmental Council.

To conclude on a final note of bipartisanship, what’s become an eight year tradition picks up again next week.  State lawmakers will play “base ball” using Civil War era rules on the west lawn of the Statehouse, against the Ohio Village Muffins, which play the sport by Civil War era rules and in period uniforms.