Jay Edwards | |
|---|---|
| Member of the OhioHouseofRepresentatives from the 94th district | |
| In office January 3, 2017 –January 6, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Debbie Phillips |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Ritter |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nelsonville,Ohio,U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Education | Grantham University Ohio University (BS) |
Jay Edwards is an American politician who served as a state representative in the Ohio House of Representatives for the 94th District from 2017 until being term-limited in 2025. He is a Republican. Edwards additionally served as the Majority Whip of the Ohio House.
Edwards is currently a candidate seeking nomination to be the Ohio State Treasurer.
In 2019,Edwards voted in favor of House Bill 6 in the Ohio House;the bill passed 51–38 in what federal prosecutors later alleged was a $61 million racketeering scheme involving then-Speaker Larry Householder and his allies to secure its approval and provide a coal and nuclear bailout worth more than $1 billion. [1] [2]
Following the 2020 indictment of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder,Edwards voted against House resolutions that would have expelled Householder from the legislature. According to local reporting,Edwards did not publicly explain his votes at the time,declining interview requests and not issuing a public statement addressing his position on Householder’s continued membership in the House while facing federal charges. [3]
After the scandal became public,Edwards supported a partial rollback through House Bill 128 in 2021,which revised electric utility service law,repealed the nuclear bailout and related “decoupling”provisions of HB 6,and ordered refunds to customers,while leaving other subsidy provisions in place. [4] [5]
Subsequent repeal proposals,including House Bill 351 and Senate Bill 117 in the 134th General Assembly,were referred to committee but never received floor votes. [6] [7]
Reporting related to the House Bill 6 investigation has also examined text messages and communications involving Edwards. In 2022,the Ohio House declined to release text messages between Edwards and then-Speaker Larry Householder,citing exemptions under public records law during the ongoing criminal case. [8] News outlets reported that Householder continued contacting lawmakers,including Edwards,after being charged,raising questions about communications during the investigation period. [9]
Court filings related to the HB6 case also identified Edwards as “Representative 8”in an affidavit from an indicted lobbyist,according to local reporting. [10] Edwards did not publicly comment on those claims at the time. Subsequent reporting on the broader HB6 investigation detailed the scope of recorded conversations and evidence gathered by federal investigators,though no criminal charges were filed against Edwards. [11]
During the 134th Ohio General Assembly,Jay Edwards voted against the expulsion of former House Speaker Larry Householder,who had been federally indicted and later convicted in connection with the Ohio nuclear bribery scandal tied to House Bill 6. The Ohio House voted 75–21 to expel Householder,with Jay Edwards among the 21 Republican members who opposed the resolution. [12] [13]
The expulsion marked the first removal of a sitting Ohio House member in more than a century and occurred amid broader fallout from the HB 6 scandal,which involved allegations of racketeering,bribery,and the use of dark money to influence state energy policy.
The expulsion vote occurred amid the broader Ohio nuclear bribery scandal,which centered on House Bill 6 and related dark-money activity.
Edwards was born and raised in Nelsonville,Ohio,where he graduated from Nelsonville-York High School. After high school he attended nearby Ohio University on a football scholarship,where he studied mathematics. Edwards is a licensed realtor,and is involved with work in medical sales within the drug treatment market. [14]
In 2016,Representative Debbie Phillips was term-limited and ineligible to run for a fifth term. [15] A Democrat,Phillips had only faced one serious election in her four terms,in 2014,where she won by just over 100 votes. However,despite Athens County,the largest in the district,being considered reliably Democratic,Republicans had historically seen success in winning the district prior to Phillips' taking the seat. [16] Democrats nonetheless fielded Sarah Grace,a small-business owner from Athens who was a newcomer to politics and a liberal. Despite being considered the favorite,Edwards raised considerable money,albeit not without controversy. [17] In the end,in what was a very good year for Republicans,Edwards defeated Grace by a 58% to 42% margin,taking the seat. [18]
Edwards is the first Republican to hold the seat since Jimmy Stewart,who held the seat from 2003 to 2008. [19]
In 2018,Edwards defeated Democrat Taylor Sappington to retain the seat. [20]
In the 2020 general election,Edwards faced Democrat Katie O'Neill. [21] Edwards was reelected in 2020,defeating Democrat Katie O’Neill in the general election. [22]
In 2021,Edwards was the primary sponsor of a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to prohibit non-citizens from voting in local elections. The measure was approved by the Ohio General Assembly and placed on the ballot as Issue 2,where it was approved by voters in the November 2022 general election. [23] [24] [25] [26]
In 2025,Edwards announced his candidacy for Ohio State Treasurer,entering a crowded Republican primary for the open-seat race. His announcement followed the conclusion of his final term in the Ohio House of Representatives due to term limits. [27]
| Election results | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Office | Election | Votes for Edwards | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % |
| 2016 | Ohio House of Representatives | General | 28,649 | 57.80% | Sarah Grace | Democratic | 20,897 | 42.20% |
| 2018 | General | 23,562 | 58.29% | Taylor Sappington | Democratic | 16,855 | 41.71% | |
| 2020 | General | 31,584 | 60.4% | Katie O’Neil | Democratic | 20,719 | 39.6% | |
| 2022 | General | 22,190 | 61.2% | Tanya Conrath | Democratic | 14,084 | 38.8% | |