Former Ohio House Speaker Batchelder dead at 79

COLUMBUS, Ohio — William Batchelder, who had two stints in the Ohio House of Representatives culminating in the speakership, has died at the age of 79, current House Speaker Bob Cupp said on Saturday. 

Batchelder’s first run as a member of the Ohio House lasted 30 years until the end of 1998, mostly in an era without term limits for representatives. For most of those years, Batchelder’s Republicans sat in the minority as the chamber was led by Portsmouth-area Democrat Vern Riffe. 

Batchelder returned to office in 2007 and by 2009, served as the House Minority Leader. When Democrats lost control of the House at the start of 2011, Batchelder became speaker. 

His tenure holding the gavel lasted four years before getting term limited at the end of 2014. 

While Cupp did not serve in the House with Batchelder, he worked next door in the Ohio Senate with Batchelder starting in 1985. 

“Bill Batchelder deeply cherished and respected the Ohio House of Representatives as an essential institution in the legislative branch of Ohio’s state government,” Cupp said in a statement Saturday. “Whether he was working in the ‘People’s House’ to solve the great challenges of the day or in mentoring a new legislator or young staffer, his impact was positive and lasting. 

“He was a compelling role model. Friendly and approachable, he regarded legislative colleagues as his brothers and sisters, his staff like his family. He worked hard to maintain honest, fair relationships with members from across the aisle and with Ohioans from all stations of life.”

After handing over the gavel at the end of 2014, Batchelder became a law professor at Cleveland State University. 

Batchelder was survived by his wife Alice, who is a senior judge on the U.S. Circuit of Appeals. 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued a statement on Saturday. 

“Fran and I were saddened upon hearing of the death of former Speaker of the Ohio House Bill Batchelder,” DeWine said. “A son of Medina County, and a pillar of the Ohio House of Representatives, Ohioans are grateful for his decades of service. Bill was a consummate legislator who helped me as we passed a drunk driving bill in 1982 for which I will always be grateful. I have sought his advice many times over the years. He was a Ronald Reagan Republican – a classic conservative whose guiding principle was freedom. We send our deepest condolences to Alice, William, and Elizabeth.”