The Ohio Senate on Tuesday voted to reject nearly a quarter of outgoing Gov. Ted Strickland's appointments to state boards and commissions, a move one fellow Democrat called a stab in the back.
On the last scheduled day of the two-year legislative session, the GOP-led Senate voted 18-12 to deny the confirmations of 78 of the Democratic governor's appointments.
A story from the AP says, more than half the rejected names were submitted to senators after Strickland lost the Nov. 2 election to Republican John Kasich.
Republican Senate leaders said they need to give Kasich input on key policy-setting panels, including those overseeing casinos and the insurance fund for injured workers.
The governor had 351 appointees pending before the Senate. Lawmakers voted 28-0 to approve 251 nominees, and 22 were allowed to keep their seats without objection.
Sen. Nina Turner, a Cleveland Democrat, said Tuesday's vote amounted to the largest rejection of a governor's appointments in history and happened at a time when people should be coming together.
"Merry Christmas, citizens of Ohio. We have all traveled from our respective districts a few days before Christmas to stab the outgoing governor, Gov. Strickland, in the back," she told her colleagues. "If this is the way we plan to end the 128th General Assembly, God help us. I fear the worst is yet to come."
Senate President-elect Tom Niehaus said his fellow Republicans thought carefully about the decision. He said lawmakers didn't pick individuals to reject based on their names or politics, but on whether they were selected for crucial policy positions.
Click here to read more of this story from the AP.
