Moments after he was removed from the Ohio House of Representatives, indicted former Speaker Larry Householder held his head high, stepped in front of television cameras and told fellow Ohioans not to count him out.
"I've never solicited a bribe," Householder said outside the House chamber. "I've never been bribed, and I've never sold legislation."
Householder delivered his responses confidently, but beneath the surface, the Republican former lawmaker was facing immense pressure, both politically and financially. That moment embodies how Householder has crafted a political career on the edge of a knife – projecting power and strength while elsewhere, his world is crumbling.
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Republican Larry Householder talks to the press after his expulsion
Expelled and indicted, Republican Larry Householder didn't rule out running for political office again.
Laura A. Bischoff, The Columbus Dispatch
Householder, 62, of Glenford, is accused of selling legislation – a $1.3 billion bailout for two nuclear plants in northern Ohio – in exchange for a political comeback and paying off personal expenses. If Householder is convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a permanent ban from serving in the Ohio House.
Householder, who has pleaded not guilty in the case, did not respond to requests to comment for this story.
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His finances are also precarious. Householder just lost a $67,500-taxpayer funded salary. In 2020, his farm revenue tanked, according to ethics disclosures. He also spent $920,000 of his campaign funds on attorneys representing him in the criminal case – expenses that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost says are illegal.
But Householder isn't shying away from the latest fight of his political life. He's been here before.
'Democracy did not work under his leadership'
Householder got off to a rocky start as a freshman legislator. In July 1997 he was convicted in Perry County of drunken driving — his second time, according to Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles records.
Despite this, Householder quickly climbed the legislative ranks. In 2001, Householder outmaneuvered Ashland Republican Bill Harris to capture the speaker's post and hold it for four years.
I've never seen anybody abuse that position as much as he has.
While in power, he earned a reputation as an aggressive fundraiser, a ruthless campaigner and a bully. But cracks in his control over the House appeared in early 2004, when he was accused in an anonymous memo of bribery, fundraising irregularities and kickback schemes involving caucus campaign vendors.
Lobbyist Neil Clark called Householder's first speakership "a big illusion" in a 2004 interview with the Plain Dealer.
"I've never seen anybody abuse that position as much as he has," Clark said. "I think people can breathe a lot easier now, knowing they won't be shaken down. Democracy did not work under his leadership."
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An FBI investigation into the pay-to-play allegations sidelined Householder's ambitions of running for governor or another statewide office. The FBI would investigate that case until 2006 when it was dropped without charges.
Householder's tight race: 13-vote margin
Under the cloud of the first FBI probe, Householder returned to Perry County where he faced his tightest race yet: a 277-vote victory in the 2004 Perry County auditor race.
That margin shrank to 13 votes after a contentious legal challenge revealing dozens of ballots that were "irregular or illegal." Householder, a man with ambitions of running statewide, had barely eked out a Perry County race.
He quickly ran into trouble in that office.
By 2006, Perry County's finances were a mess. County employees were paid for unearned overtime and vacation time, according to state audits. Some used compensatory time to renovate a former Steak n' Stein restaurant in which Householder and Perry County Engineer Kent Cannon were investors.
The Ohio Ethics Commission and state auditor conducted a joint investigation and sent findings to the Perry County prosecutor, who declined to take action on the findings.
School district officials criticized Householder for failing to send millions of dollars in property tax settlements out on time. His office also fell months behind on deed transfers and mailing out property tax bills.
Legal battles over mining ventures
In August 2006, Householder announced that he would bow out of politics to focus on his new business ventures.
"It's gotten to the point my business interests have taken me away from the office more than is fair to the county," he said at the time.
Householder grew up on his family farm. After graduating from Ohio University with a political science degree in 1982, he worked as a State Farm insurance agent for nearly two decades. His business interests have varied over the years, ranging from storage space and farming to energy and agriculture technology, according to financial disclosure statements.
In 2006, Householder started CompuVend Ltd., a computer repair company based at his home. Two years later, the company had a new name: Mountaineer Coal Company LLC, state business records show.
In 2009, Mountaineer Coal Company entered into a contract to process coal at a southern West Virginia mine and find buyers for it. The mine was leased to Deepgreen Coal, a company owned by Deepgreen West Virginia and New Energy USA, in which Householder was an investor.
But Mountaineer Coal Company didn't have the technology or expertise for the job, Deepgreen West Virginia alleged in a 2011 lawsuit claiming Householder's company committed fraud. The parties eventually agreed to a settlement, agreeing to dismiss the case in June 2015.
That wasn't Householder's only problematic mining venture.
In 2010, Householder personally guaranteed a $2.4 million loan to D&E Mining, LLC., an Alabama coal mining business in which he was an investor.
Three years later, Union Bank sued Householder and others for $1.89 million, the unpaid portion of the loan.
The unpaid debt resurfaced during a heated speaker fight in 2018 when Householder was challenging fellow Republican Ryan Smith for control of the chamber. By August 2018, the judgment and liens against Householder were released, court records show.
Federal prosecutors claim Householder used $300,000 funneled through dark money groups to pay the mining case settlement. He is also accused of spending $100,000 in on repairs to his Naples, Florida home, which had fallen into disrepair by 2019, and using political money to pay off $20,000 in personal credit card debt.
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The rocky road to speaker
Householder's return to the speaker's dais was far from assured. Fellow Republicans who remembered Householder's bare-knuckle political style from his first round as speaker were wary of a repeat performance. The leader at the time, Cliff Rosenberger, already had a handpicked successor in mind.
As Householder plotted his return, Rosenberger came under scrutiny for junkets, including trips underwritten by payday lenders. A payday lending reform bill stalled under Rosenberger's time in power.
In April 2018, Rosenberger resigned and a month later, FBI agents searched his property. No charges have been filed in that case, which remains open, and Rosenberger maintains he did nothing wrong.
While Rosenberger stumbled, Householder moved quickly to build a war chest of more than $870,000, rent out swanky Capitol Square office space from political ad-maker Rex Elsass, and hire a personal campaign team.
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Householder's speaker bid hit some snags. In 2017, Householder returned $133,000 from two county Republican parties that exceeded the state donation limits. Around that same time, the Ohio Republican Party returned donations from executives of the beleaguered charter school Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow.
Householder was also dinged for misusing Ohio's inmate work program to commission a cherry wood table and eight chairs worth $9,000 for a House conference room.
Dark money groups backing Householder and Smith spent millions in nasty 2018 primary fights. Akron-based FirstEnergy and its subsidiaries spent big on Team Householder. Federal investigators allege this money was spent in exchange for a bailout of two nuclear plants owned by a former subsidiary.
After the 2018 elections, Householder still didn't have the Republican votes needed to win back the speaker's gavel. So he turned to Democrats and their unions for help, cobbling together an unlikely coalition of 26 Republican and 26 Democratic votes to win the speakership.
Householder pulled off a stunning upset and became the first man since Roger Cloud in 1961 to seize a second turn as speaker.
The day he returned to the dais, Householder urged professionalism, transparency and bipartisanship.
"The people of Ohio have given us this building to all of us as a tool," Householder said that day. "How we use this tool is of our own choice."
As Householder stood in the spotlight that day, the FBI was already asking questions.
Federal investigators were digging into Ohio Statehouse politics: the charter school ECOT, payday lenders and Householder's donors. Wiretaps intercepted calls as early as October 2017. By January 2018, agents were listening in on calls between Householder and Clark, the lobbyist.
They kept listening as Householder passed the $1 billion bailout for nuclear plants in 2019.
On July 21, 2020, federal investigators arrested Householder and four others, alleging his return to power was fueled by nearly $61 million in dark money in exchange for passing and defending the nuclear bailout law.
They had pulled the curtain back on Householder for all to see.
Laura Bischoff and Jessie Balmert are reporters for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
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