COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jane Timken announced Friday her immediate resignation as Chairwoman of the Ohio Republican Party (ORP). The message came during a spur of the moment meeting of the Ohio Republican Central Committee during which Timken did not say whether she was leaving to pursue a seat in the U.S. Senate.
The Ohio Star reported that Timken was a likely candidate for the seat U.S. Senator Rob Portman said he would not seek for a third time in 2022.
Although she did not officially say she is running, Timken was re-elected chairwoman of the ORP January 15 – Portman announced his decision on January 25.
Today, I am announcing my resignation as Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. I am confident that the work we have done over the last four years will leave our party in the best possible position to support Republican candidates up and down the ticket. https://t.co/04GSI5STlo
— Jane Timken (@JaneTimkenOH) February 5, 2021
Timken has been officially involved in the ORP since 2010, taking over the chair in 2017. However, for decades her husband’s family (Timken), as well as she and her husband, often topped the list of GOP donors.
Timken has never held a public office or run a political race.
She took over the reins as the GOP boss in Ohio after defeating then-Chairman Matt Borges in 2017. She campaigned as a “uniter” and someone who believed the party needed to be “run for all Republicans, not one particular candidate or group of candidates,” according to a Canton Repository report.
In the same report, Timken said “limited government, less regulation, lower taxes, pro business, just a good conservative outlook on life,” is what attracted her to the Republican Party. “I’m Catholic. I’m pro-life,” she added.
However, the Party veteran did not publicly object to the unprecedented government takeover and then shutdown of much of Ohioan’s lives during the height of the pandemic-fueled executive branch overreach spearheaded by Republican DeWine that began in the February 2020. In fact, she praised the Governor for the State’s unprecedented intervention.
Although the courts in Ohio ruled against ODH orders supported by DeWine, he and his administration didn’t relent.
It was against this backdrop that Republicans likely to vote in the next primary were polled – 23% said they would vote for DeWine. Almost 40% said they’d vote for an unnamed “qualified Republican.”
In August 2020, a handful of state legislators opted for a constitutionally-defined, legal remedy – impeachment. A move Timken called “despicable.”
It is despicable that anyone who considers themself to be conservative would make an attempt to impeach Governor DeWine. In a time of harsh political division, and an important election year, Republicans should be united. Ohio and the world have witnessed an unprecedented global pandemic – one that Gov. DeWine has done a great job at leading us through. The attack by John Becker and his allies is a baseless, feeble attempt at creating attention for themselves, and it shifts the focus away from what should be the top priority for real Republicans: re-electing President Trump. – Jane Timken
Like she did while campaigning in 2017 for the ORP Chair, Timken again said that the party “is never about one person, one candidate, or one government official,” in a January update to Republicans after Trump was defeated.
Coincidentally, the day before her resignation – and perhaps days closer to a campaign that would benefit from a Trump endorsement – Timken tweeted about the former president.
Donald Trump has given a voice to Ohioans who were previously forgotten, ignored, or cast aside.
He reshaped the Republican Party and not only do I trust he’ll stay involved… We need him to. https://t.co/CttPltnQmG
— Jane Timken (@JaneTimkenOH) February 4, 2021
Timken previously lauded the character of U.S. Representative Anthony Gonzalez after his vote to impeach Trump last month, saying that he “had a rational reason for voting that way.” Yet the day she announced her resignation, she took a more critical position against his vote, saying it was a wrong decision.
Anthony Gonzalez made the wrong decision on impeachment and I disagree with his vote.
This sham impeachment is illegal and unconstitutional. https://t.co/yTIFXAmrD3
— Jane Timken (@JaneTimkenOH) February 5, 2021
Timken is a Harvard grad, attorney, former magistrate, a nine-year member of the Kent State University Board of Trustees (Chairman of the Board) and is known for her grassroots and political fundraising acumen. She is married to W.J. Timken, Jr., chairman and CEO of TimkenSteel.
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Jack Windsor is Statehouse Reporter at The Ohio Star. Windsor is also an independent investigative reporter. Follow Jack on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
