Ohio -- Two Ohio Republicans could be facing off in the coming weeks, as they run to be the next ranking member of the powerful House Judiciary Committee.

Congressman Steve Chabot (OH-01) thinks his over two decades in Washington puts him in a good position. 

“My seniority is important,” Chabot said in an interview with Spectrum News on Wednesday. “I’ve been on the committee for 22 years. I’ve seen a lot. I’ve served under five different chairman. I have seen what works and doesn’t work.”

Fresh off his midterm election win over Democrat Aftab Pureval, Chabot is hoping to become the next ranking member of a committee where he’d be a balancing force to Democrats who plan to investigate President Trump, now that they’re in the majority.

New York Democrat Jerry Nadler (NY-10) will likely become chairman, which Chabot welcomes because the two have worked together on judiciary for years.

“He’s a colleague,” Chabot said of Nadler. “I would consider him a friend. That doesn’t prevent us from battling, as we did in the committee, and we certainly would as their base pushes them towards things like impeachment of probably a president, maybe a Supreme Court justice, and probably cabinet officials.”

Chabot said he’s confident, but not over-confident, about his chances.

He’s already running against two other Republicans to be ranking member, and now his fellow Ohioan, Congressman Jim Jordan (OH-04), reportedly might jump into the race after not being elected House minority leader on Wednesday.

“He has every right to step in,” Chabot said. “He’s a valuable member of the committee. I like Jim, I consider him a friend. We’ll be friends after this is over.”

Chabot has been in office since 1995, besides losing one election in 2008.

He thinks Republicans can earn back their majority in the House in 2020, and in the meantime, he’ll be focusing on some local issues important to his district back home.

“One thing is the Brent Spence Bridge,” Chabot said. “We’ve got $53 million, federal dollars, on that project so far, but it’s going to take a lot more than that to get that project done. And also, the Western Hills Viaduct is another major project. We’ve got $5 million so far on that; we’re hoping to get more. We want to work together in a bipartisan manner up here and back home to get these things done.”

Chabot was also asked how he thinks House Republicans will move forward, being in the minority for the first time in eight years.

He said they’re not doing much finger-pointing, and already have their eyes on 2020.

And he said he’s already encouraging members who lost to consider running again, like he did in 2010.​