COLUMBUS, Ohio — Some Ohio lawmakers say a political power play inside the statehouse is adding to an already deep divide within the Republican Party.

Two committee chair vacancies remain after Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, removed six GOP legislators from their roles, appointing other members to serve the positions. The moves were made last week after campaign finance reports showed the former chairs supported candidates who challenged Stephens’ supporters in the March Republican primary election.

State Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Dayton, said his removal from the House Constitutional Resolutions Committee was a retaliatory move by Stephens.

“We’re equals, we both got elected,” Plummer said. “He holds the gavel because he got the majority of the Democrats to vote for him. I’m not a puppet on a string to this guy.”

Plummer called Stephens the worst speaker in the state’s history.

“We have people that are hungry, inflation’s out the roof, and we’re not doing anything but playing games because of his lack of leadership,” Plummer said.

Other legislators removed from committee chair positions include State Reps. Rodney Creech, R-W. Alexandra, Darrell Kick, R-Loudonville, Adam Bird, R-Cincinnati, Scott Lipps, R-Franklin, and Marilyn John, R-Shelby.

After a round of appointments over the weekend, the House Pensions and House Constitutional Resolutions Committees are the only groups lacking chair leadership.

Last week, Stephens expressed disappointment in seeing campaign finance reports that showed Plummer and the other five chairs removed from positions contributed to campaigns for candidates running against those likely to support another Stephens run for Speaker of the House in 2025.

Tuesday, Stephens was more vague about his reasons for replacing the group of lawmakers.

“I just thought that it sent the right message to the rest of the caucus,” Stephens said.

Meanwhile, campaign finance reports show contributions from the Ohio House Republican Alliance to Stephens’ supporters. The house speaker typically controls those funds.

But, Plummer said party members elected him to run the caucus, and said he filed a lawsuit to remove Stephens’ control of the account with a June hearing scheduled for that case. Plummer said further legal action over the chair positions is not out of the question as are discussions with other house members over a move to vacate the Ohio House Speaker position before the end of the session.

“If you’re going to throw stones, look to his chairmen who met one time and twice the whole time, who have 30-plus bills on their committee,” he said. “Remove somebody for dereliction of duty.”

But Stephens said change is needed, and the House will keep moving forward.

“We have 12 bills on the floor tomorrow and we’re going to keep doing the people’s work,” he said.