WEST CHESTER, Ohio -- People in the Ohio district that House Speaker John Boehner has represented for decades are stunned by his decision to step down, nearly 35 years after he first won election there as township trustee.
Some said they understood why he was ready to leave Congress, although the timing of his Friday announcement caught them off guard.
"It's the end of a great run of leadership, from the time when he was first elected," said Harry Prestanski, a veterans issues advocate in Boehner's home of West Chester Township. "These last few years, he's come under a great deal of attacks ... He's shown remarkable resilience over these years."
Cincinnati Tea Party leader Ann Becker, also of West Chester, has criticized Boehner over such issues as national debt and the federal role in education. She looks forward "to a new future and a new representative for the district."
She expects many politicians in the Republican-dominated western Ohio district, which stretches across six counties north of Cincinnati, to jump at the opportunity after Boehner leaves at October's end.
"They wanted to run, but they didn't want to primary him," Becker said.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones, a Republican who flirted in the past with challenging Boehner, said he was getting phone calls from potential supporters.
"I'm weighing out my options," said Jones, who has praised billionaire businessman Donald Trump's strong talk against illegal immigration during the Republican presidential campaign.
Boehner won the seat in 1990 after a primary that ousted the late scandal-marred Republican Rep. Donald "Buz" Lukens, and has handily won re-election every race since. He drew tea party opposition in 2014 before winning the primary with more than 71 percent of the vote, then the general election with 67 percent.
Gov. John Kasich, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination, has a responsibility for setting the date of a special election, which won't happen this fall because ballots have already begun going out. The state's elections chief says both primary and general contests are required. The winner would serve pending the 2016 general election for a full term.
GOP state Sens. Bill Beagle and Bill Coley are among legislators who live in Boehner's district, and a local sheriff and state Senate President Keith Faber are also considered to be eyeing the seat. Candidates must live in Ohio, but not necessarily the district.
Supporters noted the announcement came after a high point for Boehner, who attended a Catholic high school and Xavier University. He met with Pope Francis on Thursday before the first-ever papal address to Congress, which Boehner had invited him to make.
Boehner indicated in January he was unsettled by the disclosure that a Cincinnati-area man was charged with plotting a terrorist attack against the U.S. Capitol. It was the same week a former bartender at the country club in Boehner's golf course community was charged with threatening to kill him, possibly by poisoning his drink. That man was found innocent by reason of insanity; the Capitol attack case is pending.
Proud of his blue-collar roots, Boehner called himself "just a regular guy with a big job." A commercial in his last campaign showed him mowing his lawn and mingling with local folks.
"I respect his decision to resign, but it's a sad day for Butler County," said William Keck, an attorney who said he first met Boehner at a church festival during his initial congressional campaign. "I think he'll always be a superstar around here."
Information for this article was contributed by Julie Carr Smyth of The Associated Press.
A Section on 09/27/2015