Lou Blessing

For the 126th General Assembly, Blessing was named by Speaker of the House Jon Husted as vice chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and for the 127th General Assembly was chosen as chairman of that committee.

In 2011, as state House speaker pro tem, Blessing sponsored voter ID legislation. The legislation was criticized by the nonprofit group Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, which opposed the law as erecting barriers to the right to vote. The highly controversial bill passed the state House on a party-line vote on a mostly party-line vote of 57-38.

With William G. Batchelder elected as minority leader of the House for the 128th General Assembly, Blessing was tabbed as assistant leader. However, when Republicans retook the majority in 2010, Blessing was again chosen for the second-highest Republican leadership position, speaker pro tempore. He also serves on the committees of criminal justice, rules and reference (as chairman); health and aging and its subcommittee on retirement and pensions; and state government and elections.

By 2004, Blessing was facing term limits himself in the Senate. With Representative Patty Clancy also facing a term limit in the House, there was an opportunity for both Blessing and Clancy to run for each other's seats. However, Blessing first faced primary competition in Keith Corman. He went on to win the primary election with 52% of the electorate. Blessing went on to win the general election over Joseph R. Wolterman by about 7,000 votes, and retook a seat in the House after eight years in the Senate. Blessing was the first legislator post term-limits to go from the House to the Senate and then back to the House. He won reelection easily in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

In December 2002, Blessing, while traveling on I-71 in Ohio, was arrested and charged with a DUI after an Ohio state patrol officer found the state lawmaker had a blood-alcohol level of .11 percent when given a breathalyzer test, just over the legal limit.

With term limits newly enacted and looming, eight-term incumbent Stanley Aronoff decided to retire in 1996 before being forced out of the Senate. As a result, Blessing forfeited an eighth term in the House for a run in the Senate. Facing no opposition in the primary, Blessing went on to win the general election with 65% of the vote. In 2000, Blessing was heavily favored in the strongly Republican district. Against Democrat Stuart Manning, Blessing won a second term, securing 63% of the vote.

Blessing's career at the statehouse began in 1983, when he replaced Representative Helen Fix in a suburban Cincinnati district. He went on to serve seven terms in the House, for a total of fourteen years. He never faced considerable opposition in either a primary or general election throughout his tenure.

Louis W. Blessing Jr. (born August 1, 1948) of Cincinnati, Ohio, is an American politician of the Republican party.