Ohio GOP wants former Ohio State WR Rep. Anthony Gonzalez to resign from the U.S. House
The state of Ohio's Republican Party wants Rep. Anthony Gonzalez to resign from his seat in the House of Representatives.
The former Ohio State and Indianapolis Colts wide receiver has represented Ohio’s 16th district in Congress since 2019 as a Republican. And on Friday, the governing board of the state GOP voted to approve a resolution calling for Gonzalez’s resignation.
The call for resignation came after Gonzalez and nine others were officially censured. Gonzalez was among 10 Republican members of the House who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Five people died in the riot. Trump was acquitted on the impeachment charges in the U.S. Senate after his term ended.
Two Republican candidates running for an open Senate seat in 2022 immediately said they supported the vote to censure Gonzalez and others. One even said that Gonzalez should be "eradicated" from the party. The Senate seat is open after Sen. Rob Portman (R) announced that he would not seek re-election.
Resolution claims Gonzalez ‘knowingly and willfully violated’ oath of office
The resolution to call for Gonzalez’s resignation was introduced by a member of the state party who said that Gonzalez had a “hidden vendetta” against the former president.
The party initially planned to vote on censure, but Shannon Burns, president of the Strongsville GOP, offered a resolution to take the rebuke a step further. He called for the resignation of Gonzalez for betraying his constituents and holding a “hidden vendetta” against Trump.
"Gonzalez resorted to emotional conclusions that misplaced blame on President Trump, the President of Law and Order and America First," the resolution read. "We believe that Congressman Gonzalez knowingly and willfully violated his oath of office."
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the vote to call for Gonzalez's resignation was not unanimous.
Trying to get an official vote on the call for Gonzalez to resign, but it seemed like they got to 34 needed to carry the resolution and didn't count all they nays.
Put simply: the vote was divided, like the Ohio GOP's governing body was on this topic.— Jessie Balmert (@jbalmert) May 7, 2021
The rebuke of Gonzalez and others comes as members of the GOP across the country continue to display their support for the former president as publicly as they can. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming is widely expected to be removed from her House leadership position in the GOP because she has been outspoken against the lie that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent.
Gonzalez comfortably won re-election in 2020
Friday's machinations make it likely that Gonzalez will have a Trump-loyal challenger in the Republican primary ahead of the 2022 election. Gonzalez, whose district is outside Cleveland and Akron, comfortably won re-election in 2020 with over 60 percent of the vote. That was an over six-point increase from his vote share in 2018.
Gonzalez had 87 catches for 1,286 yards and 13 TDs in three seasons at Ohio State. He played in the NFL for five seasons and had 99 catches for 1,307 yards and seven TDs. He’s also the sponsor of a bipartisan bill reintroduced in the House in April that would allow college athletes across the country to make endorsement and sponsorship income.
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