The Ohio Republican Party will soon pick someone new to represent the state with the national GOP, after the previous longtime committeeman announced that he is stepping down.
Jim Dicke informed state central committee members on Friday that he is resigning from his position on the Republican National Committee. Dicke, an 80-year-old businessman from Western Ohio, had held the role since 2015.
The move sets up the second big recent change in state party leadership, where turnover has been rare. Party leaders picked Jane Timken in 2024 as Ohio’s Republican National Committeewoman, replacing longtime party leader Jo Ann Davidson.
The vacancy also gives Ohio Republicans a fresh voice within the national party at a time when the GOP is getting ready for the 2028 presidential race.
Vice President JD Vance, an Ohioan, is among those gearing up to replace President Donald Trump, who faces term limits.
The party’s central committee will meet within 60 days to pick a replacement for Dicke, according to Alex Triantafilou, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party.
“Mr. Dicke served with great distinction, and he will be very greatly missed as a member of the Republican National Committee,” Triantafilou said.
More about how Ohio fits into the national GOP
The Republican National Committee is the official organization that makes up the Republican Party in the United States. Ohio’s Republican Party has three positions on the RNC: a single committeeman, a single committeewoman and the state party chair.
The ORP’s central committee, which is elected by voters, fills all three jobs.
While political parties wield less direct power than they once did, the RNC still plays a major role in raising money, coordinating strategy and shaping the presidential nominating process.
This can involve setting the order of state primary elections and choosing rules for candidate debates. It also entails choosing the site of the party’s national convention.
As members of the RNC, Dicke and Davidson oversaw the selection of Cleveland to host the Republican National Convention in 2016, where Trump secured the party nomination for the first time.
Ohio, like all states, has only three committee seats. But Ohio’s Republican Party enjoys some outsize influence, since it’s considered well-run, and has been close to Trump since the state played an important role in Trump’s victory in the 2016 election.
Who’s running for the job
The field to replace Dicke is still forming.
But Tony Schroeder, the chairman of the Putnam County Republican Party, has positioned himself to run for the job. He has the endorsement of at least one state elected official – state Auditor Keith Faber has endorsed Schroeder, according to spokesperson Matt Dole. Both Faber and Schroeder are from Western Ohio and are longtime friends, Dole said.
Another potential candidate is Dave Johnson, the longtime chairman of the Columbiana County Republican Party. Johnson is influential in the state party and represents an area of the state that once leaned Democratic but has shifted heavily Republican during the Trump era.
Signal Ohio left a message for Schroeder seeking comment for this story.
Johnson said in a text message that he’s considering putting his name in to succeed Dicke, but hadn’t yet decided.
Bob Paduchik, a political operative and former state party chair who co-chaired the RNC from 2017 to 2019, previously had expressed interest in the position privately.
But he said in an interview on Tuesday that he’s told state party leaders that he isn’t running.