Rob McColley

Rob McColley
Majority Leader of the Ohio Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2023
Preceded byKirk Schuring
Member of the Ohio Senate
from the 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 5, 2017
Preceded byCliff Hite
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
from the 81st district
In office
January 3, 2017 – December 5, 2017
Preceded byLynn Wachtmann
Succeeded byJim Hoops
Personal details
Born (1984-10-14) October 14, 1984 (age 40)
Political partyRepublican
EducationOhio State University (BS)
University of Toledo (JD)

Robert A. McColley (born October 14, 1984) is a Senator for the 1st District of the Ohio Senate, which includes Defiance, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert, and Williams counties, as well as parts of Auglaize, Fulton, and Logan counties. McColley graduated from Napoleon High School (Ohio) in 2003 and then went on to attend Ohio State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Finance. He then attended the University of Toledo College of Law and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 2010.[1]

Prior to being appointed to the Senate, he represented the 81st Ohio House District as a State Representative where he also served in House leadership as Assistant Majority Whip.[2] Before being elected State Representative, he served in the Community Improvement Corporation of Henry County, where he oversaw economic development efforts for the county and worked to improve local workforce development efforts between manufacturers and schools in Henry and Williams counties.[3]

McColley lives in Napoleon with his wife, Denise, their daughter Anna, and their twin boys Matthew and Michael.[4]

In May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, McColley and Senator Kristina Roegner introduced a bill that would immediately end Ohio's stay-at-home order and limit the state health director's ability to give similar orders. The bill is contrary to the recommendation of the country's top medical experts; Governor DeWine has promised to veto any bill that curb's the health director's authority during the crisis.[5]

In 2021, McColley was the lead sponsor on legislation that would make it harder to build solar and wind energy projects in Ohio. Solar and wind energy projects could be killed by local officials, whereas natural gas and oil projects could not.[6]

In 2021, McColley defended a proposed redistricting map for Ohio that was heavily gerrymandered in favor of Republicans.[7]

  1. ^ Salay, Britt. "Gov. DeWine, State Sen. McColley expect budget to be ready by second deadline". Your Hometown Stations. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  2. ^ "Nuclear plant rescue clears Ohio Senate, but House punts". Toledo Blade. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  3. ^ Tobias, Andrew J. (2019-06-13). "Ohio officials seek to promote 3D-printing of prosthetics via law change". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  4. ^ Tobias, Andrew J. (2019-07-15). "Sherrod Brown, Rob Portman visit the border: Capitol Letter". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  5. ^ "2 Ohio state senators introduce bill that would 'immediately' end coronavirus shutdown". wkyc.com.
  6. ^ Zuckerman, Jake (2021-06-30). "Bill creating new hurdles for wind and solar heads to governor". Ohio Capital Journal. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  7. ^ Chow, Andy (2021-11-24). "Despite voter-approved anti-gerrymandering reforms, Ohio GOP still draws lopsided map". NPR. Retrieved 2021-11-25.