A six-person Ohio House Republican committee will review applications to replace state Rep. Don Manning, who died last month.

Residents of the Ohio House 59th District interested in the appointment should email a cover letter and resume by noon May 8 to Rep72@OhioHouse.gov. Interviews will be conducted the week of May 11.

Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder announced Wednesday, the day after the primary, the selection committee members who will interview applicants and make a recommendation to the full House Republican Caucus.

State Rep. Jay Edwards, R-Nelsonville, is the chairman. The committee also includes Tim Ginter, R-Salem; Diane Grendell, R-Chesterland; Sara Carruthers, R-Hamilton; Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati; and Reggie Stoltzfus, R-Paris Township.

“Rep. Manning loved serving the Mahoning Valley and took great pride in his work as a legislator,” Householder said. “I hope to fill the seat with someone who has that same passion for serving the people they represent.”

Manning, of New Middletown, 52, died March 20. He was serving his first term in the Ohio House of Representatives.

The 59th District includes all of Beaver, Beloit, Berlin, Boardman, Canfield, Craig Beach, Ellsworth, Goshen, Green, Jackson, Milton, New Middletown, Poland, Sebring, Smith, Springfield and Washingtonville along with a small section of Austintown.

The person selected to succeed Manning would fill the rest of Manning’s term, which expires at year’s end.

The Mahoning County Republican Party’s Central Committee would choose the candidate to replace Manning on the November general election ballot, said Thomas McCabe, the party’s chairman.

“When the (Ohio House) committee gets down to the final five, we’ll have a local committee look at those recommendations,” he said. “We have to be on the same page, as the central committee will appoint the candidate. I’ve had conversations with Speaker Householder. I think we’ll come up with the same five or so candidates.”

The local screening committee might rank the five finalists or give a couple of preferences, McCabe said. A final decision on that hasn’t been made, he said.

“It has to be a partnership,” McCabe said. “We trust (Householder’s) judgment.”

The person selected as the Republican candidate will face Democrat Chris Stanley of Canfield, a Youngstown city school teacher and author, during the November general election.

Manning received 5,808 votes in Tuesday’s Republican primary. He was the only Republican candidate on the ballot for the position and was permitted to remain a candidate under state law even though he died more than a month ago.

McCabe, who is also deputy director of the Mahoning County Board of Elections, said several people wrote notes on their ballots honoring Manning.

The primary was postponed from March 17 to Tuesday because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Manning was elected in November 2018 to the seat and began serving the two-year term in January 2019.

Before that, he served a year as a New Middletown village councilman.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com