John Boehner isn’t the only Ohio elected official having problems with his Caucus. 

Yesterday Ohio Speaker Bill Batchelder gave his GOP members a stern talking-to as a result of a growing list of incidents involving Republican lawmakers. 

Recent weeks have seen the resignation of GOP state Rep. Robert Mecklenborg, who is awaiting a court date for a drunk driving incident involving Viagra and a young woman who was neither his wife nor his daughter, as well as a 911 call from the wife of Republican state Sen. Kris Jordan alleging he was pushing her around and threatening her. 

This week brought news of fresh impropriety by a Republican lawmaker: 

State Rep. Jarrod Martin was given an operating a vehicle while intoxicated citation while in Jackson County on Friday, a situation his political mentor said happened because Martin didn’t want to be shown shirtless and sweaty on cruiser-camera video. 

The details from the July 22 incident: 

Ohio Highway Patrol spokeswoman Lt. Anne Ralston said Martin was stopped on U.S. 35 between the city of Jackson and the Ross County line at 10:55 p.m. Friday for going left of center and hauling a trailer without tail lights. 

Martin had two kids and two adults as his passengers, she said. 

On the side of the roadway, Martin refused to submit to field sobriety tests and a “chemical” test of his blood, breath or urine, Ralston said. As a result, he will automatically lose his driver’s license for one year. He was released at the scene with one of the adult passengers behind the wheel. 

So because he allegedly didn’t want to appear sweaty and shirtless on a police dashcam (although after the Mecklenborg video, his reticence is somewhat understandable), Rep. Martin has incurred an OVI charge and automatically lost his driver’s license for a year. 

Lucky for him Speaker Batchelder has “no plans to revisit” the controversial voter ID bill that stalled in the legislature last month; while Rep. Martin can’t make use of his driving privileges, at least he can still exercise his voting rights. 

Just after the Speaker gave Rep. Martin and his Republican colleagues the better-late-than-never advice “to be very careful,” news surfaced of a previous alcohol-related incident involving the same lawmaker. 

A Dayton-area state lawmaker charged with drunken driving a week ago was found intoxicated and passed out on a vehicle in the Riffe Center's parking garage last year, according to State Highway Patrol reports obtained by The Dispatch. 

At 1:05 a.m. on March 24, 2010, security at the state office tower, which houses state representatives' offices, called the State Highway Patrol to report a suspicious person in the garage. A trooper responded to find an intoxicated Rep. Jarrod Martin leaning on a vehicle, breathing but unable to be awaked on repeated attempts, says an incident log. 

Speaker Batchelder was informed later that morning that the state police had found one of his members passed out drunk on a car, but reportedly took no action. 

And almost as though to intentionally up the irony factor, earlier this year Rep. Martin tweeted about his ride-along with Ohio State Police Highway Patrol, during which he helped with 

Setting up an OVI checkpoint with the OSP and Beavercreek Police. 

After Speaker Batchelder admonished the GOP Caucus this week, he told reporters, 

“Obviously, these are humbling days.” 

More like a humbling month. July brought the Ohio Republicans news of Rep. Robert Mecklenborg’s infamous DUI arrest, abysmal approval ratings for GOP Gov. John Kasich, the certification of a ballot measure aimed at repealing the GOP-championed, anti-worker SB5, and a national spotlight on state Republicans’ extremist antics.

It’s an awfully low bar, but maybe the Ohio GOP can look forward to a better August.