Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, whose district includes Washington County, will resign from Congress later this month to become president of Youngstown State University. Here he is at a March 28 congressional hearing on the train derailment at East Palestine, Ohio.

YOUNGSTOWN — A congressman formerly from Washington County who will be the next president of Youngstown State University has advanced the date when he’ll resign from the House of Representatives.

Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, will resign Jan. 21 and will start the next day as Youngstown State president.

Johnson, a Republican who just moved from Marietta to Canfield, submitted a letter of resignation Tuesday to Gov. Mike DeWine and House Speaker Mike Johnson. Johnson has represented the 6th District for 13 years.

“The hardworking men and women who call the 6th District, old and new, home, from Youngstown to Portsmouth, from St. Clairsville to Zanesville, are proud and patriotic,” Johnson’s identical letters to the speaker and governor said. “But they are too often disregarded by America’s elites, be they political, media, corporate and/or academic.”

Johnson’s office declined further comment Tuesday.

The college board of trustees voted 8-1 on Nov. 21 to hire Johnson after agreeing five days prior at a quickly called emergency meeting to offer him the job.

Molly Seals was the only trustee to vote no on offering the job to Johnson and hiring him.

The start date of his tenure was to be March 15, but Michael Peterson, president of the college Board of Trustees, has said he wanted Johnson to begin earlier.

The decision to hire Johnson was criticized by faculty, students, alumni and donors who objected to the confidential search as well as Johnson’s politics and lack of experience in higher education.

Johnson’s politics during his time in Congress drew the most opposition, particularly his votes objecting to the 2020 presidential election in which Donald Trump, who Johnson supports, falsely claims was stolen as well as his positions opposing gay marriage and abortions, and what he says is “indoctrination” at some universities.

“We are excited to have him on campus earlier than anticipated. Bill will continue to visit campus as often as his schedule allows to continue meeting with students, faculty and staff,” Peterson said in a Tuesday letter on behalf of the trustees. “Bill brings a commitment to advancing our institution’s mission and we eagerly anticipate the contributions he and his wife LeeAnn will make to our community.”

Neal McNally, the college vice president for finance and business operations, started Dec. 27 as acting president. He replaced Helen K. Lafferty, who was interim president since Feb. 1, 2023. Lafferty was supposed to stay in that position until the trustees hired a permanent replacement.

The 11-county 6th District, which includes Washington and surrounding counties, would not have a representative for several months and possibly most of this year with Johnson’s resignation.

DeWine will need to schedule a special primary and general election for the unexpired term.

“Our legal team has started to reach out to the Secretary of State’s Office to determine the options for special elections,” Dan Tierney, a DeWine spokesman, said Tuesday. “We hope to have a statement soon.”

Tierney declined to say what “soon” meant.

“We want to make sure the secretary of state can actually conduct the elections declared by the governor,” he said. “We intend to work on it collaboratively. We’re not the only party in the process.”

The timing of Johnson’s resignation means a special primary for the remainder of his unexpired term can’t be held at the same time as the March 19 primary for the full two-year term starting in January 2025.

Though DeWine can schedule the special elections at any time, he has planned previous ones for congressional vacancies during the same months as typical elections: May during non-presidential years, August and November.

With Johnson’s decision to not seek reelection, it would be the first election since 2006 in which the 6th Congressional District doesn’t have an incumbent.

The open seat, with the term starting in January 2025, attracted three Republicans, including two current officeholders, state Sen. Michael Rulli of Salem, state Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus of Paris Township and Rick Tsai of East Palestine, and two Democrats, Michael L. Kripchak of Youngstown and Rylan Z. Finzer of Bedford Heights have filed for the seat.