Ohio Republicans’ Race to Cover Up Endorsements From Sexual Predators Hits GOP OH09 Candidate Josh Williams

Ohio Republicans' Race to Cover Up Endorsements From Sexual Predators Hits GOP OH09 Candidate Josh Williams

April 15, 2026

COLUMBUS, OH - Ohio congressional candidate Josh Williams has become the latest Republican candidate in the Buckeye State to desperately race to scrub their website of ties to an accused sexual predator, according to new reporting. While state Rep. Rodney Creech was accused by a minor female relative of climbing into bed with her wearing only his underwear, Williams has refused to speak out against Creech. Despite Williams quietly removing Creech from the endorser page of his campaign website, state Rep. Gary Click - who has spoken extensively about talking to "young girls" about sex - has remained on Williams' endorsements list.

"Disavowing accused sexual predators should be a baseline that all leaders of both parties can agree on, but Ohio Republicans are instead quietly scrubbing their websites and scrambling to hide their ties to these individuals," said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde. "It is absurd that this has to be said out loud but Josh Williams and every Republican candidate in Ohio should speak out against the actions of accused sexual predators. Ohioans deserve leaders who will support families and protect children across our state, not politicians who stand against victims and refuse to even condemn the heinous actions of accused sexual predators."

Josh Williams is no stranger to controversy, and has previously refused to apologizeafter he "posted sexually explicit and degrading content about women on his public Facebook page." This new reporting on Williams' quiet removal of Creech from his website, "follows a pattern" with Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign also desperately trying to cover up endorsements from Creech - and from Click.

READ: Josh Williams removes Rodney Creech from endorsements as toxicity spreads

Ohio congressional candidate Josh Williams has quietly removed state Rep. Rodney Creech from his campaign's endorsements page - making Williams the second Republican candidate in a week to scrub Creech's name from their website after TiffinOhio.net reporting.

Creech, who was accused by a minor female relative of climbing into bed with her while erect and wearing only his underwear according to Bureau of Criminal Investigation documents, no longer appears on Williams' endorsements page at joshwilliamsforohio.com. Google's cached index of the page still shows Creech listed among Williams' Ohio House endorsers - confirming his name was there recently and has since been removed.

Williams' campaign made no public announcement about the change.

The removal follows a pattern. Last week, Vivek Ramaswamy's gubernatorial campaign removed both Creech and state Rep. Gary Click from vivekforohio.com/endorsements/within two days of TiffinOhio.net publishing reports on Creech's BCI investigation and resurfaced video of Click reminiscing about talking to "young girls" about their sexual experiences during Ohio House testimony. Web Archive snapshots confirmed that removal.

Click stays

While Creech has been scrubbed from Williams' endorsements page, Click remains listed - identified as "Rep. Gary Click, House District 88."

Click formally endorsed Williams' congressional campaign in August 2025, two years after Williams' sexually explicit Facebook posts were first publicly reported by D.J. Byrnes of The Rooster, an independently owned Ohio political media outlet. The two have co-sponsored multiple pieces of legislation in the Ohio House, including HB 693, which would write the concept of "parental alienation" into state law - the same term Creech used to publicly dismiss his own daughter's statements about the alleged misconduct.

[…]

Toxic endorsements

Three weeks before the May 5 primary, Creech and Click are rapidly becoming two of the most toxic endorsements in Ohio Republican politics.

Ramaswamy removed Creech. Williams has now removed Creech. On the Ramaswamy front, Click was also removed - then scrambled back onto the page within hours of TiffinOhio.net documenting the change, posting on Facebook that "rumors that I have been removed from a list of endorsements Vivek Ramaswamy are greatly exaggerated." Web Archive snapshots confirmed the removal had occurred.

Sen. Jon Husted's campaign has also drawn scrutiny for promoting endorsements from both lawmakers on a March 19 endorsement graphic. Click serves as Husted's Sandusky County campaign chair.

[…]

Williams has faced his own scrutiny during the campaign. TiffinOhio.net reported that Williams posted sexually explicit and degrading content about women on his public Facebook page before sponsoring bills he said would protect children from obscenity. When confronted about the posts in 2023, Williams refused to apologize: "What do I gotta apologize about? I made the post in 2018 being funny while I was in college burning time." He was approximately 34 years old at the time.

###