Congressman-elect Steve Austria (R-Beavercreek) has been selected as president of the Republican freshmen class in Congress during the orientation for incoming representatives last week.

Austria was selected by his fellow Republican freshmen in a vote.

In a statement to the Dayton Daily News, Austria said he was happy to be selected.

"I'm excited to be part of a very talented and focused freshman class, which has many good ideas to address the problems we face," Austria said. "The elections are over and our work in Congress has already begun."

As part of his position as president of the freshmen class, Austria is likely to serve on the Congressional Republicans' steering committee, which determines committee assignments.

Austria was elected to replace retiring U.S. Rep. David Hobson (R-Springfield) in Ohio's 7th Congressional District. He beat out attorney Sharen Neuhardt (D-Yellow Springs) for the position, winning 58.7 percent of the votes compared to 41.3 percent for Neuhardt.

With several seats still undecided, Republicans will have at least 19 fresh faces in the 111th Congress, compared to at least 32 for Democrats.