4 Republicans compete for Ohio House seat representing Greene, Clark, Clinton counties
March 19 winner will face Democrat James Duffee in November.
The son of a longtime incumbent representative and three other prominent Republican candidates are vying for their party’s nod next week to represent all or parts of Clark, Greene and Clinton counties in Ohio House District 71.
The crowded field includes Xenia City Councilman Levi Dean, son of businessman and term-limited Rep. Bill Dean, R-Xenia; Xenia City School Board President Joshua Day; former Cedarville Mayor Bob Fudge; and political newcomer Tyler Scott.
March 19′s Republican victor will go on to face Democrat James Duffee in a heavily Republican district that consists of southern Clark County, eastern Greene County, and all of Clinton County.
Ohio House representatives make $63,007 per year, plus more if they are elected to leadership positions within their caucus.
Levi Dean
This is the first foray into state politics for Dean. He’s spent the past six years on the Xenia City Council and is the owner of Dean’s Plumbing, one of a handful of Greene County businesses that dons the Dean family name.
Dean promotes himself as someone who knows what it’s like to start and maintain a small business. He told this news organization that he relates to entrepreneurial Ohioans who are feeling the squeeze from taxes, government regulations and inflation.
“I am a blue-collar worker; I know how to roll my sleeves up and get to work,” Dean said. “My track record on job creation, taxes and fiscal responsibility is consistent and it’s exactly what I promised.”
His top priorities, if elected, would be to cut taxes and government regulations and defend “God-given” rights to life and self-defense, he said.
Dean told this news outlet that he’d support a tax overhaul and hopes to balance eliminating the state income tax with reformulating how the state can “properly and fairly” fund local governments — a burgeoning tussle between the Ohio General Assembly and municipalities across the state.
“We need as much local control over taxes as possible. The government closest to the people is best for the people,” Dean said, calling for Ohio to go back to the basics in prioritizing local infrastructure, roads, and public safety.
On education, Dean believes that young Ohioans are not adequately prepared to hold jobs and participate in society when they graduate. However, he doesn’t think extra funding will solve the problem.
“Look, each year we dump more money into our education system in this country and each year we seem to decrease actual learning. Something has to give,” Dean said. He called for parents to become more involved in their child’s academics and life decisions.
Dean told this newspaper that he’s “100% pro-life” and that he believes Ohioans were deceived when the state’s voters enshrined abortion protections into the Ohio Constitution last November through Issue 1. “That issue was decided by out-of-state money,” he said.
And while Dean doesn’t believe that anyone should be criminally punished for marijuana, he called for the legislature to override last November’s vote to legalize recreational weed and decriminalize it instead. He cited concerns with workplace accidents, vehicular accidents and insurance rates all increasing.
Joshua Day
Also from Xenia, Day is hoping to convert his experience leading the Xenia City School Board into a House seat.
Day, an aerospace engineer who moved to the area to work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is another small-government Republican who hopes, if elected, to clamp down on taxes and government spending while limiting drug flow into Ohio, which he believes is a symptom of the country’s southern border crisis.
Day said he also hopes to bring personal responsibility and family values to Columbus.
“I have been a leader throughout my life and I understand what it takes to listen to those I represent and then stand firm for our needs even when it is difficult,” said Day when asked why his constituents should vote for him.
“I am self-made. Everything I have is because I worked hard for it. I truly understand the needs of my community because they are my family’s needs as well.”
Day said he supports eliminating the income tax and lowering property taxes, but notes that the legislature would need to choose one or the other because “we can’t do both.”
On education, Day thinks the state can save money by consolidating school districts, thus eliminating administrative positions.
“Why do we need 611 different school districts each with its own faculties? That is 611 superintendents across the state of Ohio and if each of those are paid an average of $150,000 per year that is over $91 million we spend just on superintendents per year,” Day said.
“If we reduced the number of school districts by even just 100, that would save millions of dollars every year to be better used on educational programs to help kids have successful lives and careers.”
Day also proposed putting a cap on Ohio colleges’ and universities’ ability to accept student loan dollars, which he believes would reduce the cost of attending and limit student debt. Likewise, he wants to place limits on the types of degrees state universities can provide, and believes colleges should provide transparency on a graduate’s expected income.
Day said he, too, opposes Issue 1 and called it a “mockery of life.” However, he said that the state needs to improve its performance in adoption and foster care systems, potentially subsidize health care, and provide more assistance to women’s clinics before revisiting the discussion on abortion.
Robert Fudge
Fudge, former mayor of Cedarville, told this news outlet that constituents should vote for him because he’s “by far the most experienced candidate in this race.” He said his educational background in government and politics, along with his law degree, gives him the best foundation for the role.
Fudge said he’d view all legislation and government activity through his succinct belief that the “legitimate role” of a government is to protect liberty and freedom. “(I) will view all legislation from that perspective,” he said.
Fudge also wants to personify a cultural change that he’d like to see at the statehouse. “At both the national and state (level), we’ve lost the art of statesmanship in government,” he said. “I will do my very best to restore it.”
Like the others, Fudge is a small-government Republican. His priorities, if elected, include waging a “fight to reduce the influence” of federal and state government on Ohioans’ daily lives, he said.
As for the government functions he’d like to see, Fudge said he’ll focus on economic development, workforce training, agriculture, veteran’s issues and reducing and simplifying taxes.
He said he would take aim at eliminating the state income tax, with a corresponding reduction in spending, along with some proposals to alleviate property tax burdens on Ohioans and small businesses.
In education, Fudge boasts experience as a substitute teacher, technical instructor and college professor. He said he believes the state’s emphasis on early reading is the way to improve education moving forward.
“I also believe our public schools are places for education, not indoctrination, so (I) would prefer local control by school boards over the curriculum, within broad guidelines from the (state),” Fudge said.
Fudge said he’d form a regional planning commission, if elected, to prepare for the “inevitable” economic growth he foresees occurring in House District 71. He believes the district should be a hotspot for companies, given the amount of land and interstate accessibility.
Fudge said he was disappointed by Issue 1′s passage. He said he believes there will be unintended consequences from the “poorly written” constitutional amendment and believes there may be room for both parties to agree on an alternative amendment in the future.
Tyler Scott
Scott, residing in Xenia, is a political newcomer who has never run for public office and hopes his relative inexperience is a trait that will help him win this race.
“This speaks to my true intention of helping my state and making this land better for everyone, not the party.
It speaks to how I am not a career politician and do not aspire to be one,” Scott told this news organization.
Scott’s background is largely rooted in private business. He was once the commissioner of Major League Cornhole and has moved on to making a living as a landlord, an occupation he said gives him an understanding of the worsening housing crisis in Ohio.
“Every part of our economy starts with single-family home ownership. If you take that away you will see a large gap between the rich and the poor. The middle class will cease to exist,” Scott said.
As such, Scott said his first legislative priority, if elected, would be to ban hedge funds and corporations from owning single-family homes.
He said he’d also push to eliminate income tax, like the others. He said he would generally leave property taxes alone, as he expects soaring property tax rates to soon fall and believes it’s the local government’s responsibility to handle.
Scott said he’d push for audits at every single public school district across the state in order to identify instances of irresponsible spending.
“My intention is to reform the K-12 system. But I must do so after accurately addressing the problem once in the Statehouse and having access to where the problems are occurring,” he said.
Scott’s position on Issue 1 is the same as his opponents and he believes it’s something Ohio needs to readdress. He said he believes life begins at conception, but added that “(the) only caveat against my fellow Republicans is that I would have allowed for exceptions in extreme cases and underage conceptions.”
Scott is the only Republican in the race that voted to legalize adult-use recreational marijuana last November, a vote that he stands by. He said he wants to see recreational marijuana’s tax proceeds go toward tackling addiction to hard drugs that many Ohioans face, as well as advancing mental health services in poorly served areas.