Three candidates are vying to represent the 26th District in the Ohio State Senate.
Republican candidate Bill Reineke and Democrat Craig Swartz will have their names on the ballot while Independent Robert Taylor is a write-in candidate.
Reineke, 66, currently represents District 88 for the Ohio House of Representatives and is the owner of Reineke Family Dealerships.
He said he is “pro-life, pro-Second Amendment and a supporter of our law enforcement.”
“I have a record of defending these values and will continue to do so as Senator,” Reineke wrote in a statement to the Journal-Tribune.
He said he is father to two daughters and operates a 60-year-old family business.
He added that he initially ran for the Ohio House of Representatives because “I thought our state needs leaders who know how to create good-paying jobs.”
Reineke said he is proud of his record and feels as though he has brought investment into his district.
He said he has worked with Senator Dave Burke to support tax relief initiatives and to reduce regulations on businesses.
If elected to the State Senate, he said he wants to “bring meaningful reform to our education system to ensure that it is more student-driven.”
He said the education system should be driven by needs within the local workforce and ensure students are career- or college-ready by graduation.
As Senator, Reineke said he would like to represent the interests of Marysville in Columbus.
“Marysville is a prosperous community with much growth and opportunity,” he said. “I want to find ways that the state can help this community.”
Additionally, he said he understands challenges that come with changes occurring in Union County. He said he plans to work on “transportation issues as well as economic development.”
Swartz, 62, is currently a Realtor.
He said he has worked as a restaurant owner, truck driver, forklift operator, fast food manager and substitute teacher and understands the “common values” working individuals share.
“I entered this race to get more information in front of the voters who don’t necessarily get asked their opinion and humbly submit myself to be their voice for the voiceless,” Swartz wrote in a statement to the Journal-Tribune.
Swartz said he spent twenty years living and working abroad as a young adult and the next twenty in Central Ohio, which “(deepened) my appreciation for the rural community.”
Ultimately, he said his goal as a State Senator would be to “get people from all over to start working together again.”
He said his vision for Union County – and all of the 26th District – is to “focus greater efforts from Columbus at preserving and enhancing Ohio’s rural communities and economies.”
“Union County is the fastest growing county in Ohio and is facing enormous challenges in order to meet and properly plan for that expected growth,” Swartz said.
He said he would aim to: create affordable housing to meet demands from renters and house-hunters, expand infrastructure for road widenings and storm sewer coverage, improve public education, increase access to quality internet and strengthen the farming and manufacturing sectors.
Swartz said Marysville and Plain City could also benefit from a “light rail mass transit connection to Columbus” and a public state bank with new lending programs for farmers.
Taylor, the write-in candidate, did not reply to a request for comment.