The November election is closer than you think. Candidates to represent Farmersville and Germantown in the Ohio Statehouse are actively campaigning now to earn your support and your vote.
In the past two weeks, TWIN CREEK TIMES editor and publisher Holly Michael spent time with each candidate for Ohio House District 40.
Incumbent Rodney Creech is the Republican candidate. He defeated a Primary challenge by Farmersville pastor J. Todd Smith and feels confident that voters will select him for a final term in the Ohio House. He’s been spotted at events like the Montgomery County Fair opening ceremony.
Democrat Tim Hornbacker is running to provide an option for voters looking to make a change in Columbus. He sees himself not as a politician but as a trailblazer for future Democratic candidates. Hornbacker recorded a video for his campaign Facebook page after meeting District 40 residents (and this editor) at The Grounds Coffee House in Farmersville.
Josh Umbaugh, a Libertarian candidate, agrees that voters in the District need more choices on the ballot. He is hoping to parlay his Miamisburg contacts and outsider status to earn support. He attended the July 5th festival in Farmersville.
Ohio House District 40
Umbaugh - Ending Property Tax
Josh Umbaugh, running as a Libertarian, is a kitchen and bath designer from Miamisburg. He said his decision to run for State Representative stems from his experience last election.
“The Dayton Daily News said District 40 is the least competitive district in Ohio, and I thought that was kind of disappointing as a resident. The last several years, I've been county chair of the Libertarian Party of Montgomery County. So, I thought it would be a good experience to run.”
Umbaugh’s priorities in Columbus would include regulations on the use of ALPR cameras like Flock. “I feel like that's an invasion of privacy, and we find a lot of abuse with those throughout different communities across the country.”
Umbaugh is also interested in Save the Guard legislation. “It requires that if your National Guard is going to be deployed overseas into combat, there needs to be a Congressional declaration of war. So it's really just making our U.S. Congress follow the Constitution.”
He also supports the Ohio REIN bill, a Republican-led initiative to increase legislative oversight of administrative agency rulemaking by requiring legislative review of proposed agency regulations.
Umbaugh says he is in favor of regulating data centers, and supports the ballot initiative to end property taxes.
“I do hope it makes the legislature take notice and stop depending on property taxes for so much. I think renting your property from your government after you pay for it is a very un-American thing that you can still lose your house and your property, your land, and it needs to be addressed at least incrementally, if we can. I know ending it on a ballot initiative would be a shock and a slap, and really cause an immediate reckoning on how we're going to do that.”
📸 Josh Umbaugh campaign
Hornbacker - “Decency Over Division”
Democrat Tim Hornbacker of New Paris in Preble County is a former registered nurse who now owns and manages multiple properties and is a foster parent.
His approach to the election is to hear from people and set a new example of how a State Representative can approach the position. “I have no desire to be a politician, but people need a choice where we can be decent and honest with people. We just want to go in, talk to people, be open to what solutions are there and what ideas people can give us, and then work through those on a rational basis.”
Hornbacker believes that small communities can be overtaken by data centers. “Even the Republicans are realizing the writing on the wall; even Republicans are starting to say you can't just automatically rubber stamp data centers.”
Hornbacker is hearing lots of talk about property tax, but no solutions on how services will be paid for otherwise: “They want to eliminate property tax. They need to think this through. If you eliminate property tax, who pays for fire? Who pays for police? Who pays for public education? Who pays for the libraries? We still want all those things. So the response is, well, we'll just raise sales tax. Well, sales tax can go to 20-25%. And they won't do income tax because rich people pay income tax.”
Looking at public education, Hornbacker is not in favor of school vouchers. “None of the charter schools, none of the private schools, does a voucher cover the tuition. So people who need the vouchers, the people who are trapped in the poor public schools, it doesn't do them any good because they have to pay the extra money on top. All vouchers are, it's a subsidy for rich people who are already sending their kids to private schools; they just get state money to do it. Plus, the public schools are burdened with transportation to the private schools. Private schools can refuse admittance to anybody. So the handicapped kids, the challenged kids, the behavior problem kids, the kids that the public schools have to take and have to work with, and spend extra money on. Those kids can't go to a private school. All the advantages they list for the private schools are not really there. They're an illusion.”
Hornbacker knows that he faces a tough District and Republican-dominated State Legislature. “The foundation of what we're trying to do is get more mayors, more council people, more school board members. If we start locally and elect more Democrats, and that's the reason I'm running.”
📸 Tim Hornbacker campaign
Creech - Ready for his Final Term
Incumbent Republican Rodney Creech is a business owner and farmer from West Alexandria. Creech is in his third term in the Ohio House. All 99 Ohio House members are up for election every two years, with a four-term limit. If Creech wins the election, this will be his final two years in the Ohio House.
A former township trustee in Preble County, Creech is supportive of local government and understands its reliance on property taxes, but acknowledges the desire to reduce the burden on homeowners. “I think we should reduce property taxes to where it hurts. I think every government entity should have to tighten their belts more than ever because we need to keep these tax dollars in people's pockets.”
“If we vote to eliminate property taxes, we will no longer have township government. Well, what does that mean? Not having township government means for all of us that live out in rural communities, if it snows, somebody's got to plow our roads. Somebody's got to fix those potholes.”
“About 65% of the property taxes go to schools. If we vote to eliminate property taxes, who's going to pay for the schools?”
“There's a large group that wants to do away with property taxes because they're anti-government, they're anti-everything, and then there's the rest of us that say we know we want these services, and the only way that I would support eliminating property taxes is if we had replacement funding.”
Creech wants to “tap the breaks” on data centers while the State gathers more information. “The State has put together a data center study commission, and what we're doing is evaluating water quality and energy usage, and we got to actually figure it out. I think the loudest people against data centers don't even have the facts. In fact, a lot of them are spewing misinformation.”
“We need to make sure we're not making a big mistake and put data centers in Ohio where they're going to adversely affect our population.”
Creech also voiced his support for public schools. “I'm a public school guy. I've been very open about that. I mean, I support private, but you know, I think we've got to fund public schools. Our public schools are amazing. Every school in my district does a very good job, and I work very closely with the schools. They know where I stand. I personally believe public schools are very important to our communities. And if a person wants to go to a private school, I think they should have to pay to go.”
Running in a majority Republican District in a State with Republicans in every major post, Creech feels confident in the election, “If the Republicans show up, it's game over.”
📸 Rodney Creech
Make a Plan to Vote
The November election will include important races like Ohio Governor and Ohio Senator. Local races like Ohio House District 40 and Ohio Senate District 5 will determine our voice in Columbus. Tax issues, including a Jackson Township pool/park levy and a German Township senior center levy, will also be on the ballot.
The Ohio voter registration deadline is Monday, October 5. If you haven’t voted in a while or are unsure of your status, you can confirm your voter registration.
If you would like to request an absentee ballot, you can do that at the Montgomery County Board of Elections website any time. Laws have changed, and all absentee ballots must be RECEIVED, either by mail or dropped off, by election day.
Early in-person voting starts Tuesday, October 6 at the Montgomery County Board of Elections in downtown Dayton.
Election day is Tuesday, November 3. Polls open 6:30 am - 7:30 pm. Poll workers are always needed. Apply for a paid position.
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