Allen County to vote on important races

Jan. 12—ALLEN COUNTY — Several important offices are up for grabs in Allen County with Sen. Matt Huffman's (R) term limits expiring.

In fact, Huffman himself is running for representative of the 78th district, by himself following Dylan Gross and Chris Walther's candidacies being ruled invalid, and Ohio Rep. Susan Manchester (R-Waynesfield) and Zulma Schrupp will run to replace him in the 12th Senate district.

"As an Army combat veteran who served in Iraq, I know what it means to put service before self and fight for our country," Schrupp, a Democrat, said. "At our home in Urbana, I serve as a voice for veterans and their families as one of Champaign County's Veteran Service Commissioners, among other positions. I'm the wife of a veteran and mother of two who has enjoyed deepening our roots and love for rural Ohio. I am running for Ohio's Senate District 12 because I believe I can be a stronger voice for everyone, especially those that also serve this great country."

On Manchester's campaign website, she calls herself a conservative whose record reflects support for cutting taxes, pro-life bills and Second Amendment rights.

"To me, standing up for what's right in the face of immense pressure is all part of a day's work," Manchester writes on her front page. "I credit my friend, mentor and former boss Jim Jordan for providing a guiding example of how you can be both conservative, and effective. Many think you must be timid and agreeable to be successful. Jim Jordan doesn't believe that for one second, and neither do I."

Dylan Gross, a Democrat from Elida, filed to run against Huffman for state representative, but had 13 signatures thrown out and will not be on the ballot.

However, the young aspiring politician is not ruling out running in the future, even if an independent run this year is out of the question.

"I just think that at the end of the day, we need better representation," Gross said. "We need someone who is going to focus on the issues and not culture war problems. We had one of the least productive state legislative years in our state's history with only 16 bills passing and a huge amount of them focusing on sexual orientation and gender identity when we should be focusing on fixing our health care and infrastructure and expanding broadband."

Huffman, who has served two terms in the Ohio Senate's 12th district and is serving as Senate President, previously served four terms in the House of Representatives and two as Speaker Pro Tempore.

His Senate campaign website calls him a tireless advocate for the people, who fights for lower taxes, efficient government and innovative ideas to solve problems.

Republican Chris Walther's candidacy was also declared invalid.

Other local races are uncontested and will see Republicans as the only choices on the ballot.

—John Wilamowski is running for Third District Court of Appeals Judge.

—Terri L Kohlrieser is running to be re-elected as Common Pleas Judge.

—Krista Bohn is running for County Treasurer.

—John Meyer is running for County Coroner.

—Brion Rhodes is running for County Engineer.

—Mona Losh is running for re-election as County Recorder.

—Matthew Treglia is running for sheriff.

—Jennifer McBride is running for Clerk of Courts.

—Destiny Caldwell is running for Prosecuting Attorney.

—Beth Seibert and Cory Noonan are running for two open County Commissioner spots.

This year's primary election will be March 19 and the general election will be Nov. 5.

Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.