Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano's reelection bid opposed by GOP's Jarrod Golden

Nathaniel Shuda, The Columbus Dispatch
·5 min read

Incumbent Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinizano, a Democrat, is being challenged by Republican Jarrod Golden on the general election ballot.

In addition to being the county's chief fiscal officer overseeing taxpayers' money, the auditor's office assesses property values that determine property taxes, oversees the county's weight and measures inspectors who ensure the accuracy of gas pumps and retail scanners, and licenses dogs.

The county auditor is elected for a four-year term and will get paid $120,342 in 2023, according to the Ohio Revised Code.

Golden, 39, who lives in Westerville but has spent most of his life in Franklinton, challenged Franklin County Clerk of Courts Maryellen O’Shaughnessy in 2020, in his first race for elected office. Golden lost that race, garnering just over a third of the total ballots cast.

For more than a decade, Golden served in the Ohio Military Reserve, which provides support during disasters. As part of efforts to assist vulnerable residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, his unit was deployed to help with food distribution and to provide other support.

The first Democratic county auditor in 80 years, Stinziano, 43, has served in the role since 2019, when he beat longtime Republican incumbent Clarence Mingo. Stinziano previously served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015 and on the Columbus City Council from 2016 to 2018.

Stinziano also mulled a run for the 15th Congressional District seat in a 2021 special election to succeed former U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington, but did not file the necessary paperwork by the deadline. Stivers resigned to take a job as president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

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The Dispatch gave each candidate five days to complete a questionnaire, limiting them to 100-word responses for each question. Responses have been edited slightly for clarity.

Golden did not respond to multiple emails and Facebook messages from The Dispatch for this story or from the League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Columbus to participate in a candidate forum or submit responses to its voter guide. A phone number was not listed on his campaign registration, and his Twitter account could not accept direct messages.

A voicemail left Wednesday with the Franklin County Republican Party also was not returned.

About the Franklin County auditor candidates

Jarrod Golden (R)

  • Age: 39

  • Residence: Westerville

  • Occupation: Officer candidate training company first sergeant for the Ohio State Defense Force Training Academy; reserve patrol officer in Montpelier Ohio, Williams County

  • Education: Studied business administration and accounting at Columbus State Community College and Ohio Dominican University; graduated from Bishop Ready High School

  • Experience: Studied business administration and accounting; deployed four times through Ohio to provide aid during the COVID-19 pandemic

Michael Stinziano (D)

  • Age: 42

  • Residence: Columbus

  • Occupation: Franklin County auditor; adjunct professor, Capital University Law School

  • Education: Juris Doctor from Ohio State University College of Law; Master of Public Administration from George Washington University

  • Experience: Former Columbus City Council member; former member of the Ohio House of Representatives; former director of the Franklin County Board of Elections

Question: Why are you running for office?

Golden: No response

Stinziano: I am running for reelection to the Auditor’s Office because I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish these past four years, but know there is more to be done. I want to work to ensure homeownership in our community reflects our diversity, that we work to ensure older residents who want to stay in their neighborhood are not priced out and keep property owners involved in the property reassessment process. The Auditor's Office touches the lives of residents every day and is a resource hub that must be accessible to everyone throughout our community.

Q: What makes you the better candidate?

Golden: No response

Stinziano: My experience as county auditor and our successes makes me the better candidate in this race. We have brought the office to the community, hosting over 200 community hours throughout Franklin County, bringing the services of the office directly to businesses and residents. The office created the tax incentive hub to make incentives clearer to the residents they affect and updated numerous services and forms to make them available online. These changes have made the Auditor's Office more transparent, accessible and modern. These are the issues we ran on in 2018 and have delivered for the residents of Franklin County.

Q: What are the top two issues you would face in office, and how would you address them?

Golden: No response

Stinziano: Two key issues the Auditor’s Office can affect are our growing population’s effect on access to housing and consumer protections. Many residents are concerned about how they will be able to afford to live where they choose. To help address these concerns, the office hosts biannual housing resource fairs to connect our community to housing opportunities. We strive to make these resources digital and more accessible to all residents. We established a fraud hotline to ensure consumers have a resource to report grift of our residents and work with our Weights and Measures Department to expand anti-skimming efforts to better protect our residents from fraud.

Advance voting — absentee and early in-person voting — began Wednesday and the election is set for Nov. 8.

nshuda@dispatch.com

@NathanielShuda

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County Auditor's race: Michael Stinziano vs. Jarrod Golden