Law deserves GOP nod in 65th district | News, Sports, Jobs - Warren Tribune Chronicle
Confusion reigns supreme in this year’s primary election for state representative in the 65th House District covering parts of Trumbull County.
First, confusion surfaces over the district’s new name. It long has been known as the 63rd district, but a series of new maps for state legislative districts ups its identity by two digits.
The current district had covered central and southeastern portions of Trumbull County, including, but not limited to, Bazetta, Cortland, Girard, Weathersfield and Niles.
While the maps still remain unfinished, it appears the new 65th District could include northern Trumbull County with a slice of Portage County. The most recently proposed map puts the largely northern rural portion of Trumbull County with the southern sector of Ashtabula County.
Of course, the largest source of confusion comes from the inability of the Ohio Redistricting Commission to draw workable maps to withstand constitutional tests before the Ohio Supreme Court. Those redrawn district maps have been rejected four times now.
The donnybrook means the state House and Senate races will not appear on the May 3 primary ballot along with other statewide, local and federal offices. It now appears those two races will go to voters in a special election later this summer.
Yet, after the confusion is stripped away, responsible residents of the 65th District still will need to cast informed ballots to select the Republican nominee who, barring any credible challenge by an independent candidate in the fall, will be elected to the post.
The $63,000-per-year lawmaking job wields great responsibility and authority over shaping state laws on taxation, education, economic development, public health and many other domains.
Seeking the Republican nomination are one-term incumbent Mike Loychik of Bazetta and former state Rep. Randy Law of Warren Township.
Challenger Law has made “constituent service” his No. 1 priority if nominated and elected to the seat. Law, a former Trumbull County Republican Party chairman who was ousted as party chief in 2017 amid internal disputes, said he understands the most important aspect of a state legislator’s job is to respond to the concerns of those served. He vowed to ensure phone calls are returned and constituent communications would be a priority.
He was critical of his opponent’s accessibility and public response on issues.
Law’s other priorities are to “pass meaningful legislation” and to “lower taxes.”
He said he readily would back bills to encourage economic development in the Mahoning Valley and state. He long has been a champion of streamlining the environmental and regulatory processes to not lose business startups and expansion opportunities to other states.
Law also is just as fervent in his desire to lower state taxes and ultimately eliminate the state income tax. He says he would review models of other states without income taxes as fodder for developing a workable system in Ohio.
The Republican challenger also cites his experience as a prime asset to his candidacy. He was the elected representative for a largely Democratic district in 2005 and 2006 and has served many terms on the Ohio Republican State Central Committee. As such, Law may better understand the finer details of lawmaking from Columbus and have valuable connections there.
We liked Law’s approach and believe his accessibility will be an asset, whether he is in Columbus or at home in the Valley.
Loychik, the incumbent, meanwhile, declined an invitation to meet with this newspaper’s editorial board or to submit answers to our standard candidate questionnaire, thereby rendering him ineligible for consideration for endorsement in this race.
The lack of communication by Loychik regarding our endorsement process came as no surprise to us, frankly. Since taking office 16 months ago, Loychik essentially has remained incommunicado with this newspaper. On issue after issue, Loychik has failed to respond to questions reporters sought on some of the most compelling topics of the day and even on legislation he himself had sponsored and sought to advance, such as his early 2021 effort to rename Mosquito Lake State Park after former President Donald J. Trump. That initiative, rightly criticized by some as grandstanding, went nowhere fast in Columbus.
It’s noteworthy that Loychik’s lack of response comes despite conversations he had in recent months with the leadership of this newspaper in which he promised to be more accessible to us and, therefore, to our tens of thousands of daily readers who rely on us to stay informed about actions and opinions of their elected officials.
This newspaper, therefore, endorses Law for the Republican nomination for the 65th Statehouse District.
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Law deserves GOP nod in 65th district
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source: https://www.tribtoday.com/opinion/editorials/2022/04/law-deserves-gop-nod-in-65th-district/
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