Secretary of State Husted speaks here

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican candidate for governor in 2018, was in Van Wert on Friday to speak during the local GOP’s Second Friday Luncheon at Willow Bend Country Club.

Husted, 50, who is among those seeking the Republican nomination for governor, was adopted as a baby in Detroit, Michigan, and his family moved to the small Ohio town of Montpelier.

He said he had often gone through Van Wert, usually while driving to and from college from his hometown, but also to visit his cousin, the late Mike Gearhart.

Although he admits he was a “terrible student” until he was a sophomore in high school, Huston later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as being an All-American football star, at the University of Dayton. After a stint as vice president of business and economic development for the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, he pursued politics and later became one of the youngest speakers of the house in the country.

Husted first entered politics in 2000 when he was elected to represent the 41st Ohio House District (Montgomery County). He became, at age 38, Ohio Speaker of the House in 2005 and served in that position until he was elected to the Ohio Senate in 2008.

In 2011, he began serving as Ohio Secretary of State, the state’s top elections official.

Husted has been credited with making Ohio’s election laws fairer for all potential voters and won praise from major newspapers for standardizing early-voting hours across the state. However, he has also been involved in voter controversies as well, including rejecting a request by the Ohio American Civil Liberties Union chapter to allow 17-year-olds who turn 18 prior to a general election to vote in that year’s primary election as well. A judge later determined that those teens were eligible to vote.

A fiscal conservative, Husted cut the Secretary of State’s office budget by $14.5 million and cut staff in the office by a third.

Of his campaign for governor, Husted noted, “Growing up in Montpelier, I never thought I would meet the governor, let alone be the governor.”

On Friday, Husted talked about the prescription for his gubernatorial campaign, noting his priorities include “job creation, education, innovation, and liberation from the federal government”.

Husted talked about the need for creating more jobs and fostering innovation as keys to improving the state’s economic position, noting that “everything starts with the health of the economy.”

Education is also important to economic growth, he said, especially the state’s network of vocational training centers and schools.

Husted also advocated doing what is necessary to cut ties to the federal government, especially in the areas of healthcare and poverty programs.

“We need to get more control over our healthcare programs and our poverty programs, so we can have Ohio solutions to Ohio problems,” he said, noting that “one size fits all” federal programs don’t offer the flexibility and the ability needed to provide assistance to people who want to work, but don’t make enough to pay for healthcare and other needs.

Also speaking during the luncheon was Ohio Representatives Craig Riedel and Robert McColley, who are possible candidates to fill State Senator Cliff Hite’s open position, as well as Van Wert County Commissioner Todd Wolfrum, who talked about his campaign to unseat U.S. Representative Bob Latta.