By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Selecting a person to fill Wood County’s state representative seat is proving more difficult than originally planned.
Meanwhile, legislation is being voted on in Columbus – with no representation from Wood County for more than a month.
“The frustration you’re hearing is the same frustration we’re hearing,” Wood County Republican Party Chairman Jon Jakubowski said Monday morning.
The Ohio House seat became vacant on Feb. 6, when former State Rep. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, was sworn in to take the Ohio Senate 2nd District seat. That Senate seat became empty after former State Senator Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green, was asked by Gov. Mike DeWine to fill the role of chancellor of higher education.
After Gavarone was selected to move up to the Senate, a call was put out for all Wood County Republicans interested in the vacant House seat.
Nine applied by the Feb. 15 deadline. A committee of Ohio House members was named to review the applicants. And a decision was supposed to be announced on Feb. 22.
That deadline has come and gone – with no replacement named.
One member of the screening committee for the replacement said Monday afternoon that the process is ongoing.
“It’s been a very thorough process with a lot of good candidates,” State Rep. Derek Merrin, R-Sylvania, said.
“I do think a decision will be made shortly,” Merrin said.
However, Merrin would not say if “shortly” meant sometime this week. And he said the characterization of the process as taking longer than expected was not accurate.
“This is a very important decision,” he said. “We want to make sure we get the right person for Wood County and for the state.”
According to Jakubowski, it appears the original nine applicants have been narrowed down to three, since a poll was sent out to county Republican voters asking for their input on three names: Tiffany Densic, Haraz Ghanbari and Edward Schimmel.
Whoever is named to the seat will have to run to retain the position in the 2020 election.
“Honestly, the fact they haven’t named one yet has me wondering,” Jakubowski said.
But Jakubowski is confident that the selection process will result in a good representative for Wood County.
“These are really good candidates, and they want to make the right decision,” he said.
The selection is being made by members of a screening committee, including Rep. Derek Merrin, R-Sylvania; Bob Cupp, R-Lima; John Cross, R-Kenton; and Tracy Richardson, R-Marysville.
Nine Wood County residents applied for the position. They are:
- Matthew Beegle – A quality technician at the manufacturing plant Cascade Corporation in Findlay. He is also president of the North Baltimore Village Council. He has both an associate’s and bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Phoenix.
- John E. Clemons – of Northwood.
- Tiffany Densic – Currently a member of the Rossford Exempted Village School District Board, Densic also works for Ayers Wealth Management LLC in Perrysburg. She has training in the insurance industry and court reporting.
- Haraz Ghanbari – Currently a member of Perrysburg City Council, he also is public affairs officer for the United States Navy Reserve. He has a bachelor’s degree in visual journalism from Kent State University.
- Sue Larimer – Currently a member of the Perrysburg School Board, she ran for the State Board of Education in 2018. She has a bachelor’s degree in elementary science from the University of Toledo and a master’s in teaching and curriculum from Lourdes University.
- Peter Range – Currently he is director of the Office for Life and Justice of the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Toledo and host of the radio program “Say Yes to Life.” He has a bachelor’s degree in history from John Carroll University and a master’s in theology from the University of Notre Dame.
- Edward Schimmel – Currently mayor of the city of Northwood, Schimmel also is an attorney with his own law practice and a farmer.
- Mark Tolles – An attorney in Grand Rapids, Tolles has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toledo and a law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law. He is an Otsego Board of Education member.
- Kathy Wojcicki – from Bradner, was most recently a commander and senior network engineer with the Naval Installation Command in Millington, Tennessee. She has a bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University and a number of other technical and occupational certificates.
