Campaign 2014: Ohio House of Representatives 97th District

Today in our candidate spotlight we’re bringing you the race for the 97th district of the Ohio House of Representatives.

Both the incumbent Brian Hill (R) and his challenger Nelson Roe (L) spoke at the candidates forum at the John McIntire Library Sunday. Hill took his time to speak about the progress the house has made in the last four years while he was in office.

"Jobs and the economy always are number one when it comes to trying to get Ohio back on track," Hill said. "In Ohio four years ago where were we? $8 billion in the hole, 89 cents in the rainy day fund. Where are we today? Balanced budget, thank you local governments, thank you local business people. You have all pulled together to help us balance the state’s budget without taking another one time money from the federal government."

Roe’s vision for the role of the government aligns more with creating individual liberty than anything else. He believes the government should only play a limited role in people’s lives.

"I do not particularly care for the way our state or nation is heading in a lot of areas, and I’ve always been of the mindset if you don’t like the way something is going stand-up and try to do something about it," Roe said. "I feel we need to be brave enough to stand up for what you believe in. I also believe you need to be bold enough to stand-up against what you do not."

Our candidate spotlight continues tomorrow when we bring you the race for U.S. representative for Ohio’s 6th district.