There is a contested race for the 75th Ohio House District.
Democrat Jan Materni is challenging Republican incumbent Haraz Ghanbari.
Materni has worked as an advanced EMT, as a snowplow driver for the Ohio Department of Transportation and served as a Wood County Sheriff’s Office auxiliary volunteer.
She has lived in Perrysburg for 25 years and is a former member of city council.
Now she wants to serve in Columbus and remove Ghanbari from his seat.
“I feel I have something to contribute in Columbus and help the constituents back here in Wood County – that’s who I’m ultimately working for,” she said. “I actually care about everybody in my district. I don’t work for me; I work for you.”
Materni said she understands how government works and will use her vast knowledge of operations – and skills learned as a certified public manager – to the office.
“I firmly believe at the end of the day, most of us want what’s best for our community,” she said.
She called herself a consensus seeker.
“We don’t always agree on how to get to it. It’s finding the points we do agree on and working from there,” she said.
She said she is particularly interested in revamping the school voucher system, implementing common sense gun laws, and creating innovative jobs in Northwest Ohio.
She explained she is not happy with the way the school voucher system is today. It was developed to help families in low performing school districts afford a private or parochial education. Today, anyone who earns five figures can choose to send their children to a non-public school “and we are subsidizing it.”
Materni said she isn’t anti-guns – and is a former gun owner – but she doesn’t like Ohio’s current open carry law. Gun owners need to be educated whether that’s in a classroom or on a gun range.
“I’m for Ohio to get back to concealed carry and make them get a permit … if they went to classes and learned about rights and responsibility,” she said.
Materni said she hears of innovations including using garbage to generate electricity and nuclear byproducts to create batteries that never need recharged and wonders why the best and the brightest can’t come to Northwest Ohio.
She said she’ll vote yes on Issue 1.
Ohio isn’t a blue or red state, but a purple state that has been gerrymandered into a red state by maps drawn by the predominant party, which is Republican.
“If maps were fairly drawn, I do not believe Republicans would have a super majority,” she said.
Materni also wants to get rid of House Bill 6, also known as the energy bailout bill.
“To me that bill is illegal,” she said.
Ghanbari is a co-sponsor of the bill.
Materni said anyone who is not on a municipal or private power source is paying $1.20 a month to help bail out energy companies.
Once the indictments for the speaker of the house and other officer holders started, the bill should have been repealed “and it makes you wonder why it’s not,” she said.
Ghanbari has served five years in office after being appointed in 2019 and reelected twice. He defeated Republican challenger Sally Culling in the March primary election.
He said in election years, opponents try to stir up HB 6 as some conspiracy.
“I voted yes because I believe we needed a diverse portfolio of energy. Nuclear power is one form of energy generation. … Folks like my opponent are quick to point out I supported HB 6 but (Materni) has said we need more investments in green energy. Nuclear power is a form of green energy.”
He said people ignore the fact that he voted to strip former Speaker Larry Householder of his leadership and expel him out of the Ohio House “because there’s no place for that in any elected office.”
When he votes on an issue, if for what’s best for Wood County, not himself, he said.
He said he has put a large emphasis on public safety in order to attract businesses and make sure schools are safe.
He worked on legislation that allows township police departments to enforce traffic laws on interstates. He said he also has addressed organized retail crime, which is common in Rossford, Perrysburg and Perrysburg Township with the nearby turnpike and highways.
He said he also has been working on tax reform and consolidating the tax brackets to attract more economic development and help senior citizens and those on a fixed income.
“As people are working, they’re able to keep more money in their pockets,” he said.
While he supports public schools, and the Fair School Funding Plan, he said he’s appreciative of parental choice.
“As a state representative, the House was adamant that we continue to fund our public schools. I pushed for additional funding. What we passed in the House was record funding for schools. When it went to the Senate, the Senate stripped out a lot of that funding … and they rolled in a lot of school choice dollars.”
He said he could either vote yes because it was part of a compromise or no because the voucher funding was added.
On Issue 1, “regardless of how our maps are drawn, whether it’s the existing way or how it’s proposed in Issue I, I’ve got concerns with both of them.”
He said he does not agree on gerrymandering. He went from representing all of Wood County to losing Northwood, Lake Township, Millbury and Walbridge with the previous map. With the new map, he’s going to lose Rossford, Perrysburg Township north of Ohio 20 while gaining back the other municipalities except Northwood.
He said he was never one to complain about the maps, which are based on the census, because he will represent whatever is drawn for him.
“I have always worked hard to represent my legislative district regardless of what those maps have looked like,” he said. “Regardless of whether I’m your rep or not, I will still be there to help you …”
