GOP Meet the Candidates night April 11

VW independent staff and submitted information

PAULDING – The Paulding County Republican Women, Defiance County Republican Club and Van Wert Central Committee are sponsoring a “Meet the Candidates Night” from 5-9 p.m. Monday, April 11, at the Paulding County Fairgrounds Extension Building. 

The public will have the chance to meet and talk with candidates, then each candidate will speak to the crowd for approximately five minutes each starting at 6:30 p.m. 

20 candidates seeking GOP nominations for local, state and national positions during the May primary election and beyond will be at the event: Jon Husted, Jim Rennaci, Joe Blystone, J.D. Vance, Mike Gibbons, Mark Pukita, Neil Patel, J.R. Majewski, John Adams, Shane Lee, Michael Wehrkamp, Bob Campbell, Ted Penner, Lisa McClure, Mike Weible, Gina Campbell, Jami Bradford, Tony Schroeder, Roy Klopfenstein and Mark Holtsberry.

Seeking the gubernatorial and Lt. Governor nomination are incumbent MIke DeWine and Husted; Ron Hood and Candice Keller; Renacci and Joe Knapp, and Blystone and Jermiah Workman. 

Vying for the U.S. Senate seat are Pukita, Vance, Gibbons and Patel, along with Jane Timken, Matt Dolan and Josh Mandel. They are each seeking the Republican nomination for the seat currently held by incumbent Rob Portman, who chose not to seek re-election. 

Adams and incumbent Frank LaRose are both seeking the nomination for Ohio Secretary of State. 

J.R. Majewski is seeking the U.S. District 9 House of Representative seat currently held by incumbent Democrat Marcy Kaptur. Also on the ballot for that seat are Beth Deck, Theresa Gavarone and Craig Riedel.

In state races, both Klopfenstein and Penner are running for the 82nd District of the Ohio House of Representatives, currently held by Riedel. 

Gina Campbell is running for re-election as the 1st District State Central Committee, while incumbent Bob Campbell and Schroeder are running for the 1st District State Central Committee.

Weible is vying for the Paulding County Commissioner seat for the unexpired term ending January 2, 2025, while McClure and Holtsberry are seeking the commissioner seat for the full-term beginning January 1, 2023. Holtsberry is the incumbent for that seat in Paulding County.

Incumbent Wehrkamp and Lee are both seeking the party nomination for the probate and juvenile court judge in Paulding County. 

Incumbent Phillip Baxter and Bradford and Philip Baxter are running for the Van Wert County auditor post. 

The Paulding County OSU Extension Building is located at 501 Fairground Dr., Paulding.