“As state treasurer, I’ll be the people’s watchdog and will root out wasteful spending,” he said in a release, noting his legislative record of voting for lower taxes, opposing abortion and backing cryptocurrency.
Roegner said she is prepared to be a trusted steward of the Ohio treasury, invest the state’s tax revenue wisely and innovate to improve people’s lives.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“That’s who I am and that is what I’ll do,” she said in a statement. ”The money in the State Treasury belongs to the taxpayer, so I promise to apply the highest level of professionalism, integrity and full transparency as your next state treasurer.”
Ohio’s treasurer is the chief investment officer for the state’s investment and debt portfolios, oversees the daily cash flows of state monies, and serves as custodian of certain funds and investment assets outside the state treasury, according to the Ohio Treasurer’s Office.
Antani’s election history
Antani was running for secretary of state race but decided to run for treasurer instead following the announcement that term-limited Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague will run for secretary of state.
“My team and I have taken the last week to evaluate this new dynamic, and unfortunately we see no path forward to victory with Treasurer Sprague in the race,” said Antani, a Republican from Miami Twp.
“While I am disappointed, I am not deterred. For the last decade, I’ve fought against the entrenched establishment who seek to protect the status quo. I will continue that fight.”
This is the fifth office Antani has sought. Antani first took office at in 2014 — at age 23, making him the youngest state lawmaker at the time — when he was elected to the Ohio House.
He was elected to the Ohio Senate in 2020, becoming the first Indian-American elected to that chamber. He chose not to run for reelection in 2024 after his district was redrawn to favor Democrats.
He instead ran for U.S. Congress in a district he didn’t live in. He came in next-to-last in a 11-way GOP primary despite raising more than $600,000 for the race.
Antani announced his run for secretary of state last month, noting his work in the Ohio General Assembly pushing for voting security legislation.
Antani left the General Assembly at odds with his own party’s leadership. They criticized his attendance record; he claims it was because he stood up to leadership on principle.
“I saw first-hand how the political establishment and special interests work against the people, squeezing Ohioans of their hard earned tax dollars to spend them on special pet projects,” he said in Wednesday’s statement. “I always stood with a steel spine against them, and I’ll continue to do so.”
State political landscape
The dynamics of who is running for statewide office have been shifting in recent weeks since businessman Vivek Ramaswamy became a sudden front-runner for governor. Most of the current statewide officeholders, all Republicans, are term-limited. Attorney General Dave Yost is also running for governor.
Current Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose now wants to be Ohio auditor. He and Sprague have endorsed each other.
“These recycled cookie cutter, copy-paste politicians are playing musical chairs with Ohio’s Constitutional executive offices,” Antani said in a statement. “They’ll do whatever it takes to stay in power, no matter the Tammany Hall style, smoke filled, back room behavior that makes Ohioans sick. Ohioans are tired of riding this merry-go-round within the insane asylum carnival of squishy establishment politicians.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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