In-person early voting at county Board of Elections offices began earlier this month and continues through Nov. 3, including the two Saturdays and two Sundays before Election Day. Absentee voting by mail ends with a postmark deadline of Nov. 4.
Bernie Willis
Willis has represented the 74th district since January 2023 after he won the seat in 2022. He is a recently retired military colonel and adjunct professor in unmanned aviation with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Sinclair Community College.
He said his experience in the statehouse would allow him to hit the ground running if he is reelected.
In this two-year term, Willis has focused on school bus safety, plus wanting a more open and honest conversation about the state budget and refocusing Veterans Affairs to better serve military veterans.
Willis said he lives in the Northwestern school district, site of last year’s fatal school bus crash where a bus was hit by an unlicensed driver who went left of center. Willis said this prompted him and others to more closely examine school bus safety.
He said he is willing to fight for transparency.
“My job is to serve the folks in this district and I feel like the best way to do that is to be as open and honest and independent, honestly, as possible,” Willis said. “I’ve told folks in my district, ‘I am a Republican elected official, but I don’t agree with my Republican colleagues all the time. I don’t honestly agree with anyone all the time, and so I think that’s the way that we have good dialogue.’ ”
Willis opposes Issue 1. Willis said he sees Ohio as a veteran-friendly state, but that there is more work to be done to better support this population.
More work needs to continue with workforce development programs, though Willis said he has worked on the Business First Caucus, which encourages “the right kind of business growth” and economic development. Upcoming housing developments are very positive for the community, but with them is coming the use of economic incentives like Tax Increment Financing and Community Reinvestment Areas.
Willis said he has concerns that things like CRAs can lead to tax revenue loss for school districts, particularly when a voter has already agreed through a levy for their money to fund the school, rather than other projects.
The representative also plans to focus more on health in Springfield, though he said he was disappointed in the state legislature for not funding enough of the planned Champion City Sports & Wellness Center in Springfield, instead opting to put greater funds toward projects that do not impact the health of a citizen, like the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame.
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Willis said that the fact that Springfield received attention for its Haitian immigration issues has helped move important resources here, though he would have gone about getting the community attention differently.
He said Ohio needs to get better at “protecting” itself against federal law, which allowed Haitian immigrants to come to Springfield en masse with little to no warning.
“This is a population that is a rich culture, rich history, put in a bad situation, and not a bad person in that bunch,” Willis said. “... We are going to survive this, but the best way we can do it is by working together; there really should be no dividing lines ... left or right. The federal government and poor policy has driven us to ... a breaking point multiple times here and we have continued to kind of get over those hurdles.”
Derek Alvarado
Alvarado is a special education teacher who has specialized in social emotional issues, he said. He said he was involved in getting Springfield’s first dog park. He has also been involved with the Jefferson Street Oasis Garden, Project Woman and is on the board of National Trails Parks and Recreation.
Running for office was the next step in supporting the community, Alvarado said.
Alvarado said his top priorities include education and job readiness, cutting down on crime and ending gerrymandering in Ohio.
The teacher, who also has his principal’s license, said Clark County should be competitive with people ready for the next generation of jobs that are coming to the area. He said we should support career and job training to encourage more students to pursue important fields like plumbing, construction and healthcare.
“I want our kids to be able to access those jobs, because with a higher tax base, then we’ll have more money for our schools, and I think our schools are doing the best they can with the way that things are funded,” Alvarado said.
Funding should be more equitable to each Ohio community, and Alvarado said wealthier communities generally see more dollars in education, which allows them to have more solid programs.
He said equity in education will lead to more people going into trades. This will also help cut down on crime, he said, because “when people have access to goods and services, they seem to be less interested in drugs.”
Alvarado said the more young people have access to supportive resources and extracurricular activities, the less likely they will be to commit crimes.
Alvarado is a supporter of Issue 1, and he said he wants citizens, rather than politicians with their own interests in mind, to have more of a say in how district maps represent the people.
“If I’m hired to do this job, I have to listen to constituents; it’s their voice that I’ll be representing and taking their ideas to the statehouse with me, so I think it’s important to have those voices being heard,” Alvarado said.
Alvarado said it is important to support all members of the community, immigrant and non-immigrant. He said Springfield has been an attractive place for people to move with affordable housing and jobs, and immigrants come here to better their lives.
“Let’s thrive together; let’s try to make it work,” Alvarado said. “As a special education teacher, I’m always advocating for my students so that they can gain access and get the best version of education for them. It’s the same thing for everybody else. I just want you to have the best life that you can find.”
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