I'm running because of all the opportunities that this country has afforded me and my family. We went from an immigrant to an engineer who worked on the Lunar Module to a Yale graduate in 2 generations. I want to make sure that these kind of opportunities are still available to everyone, not just a select few.
After graduating from Yale, I spent 40 years as an IT professional for about half of which I owned my own software firm. Running my own company taught me how to listen carefully to people, how to plan and yet be able to ad lib when necessary, and above all that if you didn't satisfy your customers they wouldn't be your customers for long. These are all skills that are directly applicable to public service.
By inclination, training, and experience I am a problem solver. In this highly Republican area, the Republican candidates concentrate on wedge issues like abortions and guns in the primary. Once they win the primary they assume they have been elected and don't talk about any issues. The issues that are important to me are:
- using data and science to help Ohio recover from the pandemic
- fixing Ohio's school funding formula which was found unconstitutional in 1997
- Using the opioid settlement money to fund local addiction treatment centers to address the root causes of addiction
- Making sure that every Ohioan is covered by quality health insurance that can actually be used
- Stemming the rising tide of gun violence with effective safety measures
- Preserving a pregnant person's right to choose
- Campaign finance reform
I am running against an ex-Congresswoman, Jean Schmidt, with near universal name recognition and access to almost unlimited money. I can beat her because, even though she is universally known, she is not well liked. She won her primary against two first time flawed candidates by 318 votes after using dark money from PACs controlled by the Speaker of the Ohio House to massively outspend her opponents. The Speaker of the House was arrested recently on charges of bribery and racketeering and Jean Schmidt will find it very difficult to distance herself from him.
I can't envision spending the amount of money my opponent spent in her primary. I don't have to. I need enough in donations to get my message out via Social Media, texting, email, yard signs and whatever other ways will be available to us this year. When people hear my message they respond positively.
