COLUMBUS — Third-term state Rep. Bill Reineke (R., Tiffin) will run next year for the Ohio Senate’s 26th District seat which will be vacated by Sen. David Burke (R., Marysville).
The auto dealer held a series of campaign announcements on Monday throughout the district, which stretches from Sandusky Bay to the Columbus suburbs in Union County. Mr. Burke, a pharmacist, is barred by term limits from seeking another term in 2020
Mr. Reineke appeared with locally elected officials in Fostoria, Tiffin, Marion, and Marysville.
Mr. Reineke already represents a third of the district. His 88th House District covers most of Seneca County and all of Sandusky. The Senate district also includes Wyandot, Crawford, Marion, Morrow, and Union counties.
“Each day in the Statehouse I make sure that what we are doing in Columbus has a meaningful and positive impact on the families and residents of our district,” he said. “I look forward to extending this work to the entire 26th Senate District in order to provide conservative leadership, pursue jobs and opportunities, and find practical solutions to our most pressing problems.”
The 88th House District has been in GOP hands since 1995.
Mr. Reineke won a third term in the House by picking up 66 percent of the vote last November over Democrat Rachel Crooks despite the fact that the race drew national attention as a potential indicator of the strength of President Trump in Ohio heading into the 2020 election.
The other two lawmakers whose districts make up the other two-thirds of the Senate district, who could also be in position for a run, are Reps. Riordan McClain (R., Upper Sandusky) and Rep. Tracy Richardson (R., Marysville). But both are in their first full two-year term.
The 26th District has also been a reliable Republican performer, backing Mr. Trump in 2016 over Democrat Hillary Clinton, and Mitt Romney in 2012 over President Obama.
Mr. Reineke has strong name recognition in the region, as a partner in the Reineke Family Dealerships auto business. The business has eight dealerships in northwest Ohio.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Morehead State University in Kentucky.
He drew attention last year when he and some fellow Republicans introduced what would have been a sweeping overhaul of Ohio’s educational structure. It would have given many of the powers currently held by the State Board of Education and state superintendent to a new cabinet-level position under the governor.
It would have combined much of the Department of Education, the Department of Higher Education, and the governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation into a single cabinet agency.
The controversial measure never reached a vote in the House.
First Published April 8, 2019, 2:03 p.m.
