COLUMBUS — A state representative and township trustee are the sole contenders for the state Senate vacancy created by the recent resignation of veteran Sen. Randy Gardner (R., Bowling Green).
Rep. Theresa Gavarone (R., Bowling Green) had already announced her bid. By Friday’s deadline, Barbara Lang, a 12-year Monclova Township trustee, had joined her.
Mr. Gardner was selected by new Gov. Mike DeWine as his chancellor of higher education. The governor’s office revealed Friday that, after 33 years in the Ohio House and Senate, Mr. Gardner will be the highest-paid member of the cabinet at $190,000 a year.
Ms. Gavarone is seen as the heavy favorite. The Senate often turns to one of the three House members residing in a Senate district to fill a vacancy. In this case, the other two — Reps. Derek Merrin (R., Monclova Township) and Steve Arndt (R., Port Clinton) — did not apply.
The 2nd District includes all of Wood and Erie counties, the western suburbs of Lucas, and most of Fulton. With the exception of eight years since 1989, the district has been represented by a Wood County resident.
Ms. Gavarone was appointed to the House in late 2016. She won a full two-year term of her own later that year and recently began a second.
Ms. Lang has served off and on as Monclova trustee since 2003. In 2016, she was briefly a candidate for the Republican nomination for the 47th House District won by Mr. Merrin. Two years later she unsuccessfully challenged him again.
She said she was urged to seek the Senate appointment by local constituents.
“I am not running against Theresa Gavarone,” she said. “I’m interested in representing northwest Ohio. I grew up in Fulton and live in Lucas County. I understand the region’s concerns and needs. … I needed to step up, and I did.”
A screening committee will interview the applicants with the expectation that a new senator will be formally elected by the 23 remaining Republicans when the chamber returns to Columbus on Feb. 6.
Should Ms. Gavarone be promoted, the remaining 60 House Republican colleagues will appoint her successor.
Among those mentioned as potential contenders is Haraz N. Ghanbari, a Perrysburg city councilman who until recently was the University of Toledo’s director of military and veteran affairs. He was among those interviewed in 2016 for the House seat to which Ms. Gavarone, then a former Bowling Green city councilman, was appointed.
In other vacancy news, former state Rep. Michael Ashford (D., Toledo) is still in the running for a spot on the powerful Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Mr. Ashford is one of nine applicants who will be interviewed on Thursday by the PUCO Nominating Council, which will narrow the list to three recommendations to be submitted to Mr. DeWine.
First Published January 25, 2019, 11:18 p.m.
