The race for the Ohio House of Representative 85th district seat is between incumbent Nino Vitale, R-Urbana, and write-in candidate Ted Greek, of Urbana, who is a Democrat.
Both candidates were given the opportunity to share their opinions on questions submitted by the Sidney Daily News.
Greek didn’t respond to the email sent to him.
Vitale and his wife Lilli Johnson Vitale have been married for 22 years. They are the parents of five sons, ages 20 to 7.
“I have been a proud member of the community serving as a manager at our family business in Urbana, JWP, as well as a board member of Champaign County Right to Life and am a certified CCW and Pistol Instructor who has taught CCW and safe gun handling to almost 1,000 people in Ohio,” Vitale said. “I am an alumni of The Ohio State University marching band and I stand for Faith, Family and Freedom.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused chaos for Ohio families. How do you think the state should help with their recovery process?
Vitale: What we need is less government and more freedom. The Ohio government has made a mess of the COVID situation. I believe the health and safety of an individual should be controlled by the individual. If the government is in control of health, they can do ANYTHING in the name of health, including lock you in your home, close businesses, deny you your right to health care or to visit those in nursing facilities and, deny you your right to worship Almighty God in the way you see fit. Open the state fully and get the government out of the way!
Economically, COVID has impacted business owners. What can be done to help them keep their doors open and bring workers back to the business?
Vitale: The government has no business determining what businesses are essential and non-essential. The people who make their living and feed their families from the governments’ so-called ‘non-essential businesses’ are extremely essential to me. Denying someone their ability to earn a living and feed their family is criminal and just what the government did and I could not disagree more with this policy. Businesses should be allowed to open without restrictions immediately, just as other states have done. Let our economy boom again and let people earn a living. Real freedom is a paycheck, not government subsidies. Learn more at VoteVitale.com.
Should the legislature have more power in the state? Should the governor’s powers be curtailed?
Vitale: The governor and the legislature should follow the laws of our state, which means follow the Ohio Constitution. These COVID orders are not laws. Governors cannot make law and basic civics classes teach this. Laws are to be passed by the legislature, where the public can see what is going on, have public hearings, changes can be made and votes are done in public. Instead, we have a governor who has done everything in secret, emerging at 2 p.m. to tell us what our rights might be that day. It is preposterous and offensive to liberty. Follow the Constitution.
Gov. Mike DeWine has brought attention to all the people who are being killed by guns in Ohio. How do you think the situation should be handled to prevent the deaths of innocent civilians?
Vitale: Guns don’t kill people, people kill people and until we teach our young men and women that all life is sacred from conception to natural death, we will live in a culture of death where people kill with guns, knives, vehicles, etc. I strongly support the right to keep and bear arms to keep a society free from a tyrannical government. Gun violence is actually DOWN in Ohio and across the country. Criminals do not follow the law, no matter how many laws are passed. More laws infringe on law-abiding citizens and do not curb violent crime.
