The Republican incumbent in Ohio’s 42nd House District race is State Representative NirajAntani. The young Republican is defending his seat against Democratic rival Patrick Merris.
First-term representative Antani has come out firmly against abortion and in favor of gun rights in his campaign. He says if he's reelected, he’ll continue his work to help local business.
“We were able to do some good things," Antani says. "We were able to cut taxes and grow the economy and help small businesses.”
Antani’s opponent Patrick Merris is currently a third-term West Carrollton City councilman. He says the loss of state funding for local communities has been tough.
“I would look to get the money put back into the local funds and to get the cities and the townships to cooperate together and not let the governor try to work against us,” Merris says.
Merris believes there’s a disparity of benefits in state funding, and lower-income communities are suffering as a result.
This will be Merris’ second run for the 42nd district house seat.
