On Thursday, 28-year-old Hamilton native Wes Retherford set up his Columbus office before beginning his new job as representative for the 51st District covering Hamilton, Fairfield and Ross Twp.

It is the first elected position for the former Marine and mortician’s assistant at Webb Noonan Kidd Funeral Home on Hamilton’s westside. Retherford campaigned for more than a year, claimed victory in November and has spent weeks shadowing longtime Butler County politician and outgoing Ohio Representative Courtney Combs.

“I am not going to lie, it is a little scary,” Retherford said. “Not just because it is my first elected office. Even if I had held office before, this office has a totally different set of responsibilities.”

Retherford emerged as the sole Republican candidate after longtime politician Greg Jolivette withdrew his petitions to run as a Republican in the primary after questions arose about the petitions filed. Jolivette was then barred from running as an Independent candidate, leaving Retherford to square off against Democratic candidate Mark Hardig.

Having no competition in the primary afforded Retherford the opportunity to crisscross the county meeting people.

‘“It was a bit of a relief in the primary, but I didn’t buy to the Republican-always-wins thing,” Retherford said. “I still ran like I was 10 points down.”

But, he said, he is grateful that it gave him the opportunity to glean first hand information from Combs and meet with other political mentors.

“He is brand new to this. I basically wanted to give him a look around and at least let him know where the restroom was,” Combs said with a laugh.

Combs, who says he is now retired from public service after five terms in Columbus and a stint as county commissioner, said he has no doubt Retherford will do well.

“He is ambitious and has lots of energy,” Combs said. “That’s what you need.”

Combs advised Retherford to listen and learn during the first six months of his term, then start to work on subjects he is passionate about.

“Don’t jump in and think you are going to save the would, because your aren’t,” Combs said.

Retherford said his focus as he takes office will be to bring high-quality jobs to the area by assuring Ohio and the region are business friendly.

Making sure the region has the type of employees that businesses need is also a must, Retherford said, noting he has learned that area community colleges and businesses want to be involved in educating the workforce and getting them to work.

Retherford, the father of two children ages 6 and 4, said legislators “need to take a serious look at the state education system.”

“The state needs to have some control, but taxpayers, parents and school districts know best what their children need in order to be a productive citizen,” Retherford said, noting that means less standardized tests and more oversight of local educators.

“The Hamilton school district is different from Fairfield, and they are both different from Ross,” Retherford said.

He said he is looking forward to being a servant to his constituents, not just a representative.

“It is important to me to keep in contact with everyone as a sitting representative,” Retherford said.