Congressional candidates to debate in Hamilton

Candidates for the 8th Congressional District will debate next month in Butler County.

Congressman Warren Davidson, R-Troy, and Vanessa Enoch, a West Chester Twp. Democrat, will debate at 7 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Miami Regionals Hamilton campus.

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The 8th Congressional debate is the third in the Miami University Regionals/Journal-News civic debate series, which is a chance for voters to hear directly from candidates.

“Miami Universities, and the Regionals in particular, has always found to be a part of our public mission to offer unbiased opportunities for voters to be able to have access to their candidates,” said Sarah Woiteshek Pietzuch, Miami’s civic debate organizer. “It’s important for us that people have the ability to not only hear from their candidates but to have direct access.”

The first debate in the series is at 7 p.m. Sept. 25 for the candidates running for the 52nd Ohio House District: incumbent Rep. George Lang, R-West Chester Twp., and Democrat Kathy Wyenandt. They will debate at Miami’s VOA Learning Center in West Chester Twp.

The 52nd House District includes all or part of Fairfield, Liberty and West Chester townships, Hamilton and Sharonville.

The second debate is for the Butler County Commission and is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Miami Downtown Center in Hamilton. It will feature incumbent Commissioner Cindy Carpenter and former Middletown vice mayor Dora Bronston.

The series will not feature, however, the candidates for the 51st and 53rd Ohio House districts. The Republicans in both races — Sara Carruthers for the 51st and Rep. Candice Keller for the 53rd — have declined to debate their Democratic opponents.

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Susan Vaughn is the Democrat seeking the 51st Ohio House District seat, and Rebecca Howard is seeking the 53rd Ohio House seat.

Miami University is also planning to host a Meet the Candidates night. All candidates for offices that represent portions of Butler County will be invited to participate, including Ohio’s 7th Senate District and 54th House District.

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