Lang’s announcement sets up ‘a tough race’ in Butler County for Ohio Senate seat

State Rep. George Lang said his business-first message hasn’t changed since he first sought political office in West Chester Twp. two decades ago.

“When you put business first, everything else works itself out,” Lang told a crowd that included nearly all of the Butler County-level office holders as he announced his run for the Ohio Senate on Monday. “Put business first and watch your community prosper.”

He said that's what worked for West Chester Twp., which has been consistently named as a top place to live in the country, including No. 38 on Money Magazine's list in 2018.

Lang hopes to succeed Ohio Sen. Bill Coley, R-Liberty Twp., who cannot seek re-election because of term limits.

Coley represents the 4th Ohio Senate District, which represents most of Butler County. Coley is running for a seat on the 12th District Court of Appeals and told the Journal-News he intends to serve the remainder of his Senate term.

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The sets up a Republish primary with possibly at least two others. Ohio Rep. Candice Keller, R-Middletown, is certified to be on the March 2020 primary ballot, and West Chester Twp. Lee Wong has pulled petitions to run for the seat.

Lang said the race against Keller and Wong is “going to be a tough race.”

“Lee Wong is the hardest campaigner I know,” he said. “He has some difficulty in raising money, but he makes up for it in effort. He will knock on more doors, typically, than all other candidates in the county. And Candice has a very loyal base. So it’s going to be a battle.”

Lang was appointed to his House seat in 2017 before winning election in 2018. He raised nearly $250,000 in his 2018 Statehouse election bid. He touted his fundraising skills in his September 2017 speech when seeking the Butler County Republican Party’s recommendation to the Ohio House appointment.

“Two things that your state rep must be very good at: one is getting elected and, two, being able to raise funds,” he said to the GOP Central Committee members that live in the 52nd District.

Lang said his goal is to “make Ohio the most business-friendly state in America.”. He said depending on the source, the state is the fifth or seventh most-left state, and the top reason is for “better economic opportunities.”

“If you think about it, go back 50 years ago Ohio was rockin’ and rollin’. We were the land of economic opportunity. The land of paper. The land of steel. The land of auto parts manufacturing,” Lang said. “We were the land of presidents.”

But he said since 1970, Ohio has been more irrelevant year after year.

In 1970, Ohio had 24 representatives in Congress, and today there are 16. It’s projected that Ohio could lose one or two more in the next Census.

“Show me one other state that’s lost a third of their representation,” Lang said. “Donald Trump did not need our votes to win the election …. The same for Barack Obama in his two previous elections.

“Ohio hasn’t registered in presidential elections in at least 16 years. When did we become irrelevant?”

He believes it was in 1972 when Ohio implemented the income tax, “not just on individuals but on the profits of corporations. One tax after another on businesses and individuals.”

With a potential three-way race on the GOP side, Butler County Democratic Party Chairman Brian Hester said his party will be “preparing to show voters why our eventual nominee is the better choice next November for working families and building safe and healthy communities.”

The Butler County Democratic Party does not yet have an Ohio Senate candidate to pull petitions, or announce his or her candidacy.

Lang made his announcement Monday at the Harry T. Wilks Conference Center at Miami University Regionals in Hamilton. Multiple Republican office-holders attended his announcement, including all three Butler County Commissioners and West Chester Twp. Trustee Mark Welch, who called Lang a friend and political mentor.

“You have a higher calling,” he said to Lang. “You were called to be a state rep, now he’s called to be a senator. We can expect great things from George Lang.”

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