Elect Josh Umbaugh Ohio State Representative

Our district is made up of good people with many different ideas and priorities. That’s a strength, not a weakness. Representation should not be a tribal contest, nor should decisions come from lobbyists or party leadership. I promise to represent the people of District 40 and listen to them. I will not participate in the entertainment-driven outrage circus of culture wars.

State representatives must be careful stewards of Ohioans’ hard-earned money. We should not bail out or subsidize large corporations, giving them unfair advantages over our locally owned small businesses. Government should not pick winners and losers.

While Ohio has little power over foreign policy, we do have a responsibility to protect our Ohio National Guard. I support Defend the Guard legislation, which would prohibit deploying Ohio Guard troops to overseas combat without a formal congressional declaration of war. Since 2002, too many Guard members have been sent abroad instead of remaining ready to protect their neighbors here at home.

The misuse of our Guardsmen and Guardswomen who sign up to defend our communities and our nation is both unconstitutional and troubling. Sending them into overseas combat zones without proper authorization, or activating them in other American states and cities for dystopian political purposes, is an abuse of their service and intentions.

Ohio should lead the way in restoring constitutional limits and ensuring our Guard serves where they’re meant to: protecting Ohio and her people.

Defend the will of Ohio voters on marijuana legalization (2023 Issue 2). The legislature should respect the result of that vote rather than seeking new ways to criminalize behavior that Ohioans have clearly chosen to legalize.