Both candidates who want to represent Ohio’s new 41st House District are young Oakwood attorneys who attend St. Albert the Great Church in Kettering and have never been elected to office.

That’s where the similarities end between Republican freshman incumbent Jim Butler and his Democratic challenger Caroline Gentry.

Butler says innovation and common sense — not higher taxes — are the way to continue the state’s economic revival.

“Making Ohio the best and most competitive state in the country, which we can do, will make people want to move here. Companies will add jobs. Workers will get raises. That will provide more money for government services,” he said.

He’s been endorsed by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Ohio Manufacturers Association PAC, National Federation of Independent Businesses, Buckeye Firearms Association, Ohio Right to Life, Ohio Society of CPAs, Ohio Veterans United, Ohio State Medical Association and Ohio Farm Bureau.

Gentry said government services are in danger right now due to funding cuts to schools and local governments.

“We need to invest in safer neighborhoods and excellent schools. That’s what will promote businesses and attract talented people to move here.”

Her endorsements include: Teamsters Local 957, Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters, Ohio Federation of Teachers, IUE-CWA, Dayton Miami Valley AFL-CIO and Ohio Association of Public Employees.

A delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention, Butler sought and was chosen to fill the 37th District House seat of newly re-elected Peggy Lehner of Kettering in 2011 when she took over the state Senate seat vacated by Jon Husted when he was elected Ohio Secretary of State.

Redistricting has now created the 41st district, which Butler said “is distinguished it contains all cities.” It includes only about one-third of the previous 37th district.

Gentry said she made up her mind to run last year due to concern about “the direction Gov. Kasich was taking the state: “attacking workers through Senate Bill 5, eroding the right to vote, slashing funds for schools and eliminating the estate tax, a move that served the wealthiest 6 percent.”

Butler, who voted for SB 5 and helped lead the inheritance tax repeal, has authored a bill that would put Ohio’s convicts to work manufacturing and selling products that aren’t currently made in the U.S. Proceeds would help defray the state’s cost of incarceration, which he said stands at $24,000 a year.

He’s also working on legislation that would authorize converting government vehicles to using compressed natural gas — “a resource produced in the state” — which he said would be paid for after three to five years by fuel savings and could pave the way for private enterprise to market the same option to the public.

“A company like Mikesells Potato Chips has a lot of delivery vehicles. If they could do that with compressed natural gas, that would be a competitive advantage for them over companies in other states,” he said.

Butler grew up in Washington Court House, the Fayette County seat, south of Columbus. He moved with his wife and twin daughters (now 7) from Miami Twp. to Oakwood four years ago. They also have a 3-year-old daughter.

Gentry, who has argued voting rights cases, grew up in Fairborn and Yellow Springs. She went on to Kalamazoo College and the Yale School of Law before serving two years as a clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Walter Rice.

She and her husband, who is also a lawyer, moved to Oakwood eight years ago because their oldest child was autistic and the Oakwood City Schools would work with him.

“Personally, my proudest achievement has been helping my child recover from autism. He’s going to have a life. He’s going to go to college,” she said.

“Professionally, it was fighting for the right of homeless and indigent people to vote,” Gentry said of a successful case that spanned six years in northeast Ohio courts.

She said Ohio is one of a few states that allow insurance companies not to cover autism or diabetes. “I will fight to change that. When there is no coverage, there are often no providers to treat it.”

Butler said more educational resources should be devoted “to all-day kindergarten, enhanced early education and blended learning,” which incorporates online and mobile methods. Less should go “for remedial learning at the college level. Over 40 percent of our students need that when they arrive in college now.”

Vice chair of the House judiciary and ethics committee and a member of other panels including education, public utilities and veterans affairs, he said maintaining a consistently strong economy is the way to create funding.

He believes “our political system is completely broken. Some politicians are more interested in winning votes than in fixing things. I try to reach across the aisle because someone there may have a better idea. I’m open to that.”

Gentry said Ohio’s tax rates on shale-gas drilling are among the lowest in the nation. “Raising them to the average among the states would help solve the state’s unconstitutional funding formula for schools. I would roll back property taxes, which place an undue burden on the elderly.”

Butler said the state had “a more than $8 billion deficit two years ago. We could have raised taxes 50 percent to eliminate it, but we chose to do it instead by making tough choices. Taxes would depress progress, chase businesses away and result in population decline. Ohio has has gained more than 120,000 new jobs since 2011. When the state does well, we do well locally also.”

Gentry said she “absolutely” agrees “that we need to grow our economy and make Ohio more competitive, but we can’t do that by slashing services.”

Self-described as “fiscally conservative and pro-life,” she said, “If we cut taxes to the point that we can’t provide government services, we will all be poorer. No one will want to live here.”