BEAVERCREEK— Republicans will kick off a series of town hall meetings this week in Ohio aimed at repealing the healthcare law.

U.S. Rep. Steve Austria, a Republican who represents Clark, Fairfield, Greene, Fayette, Pickaway and Perry counties, will attend the first meeting at the Beavercreek Republican election headquarters on Friday.

“I look forward to talking about why I co-sponsored the repeal of this job-killing policy,” said Congressman Steve Austria in a written statement. “We all know that electing Governor Romney as president is the only true way to repeal and replace ObamaCare.”

Friday’s meeting is the first of at least five meetings the Republican party has scheduled across the state.

The local Democratic party does not have similar healthcare-related town hall meeting scheduled at this time, according to Mark Owens, the Montgomery County Democratic Party Chairman

“The fact of the matter is more and more healthcare benefits come forward, and more and more, the American people like it. By having health insurance coverage for everybody, we should have less bankruptcies that result from healthcare and their economic worries will be less in the future.”

According to Austria, there’s a “clear choice” between the presidential candidates and voters will have to decide whether they want more or less government spending and involvement.

“It will impact our economy,” Austria said during an interview. “I think Obamacare will be a major election issue in this presidential race.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2208 or sharahn.boykin@coxinc.com.