Incumbent State Rep. Rodney Creech again faces Amy Cox in Nov. 8 election

Redrawn Statehouse district includes Huber Heights, Vandalia, Preble County; Creech did not answer questions

Incumbent Republican Rodney Creech and Democratic challenger Amy Cox are opponents in a Statehouse election for the second time in two years, but this race is for a slightly different House of Representatives seat.

In 2020, Creech (R-West Alexandria) was elected to represent the 43rd district, receiving 54% of the vote to defeat Cox. That district included Preble County and much of west-central Montgomery County.

With the recent passage of new four-year legislative maps, the two candidates are now vying for the 40th district.

Ohio’s new 40th Statehouse district includes all of Preble County, part of northern Butler County, plus a northern strip of Montgomery County that includes Huber Heights and parts of Vandalia, Butler Twp., Union and Clayton.

Amy Cox

A resident of Eaton, Cox is currently employed by Guided by Mushrooms, an urban mushroom farm in Dayton. She holds a master’s degree in science education, having attended Wright State University and Indiana University East.

Cox said she is running for office with a goal to positively impact her would-be constituents.

“Our representatives in Ohio aren’t doing anything to improve the lives of working people,” she said. “In fact, our gerrymandered assembly has quite the rap sheet of corruption that has led to sky-high electric bills, rising property taxes, and a dangerous place to have a baby or seek reproductive healthcare as a woman just to name a few.”

Cox describes herself as a “straight shooter,” who “tells it like it is.”

“Love me or hate me, you don’t have to worry about me taking away yours or anyone’s rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” she said.

If elected, Cox said her top three priorities will be wages, education, and healthcare.

“I will sponsor legislation to make sure Right to Work legislation is forever a non-starter. I will sponsor legislation to force the constitutionality of our public school funding model,” she said. “I will sponsor legislation that expands Medicaid and creates a public option for all Ohioans who are self-employed, under-employed or being sold terrible plans by their employers. I will also support legislation that irreversibly solidifies a woman’s right to make her own choices.”

According to her website, Cox supports the legalization of cannabis and, if elected, would address homelessness and poverty, the growing opioid and meth epidemic, and improve infrastructure.

To learn more about Cox and her stance on the issues, visit voteamycox.com.

Rodney Creech

Creech did not answer the Dayton Daily News’ emailed Voters Guide questions, and did not respond to an interview request from a DDN reporter.

Creech was raised on his family’s fourth-generation farm in West Alexandria, according to a biography on the Ohio House of Representatives website, which adds that he earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from Morehead State University and started a lawn care business.

Creech served as a Twin Township trustee from 2008 to 2014, and as a Preble County Commissioner from 2015 to 2020.

Highlighted on his candidate website is a list of key issues for Creech. It includes reforming education (”teachers and local school boards should be encouraged, supported, and empowered”), creating jobs (”fight burdensome government, over regulation and excessive taxes”), and combating the drug epidemic (”prevention, education, addiction treatment and long-term rehabilitation services are all necessary”).

Creech says on the website that he is “pro-life and pro-Second Amendment.” He also talks about balancing budgets and lowering taxes.

“Rodney believes that government should ran like a successful business,” the website says. “Rodney understands that the government money is not the governments but the tax payers. Ohio should work as hard to save the tax payers dollars as the tax payer did to earn that money.”

To learn more about Creech and his stance on the issues, visit rodneycreech.com.

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