Four Republican Party candidates are vying to appear on the ballot for the state representative position formerly held by the late Terry Blair.
Local party leaders are scheduled to vote next week on who will be on the ballot instead of Blair, a three-term representative of the Ohio House 42nd District who died last month.
Candidates have until Wednesday to express their interest in replacing Blair on the ballot. The choices at this point are Niraj Antani, Mark Crawford, Scott Paulson and Tom Young, said Dave Landon, vice chair of the Montgomery County Republican Party Executive Committee.
Under Ohio law, the Republican caucus in the Ohio House of Representatives would pick someone to fill the remainder of Blair’s term. Because the House is in recess until after the election, the caucus may not fill the position, Landon said.
GOP Central Committee precinct captains in the 42nd District are scheduled Thursday night to choose who will replace Blair on the November ballot to face Democrat Leonard D. Johnson, 67, of West Carrollton.
The district includes Germantown, German Twp., Miamisburg, Miami Twp., Moraine, Washington Twp. and West Carrollton. It tends to lean Republican, with 58 percent of the votes cast in the 2012 presidential election going to the GOP candidate.
The four candidates offer various backgrounds:
-Antani, 23, is a Miami Twp. resident and a second-year law student at the University of Dayton. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University, where he was state chair of the Young Americans for Romney in Ohio. He was named Republican Man of the Year for 2013 by the county GOP.
-Crawford, 43, is a Washington Twp. resident and an international investor and entrepreneur for BlackburnSteele LLC . A 1993 graduate of Miami University, he earned a master’s degree in economics from the University College London. He has worked in finance for more than 20 years.
-Paulson, 38, is a second-term Washington Twp. trustee and is a partner with Advanced Engineering Solutions, Inc., where he serves as vice president of global operations. He serves of the Montgomery County Land Bank board.
-Young, 60, is a Washington Twp. resident who is an executive for a wealth management firm. He served on Miamisburg City Council from 1983-87 and later ran for Montgomery County treasurer and Washington Twp. trustee.