TIM DERICKSON
Age: 55
Family: Wife, Kelly; Children Katie, 22, and Matt, 20
Residency: Hanover Twp.
Profession: Small business owner
Education: Associate's degree in agricultural business from Clark State; Bachelor's degree in administration and management from Miami University
Political experience: Ohio House (2008-present); Hanover Twp. Trustee (1999-2008)
Community involvement: Butler County Township Association, Oxford Rotary and Oxford Bible Fellowship Church
Ohio Rep. Tim Derickson is running for Congress to “encourage and create opportunity for all Americans,” he said at his announcement event Tuesday morning.
The 55-year-old Hanover Twp. Republican is serving his fourth, and final, term in the Ohio House representing the state’s 53rd House District. In every job since he worked on his parent’s dairy farm, “he’s taken on challenges and building relationships” and has developed and prospered as a communicator, said his wife Kelly Derickson.
“With each new term he has continued to make headway and inroads with legislation that has positively impacted both the people of Ohio and those of us in Tim’s district,” she said. “From my vantage point, Tim Derickson is just getting warmed up.”
In declaring his candidacy for Ohio’s 8th Congressional District seat currently held by U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, Derickson said America needs a “better path.”
“As government pushes its way into nearly every aspect of our lives, the American Dream has become more difficult to achieve,” Derickson said. “I’m running to help our country get back on track with common sense policies based on conservative principles that America needs desperately.”
Derickson’s announcement to run comes a week after Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds announced his candidacy for Congress. Derickson told the Journal-News his decision was “based on a lot of prayer and a lot of input from people throughout the congressional district.”
It also comes about three weeks after Boehner announced he would resign from Congress. Boehner said on Sept. 25 his resignation would be effective Oct. 30, but that date is a moving target since the U.S. House seems like it will have trouble finding and electing a new speaker. Since Boehner’s announcement, a flurry of politicos within the six-county district have said they are running, or are considering a run, for Boehner’s soon-to-be-vacated seat.
Others who have announced their plans to run are: state Sen. Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City; former high school teacher and Troy resident J.D. Winteregg; and Miami County resident Scott George. The congressional district includes all of Butler, Clark, Darke, Miami, and Preble counties, and part of Mercer County.
In the House, Derickson serves on the chairs the Community and Family Advancement Committee — a committee he requested to be formed — as well as a member of the Education, Finance, and Government Accountability and Oversight committees. He also serves on the Finance Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education.
Derickson recognized the “strong conservatives” and “liberals” among the near-100-person crowd Tuesday morning at the Ronald Reagan Lodge at VOA MetroPark, and said, “What most of us have in common in this room, with all of us, is your heart, and that’s what gets to me.”
“We may approach things a little differently, but it’s really about serving people, it’s about serving our communities, it’s about serving our families, it’s about serving each other,” he said.
Judy Bober was one of the invited guests for the announcement, which included a strong contingent from the Middletown area. She said Derickson has always done what he says he will do.
“He’s a man of integrity,” said Bober, assistant director of Cincinnati State Middletown campus. “Tim has a special gift … He’s really great at communicating a message and moving it forward, and I think that’s what he’s going to do as a congressman.”
Others from the region that came out to support Derickson as he made his announcement included Middletown Mayor Larry Mulligan, state Rep. Wes Retherford, R-Hamilton, Fairfield City Councilman Adam Jones and former Fairfield Mayor Ron D’Epifanio.
Also showing support were the two people seeking to replace Derickson in the Statehouse, Middletown Vice Mayor Joe Mulligan and Middletown Pregnancy Center Executive Director Candice Keller.
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