About the candidates
JOE ELLIS
Age: 56
Home: Butler Twp.
Employment: Owner Uno Chicago Grill, Dayton, and MWPD Inc., a real estate development and holding company.
Education: Bachelor's degree in business administration, Bowling Green.
Political experience: Butler Twp. trustee 2002-2009
MIKE HENNE
Age: 48
Home: Clayton
Employment: Co-owner Boord-Henne Insurance Agency.
Education: Bachelor of science degree in finance from Miami University.
Political experience: None.
The Republican primary race for the 36th Ohio House seat pits two conservative businessmen against one another — political newcomer Mike Henne and two-term former Butler Twp. Trustee Joe Ellis.
The winner in the Tuesday, May 4, primary will face Democrat Carl D. Fisher Jr., a Huber Heights school board member, and write-in Libertarian candidate Jesse A. Stoner of Huber Heights in the November General Election.
The seat is held by State Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, who is running for state auditor.
The job pays $60,584 annually and is a two-year term. The district covers all or part of Vandalia, Butler Twp., Englewood, Clayton, Huber Heights and western Montgomery County.
Here’s a look at the candidates:
Joe Ellis
Ellis faces an unusual Election Day — with voters considering his name on the ballot at the same time he will be in Vandalia Municipal Court for a pretrial hearing on a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from a Feb. 24 altercation at a bar.
Ellis, a former Golden Gloves boxer is accused of punching a man who was with Ellis’ former girlfriend at the Shiloh Athletic Club in Harrison Twp. Witnesses said Ellis approached the couple and began arguing with them before throwing hands.
Ellis expects to be exonerated, saying he was being intimidated by a larger man and was concerned about being hit where stitches from cancer surgery were healing, so he hit the man first.
A survivor of a 2009 bout with kidney cancer, Ellis is the owner and president of restaurant and real estate development businesses. He ran unsuccessfully against Judy Dodge for Montgomery County commission in 2008 and was unseated the next year as township trustee.
Ellis said he has the government and business background and the conservative credentials Ohio needs.
“We need people who are going to do something, get the job done,” said Ellis. “We need somebody with a backbone. That’s where I come in.”
He believes government spends too much money and needs to cut back, although he’s not sure where that needs to occur. He said he supports keeping “necessary services” and he does not want to see unemployment benefits cut.
Ellis also said the state is generally doing a good job with education, although funding issues still need to be addressed.
He wants rules loosened so that townships can collect income tax without sharing it with cities.
A supporter of the flat tax, Ellis called for tax reform across the board, the repeal of the estate tax and a reduction of write-offs that keep some people from paying taxes. He believes further tax cuts and new tax incentives, along with a lending program, would make Ohio more business friendly.
“Ohio is getting more competitive,” Ellis said.
Ellis said he has not been endorsed by any Tea Party groups and he was unimpressed when he attended the April Dayton Tea Party rally at the Wright State University Nutter Center. He said the rally was disorganized, and after listening to the speakers he “was not sure what they were for.”
“I don’t think it’s as big as people think it is,” Ellis said.
Mike Henne
As he makes the rounds on the campaign trail, Henne, an insurance company owner, said he’s finding that his political inexperience is an asset.
“The idea that’s resonating with people is the idea that I have never been in office before,” he said. “People are tired of the way government is working.”
Henne said that while he’s never sought public office, he was always the guy at parties who struck up conversations about politics.
“Politics have become more and more of a passion over the years,” he said. “I really feel this is a calling. I really think this is something I’m going to be good at.”
Henne is endorsed by the Montgomery County Republican Party and said he also is drawing support from Tea Party activists.
Henne said he is “still progressing” as a candidate and knows he’s got some studying to do to learn about the issues.
He could not offer many specifics about his general dissatisfaction with the way government operates, his support of cutting taxes, improving accountability for educators and encouraging development along the Interstate 70 and 75 corridors.
But he decried “backroom deals and the increased government involvement in everything we do.”
Henne said a review of the tax structure is needed to find ways to make Ohio more competitive, and he supports a national sales tax — known by supporters as the Fair Tax.
Henne was unfamiliar with details of the state’s budget-balancing delay of the final year of a state income tax cut, but said he would have found it difficult to support delaying the cut.
Henne said the state retirement system needs reform, moving from a defined benefit plan to something akin to 401(k) plans because the current system is “unsustainable.” He would protect benefits of current government employees.
He thinks it should be easier for school districts to fire ineffective teachers, whom Henne said are protected by unions.
He said government is more effective at the local level and that cutting federal taxes and making states responsible for themselves would reduce the tax burden on Ohioans.
In a veiled reference to the assault charge faced by his opponent, Henne said, “I think I bring a little more passion and more level-headed decision-making into the process.”
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