This is Part Three of a three-part series on the upcoming Ohio 61st District primary race. Here is our interview with primary Republican candidate Mike Holt. You can read Part One and Part Two here. Attempts to reach Democratic candidate Christian Smith were unsuccessful.
MOUNT VERNON – David Hogan decided to run when he noticed disagreements with his statewide representative.
Hogan used the example of House Bill 183 known as the “bathroom bill” as a policy disagreement with 61st District incumbent Beth Lear.
“Everyone should be respected as a human,” Hogan said. “Everyone should have the same equal rights as everyone else.”
Delaware County native Hogan describes himself as pro-gun, pro-human rights and pro-public education.
“I do believe the Second Amendment is valid,” Holt said. “I’m a gun owner myself, but I also believe elected officials have to get together and cooperate and compromise to stop all the gun violence in this country.”
“The beginning of the century, we didn’t have the frequency of mass shootings at all,” Hogan said.
Hogan pointed to the gun show loophole, the internet and social media sparking the rise in gun violence.
“We have to make it more difficult for troubled people to obtain firearms,” Hogan said. “If you’re a gun owner, there’s a right-hand responsibility to leave the gun over, that’s a dangerous thing.”
Hogan pointed to suicide as a leading factor in gun deaths. Suicides count for more than half of U.S. gun deaths in 2021, according to the most recent Pew Research data available.
Hogan on changes to the public education system
Hogan has taught history at Heidelberg University for 35 years.
With over three decades of experience in the higher education system, he has a plethora of thoughts about how the public education system is run and what should and shouldn’t be left in the classroom.
“I don’t want schools to teach my political views (…) that is not the role of the school,” Hogan said.
“We have no business spending Ohio taxpayer money on religious and charter schools, which has been proven to be vastly inferior to public education.”
Hogan said to attract and retain good teachers adequate pay is necessary, citing the imbalance in pay scales along with local taxation.
“We have very good school districts and not-so-good school districts, depending on the values of the property in those districts. In good districts, teachers are making a good wage. There are some school districts in our state where people and teachers are living in poverty.”
Money spent on administrators, Hogan said, could be paid to teachers instead.