MOUNT VERNON — Democrat Scott Grund is challenging incumbent Republican Mark Hiner for the 98th District House seat in the Nov. 3 election.
The 98th District covers the eastern portion of Knox County and Coshocton and Holmes counties.
Hiner seeks re-election to his second term. He said he wants to return to the Ohio Legislature to continue work on various bills, including sex offender restrictions.
His immediate priority is continued work on property tax relief. He says he runs an efficient office that returns calls promptly, many times calling constituents himself.
Grund is asking voters to send him to the statehouse so he can help return the legislature’s focus to everyday Ohioans. His immediate priorities are stopping tax breaks to corporate interests and restoring the Fair School Funding Act.
Both candidates agree the sales tax for data centers should be rescinded; they differ on how to handle school vouchers.
Knox Pages sent each candidate a questionnaire. Below are their responses. Both responses were edited for length.
Scott Grund
Age: 75
Education: Bachelor’s degree business administration from University of Kentucky; paralegal degree from Greenville Technical College in South Carolina; extensive training to receive licenses in life & health insurance, Series 8 securities training and real estate.
Qualifications: Worked more than 40 years in financial services. Assisted individuals and small businesses in finding solutions for financial, retirement and estate planning.
As a certified paralegal, I helped individuals receive disability benefits from the Social Security and Veterans administrations. I spent many years volunteering with the American Red Cross in disaster recovery where I helped those in need by coordinating and utilizing private and governmental public assistance.
What inspired you to run for state representative?
Born and raised in southwest Ohio, I have always been proud of our state and the leadership in the capital until about 20 years ago. I have seen the focus of the state Legislature move to only paying attention to and enriching the very wealthy donors and large corporations and away from everyday Ohioans, especially the most vulnerable. I want to give voters a choice to bring change to that focus.
What immediate policy changes do you think the district needs?
Stop, and hopefully rescind, giving huge tax breaks to the big corporate interests and the very wealthy 1%. Sales tax breaks for data centers cost $1.6 billion. An income tax cut for the top 1% equals an average cut of $68,000 each per year for approximately 53,000 tax filers in that group and costs the state $3.6 billion.
Restore The Fair School Funding Act program and bring the state funding level back to 50%. The state constitution obligates the state to adequately fund public education.
How will you protect Ohio’s water resources from data centers?
Ohio’s water resources are under attack on various levels from data centers. Beyond the massive amount of water usage straining local supply, the wastewater is having devastating effects on local streams and watersheds. The Legislature needs to take control of the permitting, monitoring and accountability as it pertains to water usage. Until now, agencies like the Ohio EPA have been lax and way too generous in favor of these big tech companies.
What steps will you take to support small businesses and job creation in the district?
I believe small businesses (usually with under 50 employees) are the bedrock of economic stability within a district. Ways to support these businesses include:
•Improve our education system to train and teach students skills needed to be a good employee. Skills include critical thinking, strong math and communication skills, and personal financial skills to manage their paychecks.
•Providing benefits such as health insurance is a big part of a small-business budget. The Legislature has stalled several proposals for a universal health insurance program that could help the business increase payroll.
•Improve two-way communication between small-business owners and elected representatives. Just as I held town halls throughout the district, I plan on similar venues for the business community. As legislation is proposed that will affect businesses, I will communicate as much as possible early enough in the process for feedback from the community.
What is your plan to provide day care relief for working families?
Universal child care needs to be put into place. The current system is broken. Overall monitoring, standards implementation, accountability and day care workers’ employment protections and pay must be put on a high priority to improve by the Legislature. Several states implemented universal childcare successfully. Ohio needs to learn from those successes.
Which of your proposals needs money that is not currently there, and where would it come from?
From my “immediate changes” answer above, removing the data center sales tax exemption plus reversing the high-earner income tax cut will give the state approximately $5.2 billion for proposals such as health care subsidies, universal child care and Fair School Funding.
What is your plan to improve access to mental and behavioral health, and what will it cost?
The big problem is the critical lack of mental and behavioral health providers as well as fewer facilities that offer those services. Private insurance pays lower reimbursement rates than for health practices, which holds back new people going into that field. Medicaid recognizes more professionals and more services, but the new cuts are making the situation worse. My plan/goal to support universal healthcare should include having these very important services.
What is your plan to expand access to quality health care while keeping it affordable and available to everyone? What will it cost?
The goal is to move to a Medicare for All program that removes much of the excess costs created by private insurance companies and big pharma through government negotiations. The original health insurance plan by the Obama Administration was structured like that before the ACA was passed as a compromise.
Variations of Medicare for All (universal health care) are being proposed across the country. To work toward that, ACA subsidies need to be put back into place and Medicaid cuts that have already devastated many Ohio families, with more coming in 2027, reversed.
What policy would you introduce in the Legislature to make housing and rents more affordable?
I believe there needs to be a comprehensive plan that doesn’t place a Band-Aid on the problem but takes into consideration a list of barriers to adjust or eliminate to be successful. Barriers and help ideas include:
•Local or regional zoning that is outdated or too restricted.
•Outside developers outbidding local organizations on available property.
•No rent controls in place in economically challenged areas.
•Government assistance for first time home buyers and underpaid renters (currently an hourly wage of $24+ is needed to afford a three-bedroom apartment).
•Government assistance on providing improvements and repairs to housing that can be available for an affordable price or rent.
Do you believe the universal school voucher system needs to be reformed or eliminated?
We need to eliminate the universal school voucher system that uses public funds to provide funding for private schools (majority of which are religious). These private schools are unregulated, unaccountable and very expensive, and reduce funding each year to the public schools, which are to be constitutionally funded with public dollars. In addition, the system is ignoring the barrier that separates church and state.
Mark Hiner
Age: 62
Education: Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Engineering, Ashland University; Masters Degree in Business Administration, Ohio University.
Qualifications: I am a businessman and engineer and have been part of the Knox County community since 1995.
Why are you running for re-election?
I am nearing the end of my first term in the Ohio House and would like to return to continue the work being done. I have passed several bills out of the House:
•HB 59 reduces fees and regulations for those licensed by state agencies.
•HB 284 helps our iron and steel industries by prioritizing American- made products.
•HB 563 reins in fraud in ticket sales.
•HB 332 creates linked-deposit program for small military businesses and provides cost-effective capital at no risk to the tax payers.
There are numerous other bills I will continue to work on and advocate for. They deal with everything from putting restrictions on sex offenders to eliminating free EV charging on state-owned property. I recently sponsored HB 1022, which requires the county to refund property tax balances over $25. Government should not be able to earn interest on your money; it should be returned to you the taxpayer.
What immediate policy changes do you think the district needs?
Continued work on property tax relief. Despite changes to rein in property tax increases, the valuations continue to climb and the taxes along with it.
How will you protect Ohio’s water resources from data centers?
It is appropriate to put guardrails around data centers to ensure they are not harming neighborhoods and natural resources. HB 96 eliminated the sales tax exemption on data centers, but that provision was vetoed. I supported overriding that veto, but there was not enough support to get it done.
The best way to control data center placement is through local zoning. I supported HB 15 that allows for behind-the-meter power generation. I would like to require data centers to generate their own power, restrict their water usage and ensure their noise levels are appropriate for the area in which they reside.
What steps will you take to support small businesses and job creation in the district?
There is no better example of job creation than the development happening at the Conesville Industrial Park in Coshocton County. My office led the charge in securing All Ohio Future Fund funding to open the floodgates at the development, and it has resulted in increased tax revenues in the county. As a board member of the Knox Area Development Foundation and member of the House Small Business Committee, I will continue to advocate for laws that make it easier to start and operate a business. That includes efficient tax policy.
What is your plan to provide day care relief for working families?
Ohio has numerous programs for child care. Head Start, Child Care & Development Block Grant and Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit are a few. We need to increase funding levels to reach more families. The most recent budget I supported allocated $10 million into a new cost-sharing program for working families earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level. The employee and employer each pay 40% of the child care cost, and the state pays 20%, subject to available funds.
Additionally, the Legislature invested $1 million in FY 2026 and about $1.9 million in FY 2027 for a Child Care Recruitment and Mentorship Grant Program intended to increase the number of licensed child care providers.
Which of your proposals needs money that is not currently there, and where would it come from?
I am against increasing existing taxes or creating new ones. Ohio has plenty of revenue; we have a spending problem. We need to curtail spending by eliminating duplicate services and unnecessary programs.
You advocate eliminating the state income tax, which in 2025 was roughly $11 billion. What is your plan to replace that revenue?
Constituent focus has shifted from eliminating income tax to eliminating the property tax. The property tax is strangling many constituents, particularly seniors on fixed incomes. I supported all of the legislation that reduces property tax. Unfortunately, the governor vetoed those measures. As a result, we did stand-alone bills that accomplished largely the same thing.
I agree property tax is punitive and essentially taxes unrealized gains in value. I introduced House Joint Resolution 7, which eliminates property tax on an owner-occupied home and leaves it intact on commercial property that generates revenue. That would result in a loss of approximately $10 billion in revenue; my office is working on where it would come from. We are looking at consumption-based taxes and fees as well as sin taxes. If I am sent back, I will reintroduce it in the next General Assembly. This is more responsible than eliminating all property tax and hoping for the best.
What policy would you introduce in the Legislature to make housing and rents more affordable?
The best way to ease our housing shortage is to build more housing. The problem is exacerbated by groups who oppose development. We must embrace responsible development and remove as much regulation as possible to allow developers to build affordable housing. I will support reducing red tape and policies that bring responsible development.
Do you believe the universal school voucher system needs to be reformed or eliminated?
Parents should have options when choosing where to send their child to school, and the voucher system helps many. School funding is complex, and further reform is needed. We should ensure our public schools throughout Ohio are the best they can be.
Unfortunately, some don’t meet or live up to the standards we set. I firmly believe families, not a specific ZIP code, should have more say over where a child goes to school. Vouchers can give lower-income families and families with children who require special needs greater access to options not otherwise available to them.
How do you prioritize which policies to focus on during your term?
It is largely driven by constituent feedback. It is essential to partner with other House members when working on bills. No one member can do it all, and it is impossible to be an expert on every topic. I focus on my areas of expertise and interest and lean on other members for the rest.
