This is Part One of a three-part series. The interview with Mike Holt will be published Friday. The interview with David Hogan will be published Saturday. Christian Smith could not be reached at the time of publication.
MOUNT VERNON — Two Republicans and two Democrats are competing in the March primary to hold the 61st district seat in Delaware and Knox County.
Beth Lear and Mike Holt are Republicans; David Hogan and Christian Smith are Democrats. Only one from each party will advance after the March 19 election.
Early voting in Ohio began Wednesday.
We spoke with three out of the four candidates; below is a breakdown of the first interview with candidate Beth Lear, lightly edited for clarity:
Beth Lear
Lear, first elected in November 2022, is seeking another term, hoping to pass legislation introduced in her first term.
“I suppose I don’t think you leave before the job is finished,” Lear said in an interview with Knox Pages.
“With term limits, you can have up to eight years. I don’t know that I want to stay eight years and voters will be the ones to make that decision if I keep running. So if I can make a difference and continue to serve, then I would like to try, at least for now.”
Lear sponsored the Never Alone Act, which would notify the resident/patient they have the right to designate an advocate and provide the resident/patient the opportunity to make such a designation.
Lear is also a sponsor of House Bill 183 “bathroom bill,” primed on creating single sex bathrooms in K-12 schools and higher education institutions, regardless of gender identity.
Lear on protecting women, property taxes
When asked if there are any further plans in the house that she would like to work on in regards to either women’s issues or children in general, Lear didn’t point to any particular legislation.
“Women are not able to compete against men who are naturally stronger and faster. But I’m also very concerned for the safety of children,” she noted. “And our society is increasingly unsafe for them. I think women’s rights are being eroded but there are other issues we also have to deal with, which includes mass illegal immigration.
“Ohio has a tax problem, our government is too big so we have a responsibility to protect the constitutional rights of the people, in addition to making sure that folks can stay in their homes,” she added. “Property tax is way too high. We need to get that under control.”
Lear on Intel’s expected growth, forms of energy
Lear said the need for energy is increasing massively due to the expected Intel microchip manufacturing facility in Licking County, noting the data centers use massive amounts of electricity and water.
“And we don’t have the resources going forward with the federal government taking the coal plants offline and prohibiting the construction of additional thermal plants such as natural gas or nuclear,” she said.
“And when you look at the data, you see that solar and wind cannot compete. They don’t generate as much electricity as a typical coal plant or a natural gas plant would. It’s much more expensive for them to be able to produce electricity than those thermal options.
“My concern is that America is not looking at the true science. They think that they’re making a positive difference.”
“People have property rights but we also have to be careful that we’re not destroying the property of our neighbors. And I think threading the needle of balance to make sure that we’re recognizing people’s constitutional rights while at the same time not harming the ability of our neighbors who aren’t participating in those things, that’s a difficult needle to thread,” Lear said.
‘Attacks being made on the Second Amendment’
On Lear’s campaign website, it states to protect the Second Amendment. When asked if the Second Amendment is being attacked and how so, Lear noted the Ohio Democratic Party’s creation of legislation to control the Second Amendment.
“They clearly do not understand the words of the Constitution that say that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” she said.
“It’s very clear the federal government under the Biden administration, and the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tabacco and Firearms) have continually increased the rules on gun owners that are limiting their ability to practice their Second Amendment rights to the point where they were creating felons out of disabled veterans because they were saying you’re not allowed to have an attachment on a handgun that would make it longer than the normal handgun and equal to the length of what they would consider a long gun in quotes.”
Lear on Issue One passing
Lear said the passage of Issue One was “really unfortunate” and the “fallout from this will be immense.”
Though she disagrees with the issue’s passage, Lear said she introduced a bill that “would require women who are contemplating abortion be given all the information on the danger of abortion to themselves and have a chance to see the baby through an ultrasound and hear the baby’s heartbeat before they make the final decision.”