BY JANAE JOACHIM

Jim Renacci, the former Mayor of Wadsworth and former Congressman of Ohio’s 16th Congressional District, is running in the 2022 gubernatorial election against three other Republican candidates and two Democratic candidates. Renacci spoke with the Bruin about his campaign, which he says is based on pro-Trump policies that he believes will “save Ohio from corruption”.

Jim Renacci came to Ohio at 24 years old. He said that he found Ohio to be a state where living the American Dream was possible because of the policies that were in place.

Renacci feels that Donald Trump upholds these policies, which is why he bases his campaign off of similar promises. According to his website, he is pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-election integrity and pro-freedom.

He highlighted his belief in the importance of policies that move our state and country forward.

“The policies of President Trump were moving Ohio and our country in a better direction,” Renacci said.

Renacci plans to stick with the policies promoted by President Trump, and he believes such policies will benefit Gen-Z. One of the areas he discussed was his plan of making Ohio a place where high school and college graduates can live the American Dream. He said that keeping young people in the state working and raising a family is part of the process of improving the state of Ohio.

Renacci was a member of Congress for eight years after being the mayor of Wadsworth for a single term, so he feels he has had firsthand experience seeing how a federal government spends too much and states attempt to get back to the original intent of their own power and limit federal power.

He was also a businessman for 38 years which he believes helps him understand how to improve government for individuals.

“The greatest quality I bring is not only living under the rules but having to run businesses under the rules the government sets,” Renacci said.

He also discussed his experience in smaller Ohio government as mayor of Wadsworth and told how he was able to turn deficits into surplus without raising taxes.

Renacci emphasized specific failures of the state under Governor DeWine.

“Jobs and the economy, that’s where we’re failing,” Renacci said.

Renacci believes that young people such as high school and college graduates leave Ohio and Ohio loses ground to other states because of these failures.

“Mike DeWine has failed Ohioans with continuing the policies over the last 25 years that have moved Ohio not from the top ten or top 12 but to the bottom ten or 12 in most categories,” Renacci said. “The only categories we literally are in the top ten are all the ones you would not want your state to be in.”

Renacci believes Ohio can improve by looking at other states and changing accordingly whether by cutting expenses or changing its outdated tax model. Renacci feels these things will make Ohio more competitive among other states.

“We have to change and be prepared for change or we will just continue to fall further and further behind compared to other states,” Renacci said.

Renacci feels it is essential for young voters to look around at their own families and see how these policies have affected the state. He feels that they must understand that there is a reason why people are moving out of Ohio, and he believes that reason is because Ohio does not provide the assets necessary to make businesses come or individuals want to stay.

“I look at my grandson and say ‘Is this the state that I want to leave my grandson?’ And the truth is no,” Renacci said.

The primary election for the gubernatorial race will occur on May 3 and the general election on November 8.

The Bruin reached out to the other gubernatorial candidates to discuss their plans should they win the upcoming election, but as of publication, have not received any other responses.