Incumbent Haraz Ghanbari and challenger Sally Culling are running in the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 75.
One will be elected Tuesday.
Ghanbari was appointed to the Ohio House in 2019 and has been reelected twice.
He previously served on Perrysburg City Council from 2018-2019 and maintains residence in the city.
He said he was running for reelection in order to continue to deliver real results for Wood County through supporting jobs and the economy, quality education that puts students first, fighting crime and supporting law enforcement and first responders, and investing in important services for families, seniors, and our most vulnerable citizens to include tax cuts, protecting life, and ensuring our constitutional rights are not infringed upon.
“I am proud of the strong voting record I’ve had in Ohio,” he said, “from supporting legislation that expands economic opportunities for all Ohioans by cutting regulations, developing smart tax policy that supports jobs and cuts taxes, and investing in Ohio’s future to keep the jobs of today and attract the jobs of tomorrow.”
The state’s budget demonstrates an unwavering commitment to the future of Ohio’s youth by making a historic investment of over $16 billion in primary and secondary education, he said. Along with funding public education, the budget makes a landmark investment in school choice with a universal voucher program.
If reelected, Ghanbari, who is a lieutenant commander in U.S. Navy Reserve, said he would continue to ensure the residents of Wood County have a voice at the table in Columbus.
Culling legally immigrated from England to America for work and settled in Perrysburg.
She was twice elected to local town council in Nottingham, England, has worked or volunteered for conservative victories in many ways – as a chief-of-staff to a conservative member of the European Parliament; as a policy analyst at the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation; and as a fundraising host for Ohio Republican campaigns such as Senator J D Vance, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio Sharon Kennedy, and Rep. Bob Latta.
She now works in corporate communications at Owens Corning in Toledo.
Culling said she has stood by the Republican Party and questioned her opponent’s dedication by pointing out in January 2023, Ghanbari colluded with Democrats to elect a House Speaker who has pumped the brakes on a Republican agenda.
“Since the election of Mr. Ghanbari’s chosen speaker, we’ve had the least productive legislature since the 1950s, meaning that conservative bills benefiting Wood County aren’t advancing,” she said.
The Ohio Republican Party has censured and unendorsed Ghanbari for “dishonoring conservatives,” she said.
Rather than complaining, Culling decided to do something about it.
“I will be a representative who puts voters first, not myself,” she said.
“I am a Ronald Reagan conservative who believes in limited government, low taxes, pro-
family, and pro-Second Amendment policies,” she said.
Like Ohio as a whole, Wood County needs to be more pro-business while continuing to be family friendly, Culling said.
Education must also be prioritized, she said. Many children lost far too much schooling because of excessive COVID shutdowns.
“We need a realistic plan to ensure no child is left behind and to catch kids back up to where they should be. Moreover, we need to ensure our workforce is ready for the jobs of tomorrow. That will require innovative thinking rather than just throwing money at the problem. We will have to partner with employers on work-based training, while ensuring that our rural workforce isn’t neglected here in Wood County,” she said.
Ghanbari sees challenges facing the state include the prospect of high taxes, the lowering property values due to national inflation, the high burden of taxes on farmers and their land, border security impacting the safety and security of our communities in Ohio from rising crime and increased trafficking and use of fentanyl from China brought across our borders.
