Voters Guide: State Senate 10th District

    2073 Beaver Valley Rd., Beavercreek

    Occupation: Student

    Previous service in public office: I have never served as a public official.

    Education: Graduate of Beavercreek High School. Student at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.

Community activities/honors: Director of Beavercreek 24-Hour Relay in Greene County. Building ramps onto houses for the handicapped. Delivering meals to residents of Fairborn. Received the President’s Education Award from President George W. Bush.

    Major issues in this election:

    1. With health care prices skyrocketing, we need to level the playing field for buying health care individually and by employers. We need to offer incentives to purchase health insurance. This incentive would come in the form of a standard tax break, similar to when claiming a dependent.

    2. As the right fiscal conservative, I plan to exercise constraint in government spending to help balance the budget with the goal of reducing the state’s staggering deficit.

    3. The state needs to recognize that every school district is different. There cannot be one set of criteria to determine state aid.

Madden

   3151 Clear Springs Rd., Spring Valley

    Occupation: Owner of W. Reed Madden Insurance Agency

    Previous service as public official: Professional experience—20 years as Greene County commissioner; 40 years self-employed insurance agent and agency owner

    Education: Kettering Fairmont High School; Southern Methodist University; The Ohio State University; graduate of Purdue University Life Insurance Marketing Institute; National Security Forum-War College, Maxwell AFB. AL.

Community activities: Current trustee of National Aviation Hall of Fame; Wright B Flyer; National Aviation Heritage Alliance; Dayton Area Chapter American Red Cross; Greene County Historical Society; Dayton Area Heart and Cancer Association; Miami Valley Resource Conservation and Development Council; past president, Centerville Noon Optimists; Waynesville Chamber of Commerce, Boosters, and PTO; chairman, Ohio Sauerkraut Festival. Current chairman, Spring Valley Potato Festival, last 12 years; past chairman, Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission. Current trustee, Miami Valley Military Affairs, last 23 years.

    Major issues in this election: We are overtaxed in many areas: retired benefits, property taxes, business fees and death taxes. My proposal will help us keep our young workers and our seniors from leaving Ohio for reduced or no taxes in other states.

    I also want to bring competition into the state for the Workers Compensation Program to save money for small businesses.

    Government needs to run more like a business. Taxpayers are the investors in the business of the state, and we deserve to have our dollars handled astutely.

Tackett

    8927 Wildlane Drive, South Charleston

    Occupation: Clark County commissioner

    Previous service as public official: I have been a Clark County commissioner for over 26 years, elected 1976 to 1985 and 1988 to 2008.

    Education/Military experience: B.A. degree with a major in political science from Wright State University. I served in the USMC in Vietnam.

    Community activities/honors: I was twice named Ohio’s Outstanding Disabled American Veteran of the Year. I am chairman of the Governor’s Office of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee for Ohio. I am on the board of directors for the National Association of Counties and the County Commissioners Association of Ohio.

    Major issues in this election: I believe jobs and economic development, education, and healthcare are the three most important issues in Ohio.

Chris Widener

    4887 Peacock Rd. Springfield

    Occupation: Architect, WDC Group, LLC

    Previous service as public official: I am currently serving my fourth term as state representative, serving Clark, Greene and Madison counties. Previously, I served on the Mad River Green Local School Board in Clark County, Ohio.

    Education: Bachelor of Architecture, University of Cincinnati.

Community activities/honors: Member of the Ohio Farm Bureau. Member of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce. Recipient of the Madison County Township Association Public Service Award. Member of the Madison County Senior Center Hall of Fame.

    Major issues in this election:

    1. Reduction of Taxes—I voted to reduce state income taxes by 21 percent, to cut property taxes for seniors, and to cut state income taxes on military retirement income. As a state senator, I will continue to fight for lower taxes.

    2. Health Care for Seniors and Families—I supported a prescription drug program for 1.4 million Ohio seniors, at no cost to the tax payers.