Neither candidate agreed to an interview with the Dayton Daily News nor answered Voter Guide questions about why voters should support them or their priorities if elected. Arnold has no campaign website; Creech’s hasn’t been updated since he was first elected in 2020.
One possible reason is the district is one of the most uncompetitive in the region under newly-drawn legislative districts, giving the Republican incumbent an overwhelming advantage.
Arnold, one of several transgender candidates across the state running for a post in the Ohio General Assembly after it advanced several laws targeting transgender Ohioans, did not respond to several requests for an interview.
Creech responded quickly to decline the interview while mis-gendering his opponent and explaining that he’s “focusing on Trump, Bernie Moreno and Issue 1″ this November.
To give voters some information about the candidates, this news outlet researched both candidates’ previous policy statements for this story.
Ohio House representatives receive a base salary of $63,007 per year and serve two-year terms. The winner this November will assume office in January 2025.
Republican Rodney Creech
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Creech, a Preble County farmer and the owner of a lawn care business, is seeking his third term in the Ohio House.
In 2020, he assumed office after defeating a Democrat in a relatively close election. In 2022, he maintained his position in a blowout victory over the same Democratic challenger. This year, he ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
So far this term, Creech has introduced nine bills, one of which has been signed into law.
In his proposals, Creech hopes to make it harder for the state to acquire land via eminent domain; require schools to grant excused absences for students participating in 4H and Future Farmers of America; require that professional sports teams play on natural grass fields instead of artificial turf; urge Congress to make daylight saving time a permanent fixture; and to make it a state policy for divorced parents to “share equally in parenting time and the rights and responsibilities of rearing their children” to “the greatest degree possible.”
He successfully shepherded House Bill 256 into law, which requires the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to inquire about organ donation when someone applies for a hunting or fishing license.
Creech also introduced a bill to allow Republicans to protest the candidacy of Democrats and vice versa. Currently, candidacy protests can only occur within the candidate’s party. This was an issue after Montgomery County Board of Elections decided to allow Arnold onto the ballot, despite her not advertising her previous legal names on her candidacy forms and therefore not following a little-known state law, and Creech could not find a Democrat to protest her candidacy.
Creech does not have a current campaign website, nor does he have social media outlining his stances.
On his personal Facebook page, Creech has advocated against November’s Issue 1, which would create a citizen redistricting commission to replace the state’s politician redistricting panel.
“(Democrats’) end goal is to draw more Democrat Congressional seats but they’re also trying to get more Ohio House and Senate seats also,” Creech wrote. “My current seat is 65%R, and if Issue 1 passes they could draw Preble into Dayton and make it a 50/50 seat. So I would then be representing rural communities and people that live in 5-story apartment complexes. Which makes no sense and it’s hard to represent two ends of the spectrum.”
Democrat Bobbie Arnold
Arnold is a political newcomer who earned an endorsement from the Ohio Democratic Party but has no campaign website nor campaign social media.
Arnold has been featured in previous Dayton Daily News coverage. In one piece on local transgender residents’ thoughts on Ohio’s gender affirming care ban for minors, Arnold said she believed gender-affirming hormones ought to remain an option for transgender youth, given that experiencing puberty can make transitioning considerably more difficult.
Arnold, a local contractor, came up in the news again following the uncovering of a little-known state law that put some transgender candidates’ candidacies at risk. The rule states that, while gathering petition signatures to run for office, candidates must include all of their former legal names. The rule, once uncovered, was the basis for the disqualification of one other transgender candidate in Ohio, but the Montgomery County Board of Elections opted to permit Arnold’s candidacy.
On her personal Facebook, Arnold has advocated for mental health, promoted local LGBTQ+ organizations, shared a pro-union post and a post appreciative of Democratic candidate for vice president for his advocacy for the transgender community as the governor of Minnesota.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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