Incumbent Montgomery County state Rep. Niraj Antani will face a league of Republican challengers in the upcoming May 8 primary election. Two Democrats are also vying for the two-term Republican’s seat in the 42nd District.
Antani has represented the Ohio House district, which includes Miamisburg, for the last three years. He was just 23 when he began his first term in office, and was the first Indian-American Republican elected to state office in Ohio.
He’s made reducing taxes a priority during his time in office, even calling for eliminating the state’s income tax. Recently Antani has introduced legislation to ban subsidized international travel by lawmakers, and to mandate fetal development education in high schools.
Antani’s Republican-primary challengers are current Miamisburg vice-mayor Sarah Clark and conservative activist Marcus Rech.
Both candidates have similar views to Antani on taxes and other issues. Clark has served on the Miamisburg City Council for nine years and says if she’s elected, she would support legislation to lower Ohio health-care costs. Rech is an MBA marketing student who has advocated for more local control of education.
The Democratic challengers in the 42nd district race are Zach Dickerson and Autumn Kern.
Dickerson describes himself as a “concerned citizen and moderate Democrat.” He advocates for moving public school funding away from the property tax model. He says he also supports some tax cuts.
Kern is a student at Wright State University, studying ‘peace and diplomacy.’ She recently moderated a forum aimed at finding bi-partisan common ground on immigration issues in Dayton.
Following the May 8 primary, one Republican and one Democrat will appear on the ballot in November’s general election.
