State Rep. Steve Demetriou, a Republican from Bainbridge Township in Geauga County, faces a challenge Nov. 5 for his seat in the Ohio House of Representatives in District 35.
Democrat Mark Curtis, a Twinsburg resident, is challenging Demetriou, who is seeking a second term.
The 35th District includes Aurora, Streetsboro and Mantua Township in Portage County; Macedonia, Northfield Village, Reminderville and Twinsburg, and Northfield Center, Sagamore Hills and Twinsburg townships in Summit County; and the townships of South Russell Village and Auburn and Bainbridge in Geauga County.
Curtis brings ‘strong record of public service’
A 1986 graduate of Warrensville Heights High School, Curtis earned a bachelor’s degree from Otterbein University in 1991 and a master’s degree from Hiram College in 2007.
Curtis has lived in Twinsburg for more than twenty years. He and his wife of 24 years, Dianne, have a daughter and son, Taylor and Manny. Both graduated from Twinsburg High School.
Curtis was appointed to the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center Board of Education in 2014 and served for two years before being elected to the Twinsburg Board of Education in 2016.
“I think I have a strong record of public service, community service, if you will,” Curtis said.
During his eight years on the latter board, he served as both president and vice president. He served both boards as a legislative liaison.
In that capacity, he said that while working in the Twinsburg administration, he worked with then-state Rep. Kristina Roegner, a Republican from Hudson, on House Bill 87. Curtis said its passage meant that if a private charter school received state funding , that which went to a public school district is subject to a recovery finding during an audit, the state funding would go to the district, and not to the state’s general fund.
Curtis said it took two editing sessions to get it approved.
“That’s something I’ve worked really hard on,” Curtis said.
He said his interest in public education will inform at least some of what he wants to accomplish as a state lawmaker.
“One of the things I would like to focus on is school funding and ensuring that the fair funding school model remains in place because it is being phased in over a period of five, six years and so we are only halfway through that period Curtis said.
Curtis said he would also like to eliminate private school vouchers because they take money away from public schools.
“I think it’s a drain on public tax dollars spent on private entities,” Curtis said. “Not only that, who do they actually serve? The majority of recipients of these vouchers are families whose children were already attending private schools.”
Outside of education, Curtis said he also wants to “pass legislation to prevent the corruption that resulted from House Bill 6,” the state law passed in 2019 that was at the heart of a $60 million bribery scandal.
“It appears that lawmakers have not made this a priority, even though the result of the House Bill 6 scandal is that we as consumers have experienced a dramatic increase in our energy bills,” Curtis said.
Curtis said he wants to be part of an effort that makes the Ohio General Assembly more productive by pulling it away from the “culture wars.”
Demetriou says he has ‘leadership’ and ‘integrity’
Demetriou was commissioned as an Army infantry officer at age 23 after graduating from West Point in 2011, earning the Dean’s List and a bachelor’s degree in economics along the way.
He then completed Army Ranger School and Airborne training and served as a platoon leader in Afghanistan, where he earned a Bronze Star.
After his discharge, he became a small business owner and operates a number together with his family. He went from just three employees to dozens and stayed in business despite COVID, civil unrest and labor shortages. The experience he said helps him advocate for small businesses
He and his wife Carly, a former teacher, have three young sons.
Demetriou said he is especially proud of his work during his tenure in gaining passage of House Bill 57, which he said expands the property tax exemption for seniors and disabled veterans by tying the exemption to inflation.
“The rise in the cost of living and simply out-of-control inflation is absolutely the issue I hear the most about from voters every day, and I think about that in the State House, where I work on tax policy to reduce taxes on the to lower the entire line. for Ohioans is how I and my colleagues in the state House are positively impacting that in the most effective way,” Demetriou said, adding that he wants to continue working on tax issues.
This includes expanding the homestead exemption even further, as well as reducing state income tax impacts.
“Reducing the tax burden across the board for Ohio is probably the thing I’m most passionate about, looking ahead to the next General Assembly,” Demetriou said. “Because that’s the issue, I think, for most of our voters here in Northeast Ohio, that’s at the top.”
Demetriou said he is also proud of his work on House Bill 435, the Ohio Manufacturing Technologies Assistance Program, which helps small manufacturing businesses access grants through worker training and equipment upgrades.
“I want to grow our economy and make Ohio a better place to do business,” Demetriou said.
He said he has also participated in efforts to fund local law enforcement, modernize 911 systems across the state and provide more training for law enforcement and other first responders.
Demetriou credits his time in the military with helping with his legislative duties, improving his “leadership skills” and connecting and working with people from different backgrounds.
“I just discovered how to work with people who don’t always see everything the same way I do,” he said. “I think that’s been extremely helpful in my short political career because people in Northeast Ohio come from different backgrounds. Obviously they don’t always agree with me on everything, but I think it’s helpful to bring that kind of leadership perspective to the office. .”
Demetriou said he also values “integrity,” even when it comes to “doing the right thing when no one is looking.” He said he is proud to be part of a new generation of leaders in Ohio.
“It has been great serving Portage County these past two years,” Demetriou said. “I want to return to the State House to work on the issues that I believe have had a positive impact on our constituents in the county and across the Northeast Ohio region.”
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Democrat Mark Curtis Challenges State Rep. Steve Demetriou in District 35
