MANSFIELD — Emily Adams said Monday evening she is coming for Marilyn John’s job, armed with the goal of protecting women’s reproductive freedom.
The 40-year-old Mansfield woman was the unanimous choice of the Richland County Democratic Party’s Central Committee to oppose John on Nov. 5 for the 76th Ohio House seat, which represents the entire county.
She replaces former Mansfield City Councilman Alomar Davenport, who dropped out of the race after winning the party primary in February. John, a Republican, is seeking her third, two-year term in Columbus.
Adams, nominated by Venita Shoulders, was the only name put forward by Central Committee members Monday evening with 46 of the 69 members in attendance.
“It really is (State) Issue One,” Adams said after the meeting at the party headquarters in downtown Mansfield, referencing a voter-approved amendment in November 2023 that enshrined abortion rights into the Ohio Constitution.
“When the voters passed Issue One and the (Republican-led) state legislature started to work to stop that from coming to fruition. I thought we have to have representatives who listen to people. And so that’s what I would do,” Adams said.
“The day after Issue One passed in Ohio, my opponent signed a letter, along with 26 of her colleagues, to do everything in their power to prevent Issue One from doing what it was meant to do, give Ohioans reproductive freedom.
“And it’s as simple as this, if you come for my rights, I’m coming for your job,” said Adams, who is married to Steve Hiltebeitel. They have two children, Rapunzel, 9, and Teddy, 6.
Issue One was approved by 57 percent of Ohio voters. In Richland County, however, 57 percent of voters opposed it.
Adams said she and her family moved to Mansfield in 2020 from St. Louis. She earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from American University in Washington, D.C., in 2006, and a master’s degree from Duke University in environmental management.
Adams, whose career has included three years as a staff researcher at the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, is currently serving on the Mansfield Charter Review Commission. representing the 2nd Ward. She was elected to the commission in November.
“In many ways, Ohio closely mirrors my home state of Missouri, especially when it comes to our fight for democracy.
“Statewide, a Republican super-majority in the state legislature has won the ability to crack and stack our districts to their liking and ignore the will of the voters,” said Adams, who is working as an instructional assistant at the Discovery School.
“I assist in first grade in the mornings and then in the afternoons I teach woods class, which fits really well with my environmental background,” she said.
In a county where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than three to one, Adams said the key to victory is attracting unaffiliated voters, who make up about 68 percent of Richland County’s 82,632 registered voters.
“My message to independent (voters) is I want to represent them and their interests. I’m not interested in ideology. I’m interested in values and I care about protecting people. I care about protecting the environment and I care about a safe future for our families,” Adams said.
“I am not a career politician. I started my career as an environmentalist. For three years, I worked at a think tank in Washington, D.C., on environmental issues, studying the transition from fossil fuels to wind and solar energy.
“One thing that was clear then and is still clear now, we have the technology and the resources to have a clean, stable (electrical) grid. We just have not had the political will. The political will in Ohio for too long has been dictated by big-money interests.
“The scandal around (House Bill 6) that we all know about is not just a story of bribery and corruption. It’s a story of stealing two of our most precious resources — time and trust.
“In the time since Ohio’s renewable energy standards were frozen and then repealed in HB 6, we could have been putting investments into jobs here in Ohio, clean, good-paying jobs for Ohio wind and Ohio solar (power),” Adams said.
How will she defeat John, the chair of the Richland County Republican Party, who was unopposed in 2022 and earned 71 percent of the county voters in 2020?
“I think by talking to and listening to voters, because that’s where the power really is. It’s in the votes. I really mean it when I want to say that I want to talk to as many people as possible because I know I am here for them.
“And once they can find that out, I think they’ll be interested to vote for me,” Adams said.
As a community development group committed to growing Mansfield, NECIC sees civic engagement as vital for a healthy community. Rooted in the North End, their efforts benefit North Central Ohio and beyond. They promote informed voter turnout for a thriving society. Explore at www.necic-ohio.org.