SHELBY — Marilyn John has won reelection to her Ohio House seat representing Richland County.
“I’m very excited and very grateful for the support that I received from the voters in the county and I’m looking forward to continuing to represent them and advocate for them and Columbus,” John said following her victory.
John, 56, was first elected to the seat in 2020 after serving five years as the mayor of Shelby and six as a Richland County commissioner.
She faced Democratic challenger Emily Adams and write-in Tim Grady in this race. John earned 39,673 votes, about 72% of the vote. Adams earned 15,446 votes, according to final, unofficial vote totals from the Richland County Board of Elections.
John said her goal in her third term as representative is to build relationships and continue being an effective legislator for Richland County.
“The most important part of being a state representative is advocating for the residents of Richland County,” she said.
“I’ve learned how important it is to listen and really hear what people have to say and what their concerns are so that I can best advocate for them.
“One of my colleagues here has said frequently, ‘God gives you two ears and one mouth for a reason,’ and I think that that is a very pertinent as a public official.”
John said some of her goals include writing workforce legislation that would make it easier for people to find work and for businesses to operate in the state.
“I’m working on some legislation on licensing and what we can do to lower barriers for employment and continue to be competitive for businesses in Ohio,” she said.
“We’ve made a lot of progress in the state when it comes to being business-friendly and a lot of that has to do with tax policy. So we will continue to work on those issues in the House so that Ohioans can keep more of their hard-earned money.”
