King faces Rodriguez in state rep race

CELINA - Voters on Nov. 8 will decide whether Republican Angela N. King or Democrat Sophia Rodriguez will win Ohio's 84th District Seat.

The seat, currently held by Republican Susan Manchester of Waynesfield, is part of the recently re-drawn lines for the Ohio House. The current 84th District includes all of Mercer County, southern Auglaize County and northern Darke County.

Angela King

King, 56, is in her tenth year as Mercer County Recorder. The Celina resident is a licensed Realtor and small business owner involved in buying, selling and managing real estate investments for 25 years, she said.

She and her husband, Mark, have two adult children and three grandchildren. Her grandchildren are a major part of why she's running for House, she said.

"I'm concerned about my grandchildren's future and their ability to achieve the American dream," King said. "I want to make a difference. I want to make sure that Ohio remains a safe and prosperous state for our families and for future generations."

King has a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Wright State University. She also served 11 years on Celina City Council and was a member of an Ohio board for speech language pathology and audiology and the Ohio House Trust Fund advisory committee.
She serves on the Western Ohio Community Action Partnership board and has served in numerous capacities within the Mercer Country Republican Party.

King pointed to her decades in elected offices, her experience as a small business owner and proven track record in positively impacting policy at the state and national level as experiences qualifying her for the position.

When Celina faced EPA findings related to water treatment, King said she went to Washington, D.C., to talk to lawmakers about the dilemma. As a result, Celina was awarded a $750,000 federal line item for water treatment upgrades, she said.

After discovering her infant daughter was deaf, King said she became an advocate for the deaf and hard of hearing at the state and national level.

King said she played a part in Ohio's universal newborn hearing screening legislation, and her advocacy prompted the U.S. Department of Education to update its early intervention language in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

If elected, King said one initiative she would focus on would be foster care.

"I have a bill I'd like to introduce for foster care reform," she said.

The candidate emphasized she is staunchly pro-life and pro-Second Amendment. King said she also wants to see lower taxes and supports local government control.

Sophia Rodriguez

Rodriguez, 55, said she is the daughter of migrant workers who because successful entrepreneurs. She is a 33-year veteran teacher at Coldwater High School and has co-managed her family's Celina restaurant, Casa Rodriguez, with her sister for 41 years.

Rodriguez received a bachelor's degree in Spanish from Ohio University and a master's degree in educational leadership from Wright State University. She is the Mercer County Democratic Party chairperson.

The Celina resident said she has served on the Mercer County Board of Developmental Disabilities, Ohio Education Association Board of Directors and National Education Association Board of Directors.

She also also served as president of Celina City Council for two years, president of the Western Ohio Education Association, president of the Coldwater Teachers' Organization, chair of the Ohio Education Association Hispanic Caucus and an educational adjunct at Wright State University-Lake Campus.

Rodriguez said she wants to put the "us" back in Columbus by lifting up everyone in the community and giving a voice to the marginalized and underserved.

"The working class has not had a voice for them in District 84 for many, many years," she said. "They deserve and they have a right to have that voice."

Rodriguez said her teaching background, public service record, leadership experience and diverse relationships with constituents all contribute to what makes her the best candidate for the district.

The teacher said Columbus needs leaders who find value in religious diversity rather than conflict, value in ethnic differences rather than suppression, value in public education rather than cuts to funding and value in the experiences and leadership women can bring to Ohio.

"I'm not interested in culture wars. I'm not interested in special hot topics," she said. "I'm interested in supporting working families, bringing more industry and jobs to District 84, increasing recreational revenue for our counties (and) working with individuals that have a vision of what our district can be by working together."

If elected, Rodriguez said she would seek funding for education, which would be used to hire more school counselors and therapists and invest in better resources and technology.

Additionally, the candidate said she would support senior citizens to live the life they have earned to live in comfort, support women's health care and promote Grand Lake while improving water quality.