Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is the centerpiece of Ohio Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery)’s political life. He habitually brings up HB 68 — the bill that banned minors from receiving gender-affirming care — in interviews, on social media and on the campaign trail.
Tiffin councilman, army veteran and factory supervisor Aaron Jones wants to unseat Click in the midterm elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Jones ran unopposed in the May primary to secure the Democratic nomination for the conservative-leaning district.
In an interview with The Buckeye Flame, Jones said he wants to push for fiscal responsibility, move away from culture wars and thinks “representing everyone should be the goal of every politician.”
Although his campaign website does not mention the LGBTQ+ community — the website of Amy Acton, the Democrat candidate for governor, does not either —he was rated a B on LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Equality Ohio’s candidate scorecard. Equality Ohio’s Statewide Advocacy Manager Josh Meek said that Jones backed the Ohio Fairness Act, which would protect queer Ohioans from workplace discrimination based on their gender and sexual identities.
Jones’ campaign comes as the Ohio Democratic Party received a “record investment” from the Democratic National Committee (DNC), according to the Statehouse News Bureau.
The following interview was edited for length and clarity.
THE FLAME: What made you want to run for Gary Click’s [current] position?
JONES: I’ve been a councilman here in Tiffin for the last three years. What they do at the state level impacts us. Just talking to a lot of people, there’s a lot of dissatisfaction with what’s going on in Columbus, in particular the 88th District.
I just felt like now would be a good time to run, a good time for change for this district.
Was there a conversation in particular that sticks out to you?
There were several conversations between fellow members of the Democratic party and fellow members of the community who are independents, and just listening to their frustration level.
And then I was asked if [running was] something I’d be interested in, and I was definitely, definitely interested.
Oh, so you were asked to run by someone at the local Democratic Party?
No, no, no, no, no. No.
Oh, OK.
They had suggested or said, “Hey, you, you should think about it.”
Right.
Yeah. Specifically asking — no, they did not.
You talked about dissatisfaction. Was there a change over the past couple years?
I think so. I think over the past couple of years there’s definitely been a change. People are hurting financially in this district. That’s really the driving force behind a lot of it. People are feeling like their leadership is leaving them behind chasing different priorities.
What do you want to do to help alleviate that?
Schooling is very important to me. Ohio’s Fair School Funding Plan hasn’t been followed in many years, and our schools are feeling the crunch badly. I think that’s one of my main goals.
But I’m also for fair property taxes. I think that needs to be addressed. Not the elimination of property taxes — not that, but fair. There’s a lot of concern amongst people that the property taxes just keep going up whenever they want them to.
And that shouldn’t happen.
How does your background fit into your political ambitions?
There’s really nobody in my family that’s in politics. The military probably pushed me in this direction. My military background started me in the direction towards City Council here in Tiffin, just wanting to serve the community, a community that I like [and] that I care deeply for.
[I want to] try to make it a better place for everybody to live and work.
So a big thing that Gary Click brings up often when he’s campaigning or in interviews is his role in HB 68, the SAFE Act, which he crafted. A lot of his focus seems to be on anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. What do you think about that?
Does it feel like the right … I know it’s probably not the right priorities—
Well, exactly. I’m not running against Gary Click’s faith. I’m running against his… He’s got the wrong priorities, you know?
He’s spent, what, this is six years? Six years in Columbus so far on culture wars when people are hurting. They’re worried about their paycheck, they’re worried about their taxes and I think people in this district care more about their pocketbooks than they do the culture wars.
So how do you think that your policies would help or affect your LGBTQ+ constituents?
Well, that’s the… I’m not running for any one group. I’m running for everyone. Everyone in the 88th District. So I can tell you this: I would never vote for anything that’s going to hurt any one group of people and enrich another. I don’t believe in that.
I believe that as an elected official, you represent everyone regardless of how you feel about them, whether it be Republicans, Democrats, Independents, the LGBTQ+ community, whatever religion they are. I think it’s the responsibility of an elected official to represent everyone and find the best interests of everyone.
That is the goal. That should be the goal of every politician. And I feel like there’s a lot of them, there’s a lot of them that have forgotten.
Have you spoken with organizations serving different groups of people? Like, not just LGBTQ+ organizations, but also ones serving BIPOC populations [and others], about what they might want to see from you from your time in Congress?
I have not, but my door is open. My door is always open to anybody in the district.
And that includes the LGBTQ+ community, veterans, anyone. I will talk to anyone. My door is always open. And like I said, you know, I want to represent everyone.
One thing that we’ve been seeing is the disappearance of a lot of mentions of LGBTQ+ policies from candidates’ websites or platforms. I did notice that your website doesn’t have any mention of LGBTQ+ people.
From talking with queer people, some of them feel left out because Democratic candidates do not have any mention of LGBTQ+ people in their campaign platform. How do you respond to that?
Well, I would hope that nobody feels left out. My intent is never to leave anyone out.
Right.
And certainly that’s not something that I stand behind or for leaving anyone out. I’m definitely 100% against discrimination of any human being, regardless of who they are, or what color of skin they are, you know?
I would love to hear everyone’s – everyone’s hopes, what they would like to, to improve their life.
Should there be more of a push for Democrats to highlight LGBTQ+ people?
That’s a tough question. I’m not sure. I’m not sure 100% how to answer that. I think it’s… Possibly? I know I’m focusing on everyone, so-
Right.
Yeah… I, I guess I’m not actually highlighting any specific group.
I’m just highlighting every citizen of the 88th district. I can’t speak for what other Democratic candidates are doing. But that is my goal. That is what I’ve run on up to this point and will continue to run on throughout this campaign.
I know it’s a tough question and I really do appreciate you responding to that. What have you heard from voters so far in your campaign?
I’m actually incredibly surprised. I’m hearing a lot of good things, a lot of positive reactions, to where I stand and what I believe in. I recognize that I am climbing a mountain here. But that’s okay. Somebody’s gotta do it to try to change what’s going on, but so far it’s been very positive.
Correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t think your district has elected a Democratic official in quite a while, right?
I wanna say, gosh, it’s gotta be 35 years? 34 years?
Do you feel like now is the chance for a Democratic candidate to win the 88th District?
I do. I truly do. I think people have had their fill of Mr. Click working more on a personal agenda rather than working for the people.
You mentioned the Fairness Act, which I 100% support. I think that’s actually on my website. [Jones’ website has no mention of the Fairness Act.] But it is something I definitely support and can’t understand why it hasn’t been passed. 🔥
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- To learn more about Aaron Jones, click here to visit his website.
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