Blystone stumps in southeastern Ohio | News, Sports, Jobs

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Gubernatorial candidate Joe Blystone made an apparently impromptu campaign stop Friday in Belmont County, speaking at a “meet and greet” at the St. Clairsville Recreation Center.

Groups of area residents arrived at the largely informal gathering, with 12 to 15 on hand at a time to purchase campaign merchandise and chat with the candidate. He originally had intended to speak outside the Belmont County Courthouse, but moved inside due to the cold weather.

Blystone, of East Liverpool, is a Republican candidate and a “Constitutional Conservative,” according to his campaign website. He and running mate Jeremiah Workman are challenging Republican incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine, and GOP challengers Ron Hood and Jim Renacci in the May 3 Republican primary election.

In an earlier telephone interview on Friday, Blystone said he is going to “every little corner of this state, talking about the state of affairs here in Ohio and what we need to do to get back on track for the folks that live and work here.” He said he has been on the road campaigning for a little more than a year.

“People are very engaged right now. They’re looking for change, a different direction than what these normal politicians send us,” he said. “We’re tired of our rights being taken away, our jobs being held hostage for whether we decide to take an emergency-use only vaccine.”

Blystone was critical of DeWine’s administration over the past two and a half years.

“Our current governor picking winners and losers when it came to the pandemic, he picked who could stay open and run a business and who had to close and go out of business,” Blystone said. “At the end of the day, people are concerned about jobs, too, and it’s not just this administration.

“We’re never able to change the policies set forth in this state. … We rank 45th in business tax friendliness in this state, hence a lot of businesses — even small to medium-sized businesses — from other states, they’re not going to look to come into this state. We used to be a powerhouse of manufacturing, and it’s all gone.”

The Tax Foundation, a nonprofit, independent group, ranked Ohio at 45th in its State Business Tax Climate Index in 2018. The 2022 ranking was 37.

Blystone said policies and tax structure need to be addressed to attract outside business.

He also stressed safeguarding the quality of education in public school systems, mentioning Critical Race Theory and concerns about inappropriate curriculum regarding sexual education.

“Families and godliness has been put on the sideline and people are engaged right now unlike I’ve ever seen before,” he said.

“President (Donald) Trump was opening some of those curtains up and showing us a lot of the corruption in the political system, and we’re in this mess because people don’t get involved in politics. And being a farmer myself, I was never in politics either. I’ve never run for an elected position,” he said. “I’d go vote, and I’d vote for the lesser of the two evils and hope there’s a different outcome.”

Blystone’s campaign has been under scrutiny by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office. The Columbus Dispatch and Cincinnati Enquirer reported that LaRose’s office advised Blystone he might need to refund improper campaign donations. Among the problems cited were tens of thousands of dollars in cash donations exceeding $100 each, as well as donations from corporations that are not allowed and “unclear or vague” expenditure listings. Blystone’s treasurer, his wife, Jane, was given until this past Thursday to correct the errors. If that was not accomplished, the campaign could undergo an Ohio Elections Commission investigation.

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