Bowling Green 1st Ward Council member Daniel Gordon of the Democratic party announced his plans to run for state representative in Ohio House of Representatives District 3 Sunday night, and he is certain he can beat the current representative from Bowling Green, Republican Theresa Gavarone.

“I might be young, but I went up against a Republican candidate when I first ran for office, and I won by a landslide,” Gordon said.

Gordon was just re-elected to serve a fourth term as 1st Ward Council member this past November, and has been serving since 2012. Beginning immediately, Daniel will campaign for the primary election held on May 8 and the general election held on Nov. 6.

He says that it will take a lot of hard work to win against Gavarone, but he is very confident in the message of his candidacy.

“The legislature has been fiscally irresponsible,” Gordon said. “They can’t fix the roof by knocking out the foundation. They couldn’t pay off the money they lost spending on pet projects and rewarding their corporate friends, so they took our taxpayers’ money instead. And they have nothing to show for it. We got ripped off, and the worst part is they keep doing it. Not on my watch. I’m going to get our money back.”

One of the biggest issues Gordon sees and wants to address is the gutting of government funds and how that is negatively impacting local communities. The state continues to cut funds year after year, promising a minimalist government is better for Ohio residents, but Gordon says it is only preventing local municipalities from implementing the projects they need for better quality of life.

“Budgeting is about priorities,” Gordon said. “What you fund well is what you care about. So, why does Ohio rank last among all 50 states in funding programs to fight against abuse of children and the elderly? Why does the legislature continually fail to support higher education, or fix the unconstitutional funding mechanism for our public schools? Why do they continually fail to raise enough money to fight the opioid epidemic?”

Ensuring funds are available and money is appropriated to the right programs is the core of Gordon’s platform.

If Gordon replaced Gavarone, that would change the composition of the Ohio House of Representatives to 65 Republicans and 34 Democrats.

Gordon earned his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in public administration from Bowling Green State University. He can be reached by calling his phone at 419-450-2164 or email at [email protected].