Warren County voters will help choose a successor to term-limited state Sen. Steve Wilson in the Ohio Senate’s 7th District on Nov. 3, the Dayton Daily News reported. The district includes all of Warren County and part of Hamilton County. Republican Zac Haines and Democrat Cara Jacob, both described as political newcomers, are seeking the seat, and both live in Hamilton County.
Haines, of Symmes Township, is chief executive of DPA Building Group, a Blue Ash marketing agency. He graduated from Miami University and was appointed to its board of trustees in 2018. Jacob, of Montgomery, is a neurologist with U.C. Health and an assistant professor at the U.C. College of Medicine. She earned bachelor’s and medical degrees from Indiana University.
The newspaper asked the candidates about taxes, data centers, economic development, housing affordability and local community funding. Haines supports additional state income tax reductions, property tax relief and elimination of unnecessary spending. He backs property tax caps or protections for long-term homeowners and House Bill 983, which would end property tax abatements for data centers while imposing electricity-generation, environmental-testing and public-reporting requirements.
Jacob said the most recent state tax budget motivated her run, criticizing tax cuts for high-income individuals and organizations and citing $600 million for a Cleveland Browns stadium. She supports a property tax circuit breaker, an expanded homestead exemption, limits on private equity purchases of housing stock, and expanded childcare and pre-K.
She opposes universal school vouchers and data center tax exemptions, and wants the state to fund public schools more fully.
On economic development, Haines wants lower taxes, less regulation, affordable energy and streamlined business processes, plus more career-technical education and apprenticeships. Jacob argues Ohio favors businesses over workers, citing a CNBC business ranking, and says development should not come at workers’ expense. On housing, Haines says affordability requires more supply and easier permitting; Jacob calls for fair wages and state action on housing costs and childcare.