A central Ohio farmer and business owner is running for governor, joining next year’s Republican primary challenge to Gov. Mike DeWine. Joe Blystone, who's never run for public office, says being an outsider is a benefit.
Blystone runs a farm, restaurant, and butcher shop in Canal Winchester. He says he experienced first-hand how the COVID-19 shut down orders hurt businesses around the state.
"We saw that our government here in Ohio decided that because of a pandemic, they could take our constitutional rights and throw them out the back door, and that's wrong."
He says Ohio needs a governor who can break the mold of "decades of bad policy."
"We're going to need somebody, an outsider to do that. Somebody who is not afraid to make hard decisions. And is not afraid to shake the system up."
Blystone is running on what he calls a "Constitutional Conservative" platform which includes expanding gun rights, restricting abortion, cutting the state budget, and setting restrictions on teaching about race and racism in Ohio schools.
He'll face former Congressman Jim Renacci and Gov. Mike DeWine in the Republican primary.