Antani, Fogel On “WHIO Reports”

MONTGOMERY CO. — While much of the focus in the 2020 election has been on the race for the White House, Miami Valley voters will be faced with many other important races Tuesday. One of the biggest is for The Ohio Senate in the 6th District, which covers northern, eastern and southern Montgomery County.

Incumbent State Senator Peggy Lehner could not run for re-election due to term limits, so the race this year is for an open seat. The winner will become one of the state’s 33 Senate members, each representing about 330,000 people.

The candidates in the 6th District race are current State Representative Niraj Antani, a Republican, and Democrat first-time candidate Mark Fogel. The two are taking part in a candidate forum on “WHIO Reports” Sunday morning at 11:30, recently recorded at the Main Dayton Metro Library downtown.

During the forum the candidates faced questions on a number of issues ranging from the state’s handling of the COVID crisis to gun reform in the wake of the Oregon District shooting last year. On the coronavirus, the question before the candidates focused on whether Gov. Mike DeWine has handled it properly or if state lawmakers should step in and limit DeWine’s ability to continue restrictions.

Here is a part of the candidates' response:

Mark Fogel- “A State Senator should not play politics at a time like this. This should be when we listen to the experts. This is when we trut the public health director, epidemiologists, physicians, the true public health experts to do the right thing.”

Niraj Antani-"We have to work together, all branches of government in this goal of tackling both the health crisis and the economic crisis. No one is playing politics here. To say anyone is playing politics here is crass. Everyone is trying to put food on their table and help protect those who are vulnerable."

You can see the entire program Sunday morning at 11:30 on WHIO Reports.

Cox Media Group