Jim Renacci hoping to get his name out and about as he barnstorms through Ohio
Ohio U.S. Senate hopeful Jim Renacci was in town for the Holmes County Fair, where he continued his whirlwind tour of Ohio, trying to create some name recognition for himself.
Ohio United States Senate hopeful Jim Renacci could have rolled into Holmes County during the Holmes County Fair and talked to people about jobs, taxes, term limits and national security.
While Renacci did touch on those topics throughout his visit on Thursday, Aug. 9, the casual stop was more about simply wanting to connect and to get his name out there as a candidate for a position in the United States Senate.
The Ohio representative is currently touring Ohio, meeting and greeting the public as he prepares to run against incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown, and Renacci said closing the gap on name recognition alone is one of his biggest concerns.
“I’ve been to just about every county in Ohio, and I am going to continue to get around to as many fairs, businesses and other events as I can because this election for me is about getting name recognition out statewide, so we have to continue to work hard to get out as much as possible to get that name recognition out there because my opponent has a history and name recognition,” Renacci said.
The son of a railroad worker and a nurse, Renacci grew up in Appalachian Country in Eastern Pennsylvania as the son of blue collar workers who were living on the cusp of poverty. He said he began work as a newspaper delivery boy at 8 years old and has been working ever since.
Renacci said his upbringing and his drive to work hard are great attributes that will help him should he land a spot as an Ohio senator. He said he is someone who is willing to work with both Republicans and Democrats, and he said coming up as a businessman makes him a fresh, new candidate compared to having grown up as a career politician.
As for getting his name out there, he said people of Holmes and Wayne counties probably know him because his district is so close, but outside of that area he knows he has plenty of work to do and is planning to meet as many people as possible.
Renacci said he is a proven job creator who will fight for common-sense policies for families, and he wants to reduce taxes on working-class families and wants term limits that help rid the nation of career politicians. Those are thoughts he is hoping to share with many people as he travels across the state.
“Everything right now is about putting together a schedule that not only works for me, but works for the people we are visiting,” Renacci said.
Renacci said he travels to and through Holmes County a great deal, and throughout his business travels, many of the counties he is visiting are not new to him from a business standpoint. However, from a political standpoint he is seeing the counties through different eyes.
“I am excited about sharing my views on some of the major topics facing the nation today, but much of what we are doing right now is just making sure that people know who I am and where I come from,” Renacci said. “My opponent has been around for 44 years, and everybody knows him. He has sold his name by being around that long, so my goal is getting people to know who I am. I believe that the biggest problem we have with elections is that too often people go into the voting booth and vote for the name they know without ever getting to know the name they don’t know. My goal is to get people to know the name they don’t know, and that means traveling the state a lot.”
Renacci said he is and has always been about creating jobs and boosting the economy, something he believes will be a plus should he win office.
Renacci said his entrepreneurial spirit is much like that of Holmes Countians, whom he said did an amazing job in funding and building the new fairgrounds at Harvest Ridge. He called Harvest Ridge one of the nicest fairgrounds he has been to, calling it a true asset for the county. He said that kind of business sense and care for community is why he makes a better choice than Brown for the Senate seat.
“Far too long out-of-touch career politicians have cared far more about their next election than the next generation, and they have failed to serve those they were elected to represent,” Renacci said. “I am committed to growing our economy, serving our people and strengthening communities.”
In order to do that, he realizes that getting his name out into the public eye is going to be priority number one.
Renacci was elected to the United States House of Representatives in November 2010 and is serving his fourth term representing the 16th district of Ohio. Currently he serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Budget Committee.