The newly revamped 4th includes all of Champaign, Allen, Ashland, Auglaize, Harden, Logan, Marion, Morrow, Richland and Union counties and parts of Delaware, Shelby, and Wyandot counties.
Here’s a look at each candidate.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Jeff Sites
Sites previously ran unsuccessfully in the 2020 Democratic primary for the 4th district seat. A U.S. Army veteran, Sites said he was motivated to try again after seeing the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump trying to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election.
“I turned around to see my Capitol under attack by Americans. And I knew right then that I was going to run again to try to unseat Jim Jordan,” said Sites. “He has not lived up to his oath of office.”
Soon after the attack was quelled, Jordan joined with 146 other House and Senate Republicans in voting against certifying Biden’s win. Jordan spoke at a “Stop the Steal” rally after the election and refused to testify before the U.S. House committee investigating the attack about allegations that he was involved in efforts to stop Biden from taking office after being legitimately elected president.
“Text messages show that he’s been involved with the insurrection,” Sites said of Jordan.
Multiple investigations, election audits and court rulings nationwide found no evidence of widespread fraud or election problems. Biden won both the popular and the Electoral College votes.
Sites contends Jordan has not represented his district well, and, in particular, has failed farmers and families, Sites said.
“Jim just wants to spread fear and divide us,” Site said.
Jordan did not respond to a request for comment.
Sites said said he wants to see more bipartisan behavior in Congress, with members of both parties working together to pass bills that help the country.
Sites supports rolling back the 2017 tax cuts and imposing a minimum tax on billionaires.
He supports limited student loan forgiveness, health care for all, expansion of Social Security and Medicare, fighting climate change, protecting voting rights and fighting partisan gerrymandering of districts.
Sites also wants to see more government funding for child care and workforce development, including vocational training and union-sponsored apprenticeship programs. He said COVID-19 funding for vaccinations, testing and therapeutics should continue.
“President Biden is doing a good job trying to get the country back into shape after COVID,” Sites said.
He also supports immigration reform and a path to citizenship for people here without documentation, as long as they have not committed crimes.
“Immigration fills part of our employment gap that we are having,” Sites said.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Tamie Wilson
Wilson is a first-time candidate who said she wants to bring her skills as a life coach to Congress.
“I am running to not just be a voice for the hard working lower to middle class Americans but to be their action taker, to be their advocate,” said Wilson, who is self-employed as a life coach and business consultant.
She said implementing life skills programs in schools and workplaces to teach anger and conflict management, financial literacy and emotional intelligence would help prevent gun violence and domestic abuse.
“Domestic abuse, my theory is that people who shoot and kill people are either crazy, angry or scared,” Wilson said.
If life skills programs were expanded, “then people would not be as stressed out as they are. They would not resort to these unhealthy expressions of behavior,” Wilson said.
Wilson also said it is time to replace Jordan in Congress.
“He hasn’t done anything for Ohioans. All he does is scream his head off and defend Trump,” Wilson said. “He voted against the (2018) farm bill, he voted against the child tax credit.”
A supporter of the Second Amendment who likes to shoot guns, Wilson said there needs to be “common sense gun reform” that keeps guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.
She also supports canceling student loan debt, reforming policing and updating immigration laws, including giving a path to citizenship for immigrants without documents who were brought here as children. Wilson said Republicans are wrong to link immigration to drug addiction, which she said can be fought by adding more addiction treatment centers.
She would fund her initiatives by reallocating existing funding — including some of the money going to the U.S. departments of Defense and Homeland Security. Wilson also supports increasing taxes on the most wealthy 1% of people and on corporations
Wilson said she wants to see a more bipartisan Congress.
“I’m a very common sense Democrat. I think sometimes Democrats take things too far and so do Republicans,” Wilson said. “I think a lot of times things don’t pass because they have personal agendas or they ask for too much.”
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Name: Jeff Sites
Age: 55
Address: Lima
Education: Associate’s degree in photography, Ohio Institute of Photography and Technology
Family: Daughter
Employment: Former warehouse manager; U.S. Army 1987-1990 military policeman and unit armorer
Political Experience: Ran in 4th Congressional district 2020 Democratic primary
Political Party: Democrat
Website: www.sitesforcongress.com
Name: Tamie Wilson
Age: 49
Address: Delaware
Education: Attended Otterbein University
Family: Son
Employment: Life coach and business consultant
Political Experience: Member Delaware County Democratic Party Executive Committee and civil and women’s rights activist
Political Party: Democrat
Website: https://www.tamiewilson.com/
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