ROGER REYNOLDS
Age: 46
Family: Wife, Teri; daughters, Taylor and Ashley
Residency: Liberty Twp.
Profession: Certified public accountant
Education: Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance; certified public accountant; certified governmental financial manager; state of Ohio-Local Government Treasurer
Political experience: Butler County Auditor (2008-present); Liberty Twp. Fiscal Officer (2003-2008)
Community involvement: Faith Community United Methodist Church, County Auditor's Association of Ohio, Ohio Township Association, Ohio Society of Public Accountants, Government Finance Officers Association, West Chester Chamber Alliance, Middletown Chamber of Commerce, Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, Hamilton Rotary, and he sits on LifeSpan and OSU Extension Support and Advisory Council
Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds has formed a fundraising committee for a possible congressional bid, but said he has not made a final decision about whether to run.
Reynolds is considering making a bid for Ohio's 8th Congressional District seat since the incumbent, Speaker of the House John Boehner, announced last week he will resign his speakership and his seat in Congress effective Oct. 30.
Reynolds, 46, said he won’t make any kind of official announcement until he fully vets the decision with Teri, his wife of 19 years, and two teenage daughters.
“It’s a very big decision,” Reynolds said. “I am thinking about running but I haven’t made any decisions.”
Reynolds is one of several local Republicans who are considering a run for the open House seat, but the first declared candidates are J.D. Winteregg, of Troy, who ran against Boehner in 2014, and Tipp City Republican Sen. Bill Beagle, who has been endorsed by U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton.
No Democrat has emerged as a possible candidate to run in a special election to replace Boehner as the district’s congressional representative.
A date for a special election, which will be paid for by the state, for the soon-to-be-vacated congressional seat has yet to be set.
Reynolds said he “can handle” the time, energy and stress of being a member of Congress, but “the sacrifice” is being away from his family.
“The challenge for me is to be away from those three women I love immensely,” he said.
Boehner has held his seat in Congress for 25 years, and has been in a leadership role for nearly a decade when he became House Majority Leader in 2006. Prior to that, Boehner was chairman of the House Education Committee from 2001 to 2006 and Chairman of the House Republican Conference from 1995 to 1999.
Reynolds was appointed as Butler County Auditor in April 2008 and elected to finish out the unexpired term in November 2008. He has since been re-elected twice in 2010 and 2014. He served as Liberty Twp.’s fiscal officer from 2003 to 2008.
Reynolds, a certified public accountant, “set aggressive goals” and reduced office costs during his first two years in the auditor’s office, which he said is to its lowest levels in a decade. In 2013, Ohio Auditor Dave Yost presented Reynolds’ office the Auditor of State Award With Distinction for excellence in financial reporting.
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