West Chester trustee Lee Wong won’t run for Congress

West Chester Twp. Trustee Lee Wong said he will not seek the state’s 8th Congressional District Seat after much deliberation and discussion with friends and family.

“Timing is everything,” said the three-term township trustee. “I don’t think this is the right time for me.”

Wong had told the Journal-News a month ago he was considering a bid for Congress upon the news of the sudden resignation of now-former Speaker of the House John Boehner. Boehner announced in September he would leave congress at the end of October, ending a 25-congressional career. Miami University of Ohio graduate Congressman Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, was elected Speaker of the House last month.

Since that time a flurry of people announced they would seek the congressional seat, a seat that’s been held by a Butler County Republican since the 1970s. The congressional district currently includes Butler, Clark, Miami, Preble, Darke and part of Mercer counties.

“The timing is not right since he resigned all of a sudden,” Wong said.

Wong, a retired Army veteran, said his platform would have included immigration reform (including building a wall along the country’s southern border), ending a social security tax on social security benefits, and “bring home the bacon,” which he said it was “something Boehner hadn’t done for 25 years.”

Wong announced after a lot of people said they would be running, or was considering a bid, including Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds, State Rep. Tim Derickson, R-Hanover Twp., and State Sen. Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City.

In total, around 20 people have announced, pulled or filed petitions to seek Ohio’s 8th Congressional District seat. Because Boehner resigned in the middle of his term, a special election must be held. Those who are Democrats and Republicans must file for the March 15 special partisan primary, and then the winners, along with third-party and non-party candidates will run for election in a special general election on June 7.

However, if they want to serve beyond the rest of 2016, they must also run for the full term in the March 15 presidential primary and the November general election. The full two-year term commences in 2017.

DECLARED CANDIDATES

While there are nearly two dozen candidates who have shown interest by pulling or filing petitions, the following are the candidates who have formally declared with the Journal-News, Dayton Daily News and Springfield News Sun:

  • State Rep. Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City
  • Rep. Tim Derickson, R-Hanover Twp.
  • Scott George, of Troy
  • Eric Gurr, of West Chester Twp.
  • Eric Haemmerle, of West Chester Twp.
  • Roger Reynolds, of Liberty Twp.
  • Kevin F. White, of New Carlisle
  • J.D. Winteregg, of Troy

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