Republican Heather Hill, Appalachian entrepreneur, is inspired by tragedies to run for Ohio governor

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Thoughts of her two foster children shot and killed by police still wake Heather Hill from her sleep once or twice a week. The Republican entrepreneur from Appalachia says those nightmares, which at times leave her sobbing, helped propel her into Ohio’s 2026 governor’s race.

“It’s just been overwhelming,” Hill, 49, said in an Associated Press interview. “And I made every attempt to reach out to governors and senators and everything that I possibly could to bridge the gaps, and nothing was working. So, I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to do something. I’m going to run for governor.’”

Hill said she believes her unconventional profile as a rural Black Republican woman and her singular experience fostering a boy and a girl later involved in separate police shootings a year apart give her insights not shared by her rival candidates.

Since entering the race in November, Hill has watched more prominent, wealthy or connected rivals jockey for position in the contest.

First, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted was the front-runner. Then he left the contest, and his state position, to take a U.S. Senate appointment. Within days of that announcement, two-term Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost declared his candidacy for the job. That news was quickly overshadowed by breathless talk of a gubernatorial bid by former Department of Government Efficiency co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy, who launched his campaign Monday. There’s even talk that Jim Tressel, the championship-winning former Ohio State Buckeyes football coach and Husted’s replacement as lieutenant governor, might get into next year’s GOP primary.

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All the positioning to succeed Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who is term-limited, hasn’t fazed Hill. She says losing two former foster children — one who died at age 20, the other at 21 — left her devastated, “like any other mother.” But she said she believes the experience gives her a unique opportunity to build understanding between law enforcement agencies whose work she supports and young people with mental illnesses.

She also said she believes a pro-gun, pro-family conservative who’s a woman and a business owner will excite the state’s Republican base.

“I am the best answer for unity within the state of Ohio,” she said. “I have strong conservative values, but I’m also a person of color — and that’s going to pull people from both ends of the spectrum.”

Hill’s only previous elective experience was one term as president of the Morgan Local school board. She’s also held leadership positions at the Ohio School Boards Association and her local Habitat for Humanity chapter and was a member of the Ohio Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission.

Hill and her husband, Darrin, live on a 100-acre farm in Morgan County’s Malta, a village of about 500 people in the rugged hills of southeastern Ohio’s Appalachian region. They have two children, a married son who’s in the Army and a college senior daughter; helped raise a third; and have fostered many more over the past 20 years. Candy Barr, a foster parent trainer who’s now on Hill’s campaign advisory team, praised her “zeal and commitment” to raising children from difficult backgrounds.

The Hills had trouble conceiving, enduring multiple miscarriages and undergoing fertility treatments before ultimately adopting their second child. That has left Hill understanding “the importance of D&Cs,” dilation and curettage procedures, which can be a form of surgical abortion, and “the importance of other life-saving surgeries,” she said. Hill also supports in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

At the same time, Hill said she personally opposes abortion. As a voter, she voted against a 2023 amendment that enshrined access to the procedure in Ohio’s constitution, but she said she does not plan to fight that result.

“They have already said what they want, and, as their governor, I will stand behind what they’ve already voted on,” she said. “It’s in our Constitution. ... I will honor that.”

The Hills are avid hunters and gun rights advocates. The Ohio Hunting Lodge is one of several businesses they own. Her first business was a marketing firm that’s now operating statewide, and a real estate business they own is focused on helping provide housing to low-income Ohioans, she said.

Hill said she does not share the views of Ohio’s current governor — a pragmatic center-right conservative — on every issue, but she is grateful to him for the opportunities he has given her and believes he has tried his best to improve Ohio for its residents.

“I know it’s not perfect and I have a lot of work to do,” she said, “but he’s built a great foundation for me to build from.”

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