Former Republican state lawmaker Niraj Antani launches bid for Ohio secretary of state
State Sen. Niraj Antani, R-6th District, listens during a debate in the Senate Chambers in Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Joe Maiorana, File)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Former state Sen. Niraj Antani, a self-described “pro-Trump conservative warrior” who proposed unsuccessful bills banning ballot drop boxes and requiring citizenship checks for voters, has launched a bid to be Ohio’s next elections chief.
Antani, 33, of Miamisburg in the Dayton area, is vying to succeed Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who faces a term limit next year. Antani will almost certainly face primary competition, with state Sen. Theresa Gavarone also exploring a bid.
Antani said in a statement that his family’s roots under British rule in India have helped him appreciate living in a country with the right to vote.
“They didn’t have the right to vote,” he said. “As someone born in America, I uniquely understand we must cherish that we were born free people, born with the right to vote. This is a sacred institution — our vote must be protected, safeguarded, secured.”
Antani was first elected to the Ohio House in 2014, the first Indian-American and Hindu to serve in the chamber. He served six years there and a single four-year term in the Ohio Senate. He opted not to seek re-election after his district was redrawn to favor Democrats.
He ran instead for southern Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District, finishing 10th of 11 primary candidates, with 1.7% of the vote, to Republican and now-U.S. Rep. Dave Taylor.
Antani described standing “with a steel-spine” against politicians of both parties while he was in the Legislature, including voting for every iteration of the state’s ban on most abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected and co-sponsored legislation that would have established that life begins at conception. He also supported defunding cities that declared sanctuary status to protect undocumented immigrants.
Antani served as a delegate for President Donald Trump at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Dr. Bryan Hambley, an oncologist from Warren County, northeast of Cincinnati, is running on the Democratic side.
In a Jan. 2 campaign announcement on his Facebook page, Hambley highlighted the roles of Ohio’s secretary of state in approving ballot language and redrawing political maps as in need of change.
“It’s time to fix our broken democracy, and that begins with fair districts, accountable representatives, and a Secretary of State who will use the office to expand voter engagement, not suppress it through bad ballot language,” he wrote.