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Mark Gooch
Mark Gooch (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Ohio House of Representatives to represent District 77. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Gooch completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Mark Gooch earned a bachelor's degree from the College of Wooster in 1990 and a graduate degree from Kent State University in 1994. His career experience includes working as a librarian.[1][2]
Elections
2024
See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 77
Meredith Craig defeated Mark Gooch in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 77 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Meredith Craig (R) | 69.3 | 35,555 |
 | Mark Gooch (D)  | 30.7 | 15,729 | |
| Total votes: 51,284 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 77
Mark Gooch advanced from the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 77 on March 19, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Gooch | 100.0 | 2,792 |
| Total votes: 2,792 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 77
Meredith Craig defeated Josh Hlavaty, Bill Albright, Dennis Finley, and Frank Grande in the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 77 on March 19, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Meredith Craig | 35.1 | 4,546 |
 | Josh Hlavaty | 34.3 | 4,451 | |
| Bill Albright | 13.9 | 1,800 | ||
| Dennis Finley | 9.9 | 1,288 | ||
| Frank Grande | 6.8 | 875 | ||
| Total votes: 12,960 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Gooch in this election.
2022
See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 77
Incumbent Scott Wiggam defeated Mark Gooch in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 77 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Scott Wiggam (R) | 69.3 | 26,636 |
| Mark Gooch (D) | 30.7 | 11,823 | |
| Total votes: 38,459 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 77
Mark Gooch advanced from the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 77 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Gooch | 100.0 | 1,614 |
| Total votes: 1,614 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 77
Incumbent Scott Wiggam advanced from the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 77 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Scott Wiggam | 100.0 | 2,892 |
| Total votes: 2,892 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Mark Gooch completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Gooch's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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My wife and I raised our two sons in Wooster and I have been very active in the community and my church. I'm a past-president of the Kiwanis club, a long-time adult leader in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts (our sons are both Eagle Scouts), been involved with the city schools, lead a group that raised $100,000 to keep a city pool open, participated in the Citizen Police Academy, and worked with the Wooster Hope Center to start their Backpack of Food program that is now in almost every school district in the county.
I'm running to represent the residents of Wayne County and try to move us away from the "us" vs. "them" and move toward a "we". I want to focus on issues such as property taxes, schools, mental health, health care, and gun safety. I didn't move here to run for office and I'm not being supported by outside PACs. I will work on behalf of Wayne County and for you.- I've lived, worked, and volunteered here for almost 40 years. I'm not running to be a career politician. People who know me know I don't hesitate to ask questions and to work to solve problems.
- I will listen and work on behalf of Wayne Countians. I want to focus on what benefits all of us, not on partisan politics. I may be running as a Democrat but I'm really running to represent everyone in Wayne County regardless of party.
- I want to work on real issues such as mental health, school funding and testing, property taxes, health care, and gun safety.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2022
Mark Gooch completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Gooch's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I graduated from Loudonville High School, earned a degree in History at The College of Wooster, then I worked full-time while earning a graduate degree in library science. I have since worked in several libraries and have been a librarian at The College of Wooster for over 20 years.
I learned from my parents—my father who was a Presbyterian minister and my mother who worked outside the home—when you are a part of a community, you have a responsibility to take an active role in supporting and improving your community. As a result, I’ve been involved with many organizations and activities in Wooster such as First Presbyterian Church, Kiwanis Club of Wooster (a past-president), Cub Scouts/Boy Scouts, Wooster City Schools, the City of Wooster, Friends of Christmas Run Pool and the Wooster Hope Center. I now want to step up and move Wayne County forward.
- Enhance mental health resources
- Address education funding and testing
- Reduce division and strengthen democracy
I believe in gun safety. As Ohio has loosened gun laws, the number of gun deaths has increased. A majority of Ohioans (including many gun owners) believe in background checks for all gun sales and conceal carry permits that include training. Recent legislation allowing conceal carry without a permit is anti-police and opposed by various law enforcement groups. Guns should be stored so they are not accessible to children, thieves, or those in crisis who may harm themselves or others. While I wholly support the Second Amendment, I also support gun safety for all Ohioans.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Ohio House of Representatives District 77 |
Personal |
Footnotes
