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Sam Cao
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Sam Cao (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Ohio House of Representatives to represent District 56. He lost in the Democratic primary on August 2, 2022.
Cao completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Sam Cao was born in Pasadena, California.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 56
Adam Mathews defeated Joy Bennett in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 56 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Adam Mathews (R)  | 60.4 | 29,241 |
 | Joy Bennett (D) | 39.6 | 19,135 | |
| Total votes: 48,376 | |||
| = 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 56
Joy Bennett defeated Sam Cao in the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 56 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joy Bennett | 70.5 | 2,107 |
 | Sam Cao | 29.5 | 883 | |
| Total votes: 2,990 | |||
| = 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 56
Adam Mathews defeated Kathy Grossmann in the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 56 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Adam Mathews | 53.6 | 3,346 |
| Kathy Grossmann | 46.4 | 2,891 | ||
| Total votes: 6,237 | |||
| = 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
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sam Cao completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cao's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Hi! I am Sam Cao. I am a high schooler-the youngest to ever run in Ohio. I run to represent your choice and your voice in Columbus. I strongly believe that the state legislature should also represent the voices of the younger generations. I grew up in a family of two immigrant parents. I understand the struggle. I share your dislike for unnecessary divisiveness. I am a big advocate for commonalities rather than differences: sisterhood and brotherhood rather than animosity. My platform is here to promote compassion, love and unity.
I became interested in public service when I was a fifth grader. Together with a few friends, we produced a video featuring how liquid-filtered straws could help eradicate Guinea Worm disease in Africa. Screened at the Carter Center’s 20th anniversary for Guinea Worms eradication, our video earned high accolades from former President Jimmy Carter and his staff, and inspired health ministers from all four remaining endemic countries to involve kids in their countries in the eradication effortSince then, I have played an active role in political activities as well as a leading role in many youth empowerment activities and created many meaningful films.
- This campaign symbolizes a new era of leadership, passing the torch down to a new climate dedicated to love, compassion, and unity. I strongly believe that the children of tomorrow are the best choice at uniting a polarized America. It is in our greatest endeavors that we must unite here, symbolically and metaphorically so. To combat the ever-growing malice and vices that have plagued us Ohioans from the beginning means to combat it with a united front. No matter our differences, we drop it, and we make the concessions necessary to band together to form this front. No more infighting for no front, is backwards, and no backwards is front. Front moves us forwards, whereas the latter poisons the well that all of us draw from.
- There is not a tomorrow without sustainable policies. We need nature more than nature needs us for example. It's time to promote mindfulness about the people and also the world around us. When we don't prioritize or put more focus on these areas that can support sustainable development, we are playing a game that we are destined to lose. All of us. Nothing else matters when health, environment, education, and technology are neglected. Some do not have the quality education that I fortunately have, and that's just simply not right. When and since it's possible, we need to uplift the impoverished, especially displaced by job loss and the pandemic. These are our urgent problems that are not being taken seriously enough.
- Government should work not just for the people, but with the people. On every level of government, representation is lacking for many groups. I will work hard every single day with my team to prove that young people can make a difference and that humanity can always become a better version of itself. Our generation is so caring because of our community and caretaking predecessors. I come to represent young people, to represent Asian-Americans, and to represent the ideal that age or color is not the merit, but rather the American values of hard work, determination, and passion are. Young people deserve more representation as the people that policies affect include them, and it would bring a fresh perspective to Columbus!
I am passionate about sustainability and what it could do for our future. We need more change candidates that preserve and promote the idea that protecting the environment is classy. It is not just for Earth's health, but also for our wellbeing. This campaign, along with I, will focus on preserving that sacred idea, but also destigmatizing health (especially mental) as well as offer more diverse content in education (including Asian history for instance). If we want an ideal and sustainable future fueled by love and empathy, not indifference and divisiveness, we need to invest in those key areas.
I will introduce a bill that regulates the use of plastic bags. We Americans use 100 billion plastic bags every year and most of them are those single-use plastic bags. These bags have a devastating impact on oceans, wildlife, and our own health. It takes centuries for plastic to even decompose. That's not part of the possible future I see for us.
When poverty strikes and crime rates increase as a result, the afflicted youth turn to drugs as their escape, putting them in what could be a lifetime in prison, at taxpayers' costs. "Condemn the sin, not the sinner"; we invest in programs in neglected communities that better their living conditions.
This is a no-brainer! It is definitely Robert F. Kennedy. I agree with many of his ideas and his character is an inspiration. I want to continue to educate myself and always change for the better like he did during the Civil Rights movement. No matter what, he always stayed true to who he was. I want to show compassion and empathy and understanding like he did to unify a divided American in the 60s. His authenticity, his kindness, the hope he offered, decades later, still offer a fiery sensation for change. It was never going to the privileged to represent only them, but rather the underrepresented, even if they offered little to no votes for Senate or the Presidency. He walked with Native Americans on reservoirs, went on strike with Chavez and the workers of California, fought for the children of the Mississippi Delta in Washington, took the effort to understand and help fix some of the problems of poverty in Bedford-Stuyvesant; he was genuine. I hope that this campaign honors the values he most-hearteningly pushed for.
Robert F Kennedy's Statement on the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. - April 4, 1968
Robert F Kennedy's "Day of Affirmation Address" - June 6, 1966
Martin Luther King's "Give Us the Ballot" - May 17, 1957
I am representing the voices of the underrepresented-younger generations as well as the Asian community and of course, everyone. We have so desperately been needing a representative that can unite the community across party lines and age gaps. Being a young candidate, I believe that the youth of myself and this campaign will offer the people of Ohio an insight into a better future we can all have. It's time for the torch to be passed down to a new era of leadership. All voters, young and old, can relate to the idealism that youth embodies. When the youth is empowered, our community will be empowered. I will deliver the message of inspiration and hope not only to our district and state, but to the entire nation. (3) My policies are timely and extremely needed at this critical moment in order to make Ohio a more healthy, happy and economically prosperous place. We are in a new era and we need new leadership to bring sustainable development.
It is to represent the people. It does not matter if representative x does not have prerequisite knowledge of politician y or z from different areas of his state or country, but as long as they work hard to better understand the climate, then that's where it matters. It is that certain drive that pushes America forwards. As we have not had a responsive representative in the past eight years, we need a representative that actually interacts with their community, more than ever. This includes reaching out across party lines. People are still people no matter the affiliation. That open-mindedness of not turning away at the word "Democrat" or "Republican" is what can pull us out of this hole we have all been trapped in...for such a long time. After all, it is that love that guides us all.
I want to leave the room better than how I entered it. I try to apply that idea everywhere I go.
My campaign manager Adam Nassif would want me to say any book by Dale Carnegie as he has been telling me all the time to read them. I have actually given some of his books on public speaking a read; I definitely recommend his works.
"Somewhere in Ann Arbor" by Anson Seabra. Each verse tells a story of a place within Ann Arbor, and I can relate a lot of that to my community where I've found the magic in the little things. Everyone knows everyone somehow, whether it'd be directly or through a mutual. The song makes me think of the town that I've come to love ever so dearly.
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.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 11, 2022
Current members of the Ohio House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Jason Stephens
Majority Leader:Marilyn John
Minority Leader:Dani Isaacsohn
Representatives
District 1
District 2
Latyna Humphrey (D)
District 3
Ismail Mohamed (D)
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
Allison Russo (D)
District 8
Anita Somani (D)
District 9
Munira Abdullahi (D)
District 10
Mark Sigrist (D)
District 11
Crystal Lett (D)
District 12
Brian Stewart (R)
District 13
Tristan Rader (D)
District 14
Sean Brennan (D)
District 15
Chris Glassburn (D)
District 16
District 17
Mike Dovilla (R)
District 18
Juanita Brent (D)
District 19
Phil Robinson (D)
District 20
District 21
Eric Synenberg (D)
District 22
Darnell Brewer (D)
District 23
Dan Troy (D)
District 24
Dani Isaacsohn (D)
District 25
Cecil Thomas (D)
District 26
Vacant
District 27
Rachel Baker (D)
District 28
Karen Brownlee (D)
District 29
Cindy Abrams (R)
District 30
Mike Odioso (R)
District 31
Bill Roemer (R)
District 32
Jack Daniels (R)
District 33
Veronica Sims (D)
District 34
Derrick Hall (D)
District 35
Steve Demetriou (R)
District 36
Andrea White (R)
District 37
Tom Young (R)
District 38
Desiree Tims (D)
District 39
Phil Plummer (R)
District 40
Rodney Creech (R)
District 41
Erika White (D)
District 42
Elgin Rogers (D)
District 43
Michele Grim (D)
District 44
Josh Williams (R)
District 45
Jennifer Gross (R)
District 46
Thomas Hall (R)
District 47
Diane Mullins (R)
District 48
Scott Oelslager (R)
District 49
Jim Thomas (R)
District 50
Matthew Kishman (R)
District 51
Jodi Salvo (R)
District 52
Gayle Manning (R)
District 53
Joe Miller (D)
District 54
Kellie Deeter (R)
District 55
Michelle Teska (R)
District 56
Adam Mathews (R)
District 57
Jamie Callender (R)
District 58
Lauren McNally (D)
District 59
Tex Fischer (R)
District 60
Brian Lorenz (R)
District 61
Beth Lear (R)
District 62
Jean Schmidt (R)
District 63
Adam Bird (R)
District 64
Nick Santucci (R)
District 65
David Thomas (R)
District 66
Sharon Ray (R)
District 67
Melanie Miller (R)
District 68
District 69
Kevin Miller (R)
District 70
Brian Lampton (R)
District 71
Levi Dean (R)
District 72
Heidi Workman (R)
District 73
Jeff LaRe (R)
District 74
Bernard Willis (R)
District 75
Haraz Ghanbari (R)
District 76
Marilyn John (R)
District 77
Meredith Craig (R)
District 78
Matt Huffman (R)
District 79
District 80
Johnathan Newman (R)
District 81
James Hoops (R)
District 82
Roy Klopfenstein (R)
District 83
Ty Mathews (R)
District 84
Angela King (R)
District 85
Tim Barhorst (R)
District 86
Tracy Richardson (R)
District 87
Riordan McClain (R)
District 88
Gary Click (R)
District 89
D.J. Swearingen (R)
District 90
Justin Pizzulli (R)
District 91
Bob Peterson (R)
District 92
Mark Johnson (R)
District 93
Jason Stephens (R)
District 94
Kevin Ritter (R)
District 95
Ty Moore (R)
District 96
Ron Ferguson (R)
District 97
Adam Holmes (R)
District 98
Mark Hiner (R)
District 99
Sarah Fowler (R)
Republican Party (65)
Democratic Party (33)
Vacancies (1)
